Roof A/c With heat option

[William Brosam]

Anyone have experience with any of the Roof Top A/c units that also heat the coach?

my front unit has a fan bearing that makes alot of noise during the summer months so i know its on its way out.

was thinking about a 15k unit instead of 13.5k and getting the heat option so i can hopefully not need 3 heaters in the coach. (until i get the comfort hot installed)

[Edward Buker]

William,

I would see if the wiring (which I think is O.K.) and the current thermostats (which I think are not compatible) will work with the new heat pump units. I think for your Florida winter, the heat pumps would work quite well for your location and I would be looking at the same option if I was ready for a replacement. Alliance coach in Wildwood may be a good source for information as well as the heat pump manufacturer.

later Ed

[William Brosam]

looking at something like this where it has its own remote would probably get you around the thermostat issue

http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/rv-air-conditioners/rv-heat-pumps-carrier.htm

i like the dehumidifier function alot

[David T. Richelderfer]

When I have the coach plugged into 50 amp or have the generator running I use the three roof-mounted units as either heat pumps or air conditioners.  IMO, the heat pumps put out near the same amount of heat that my AquaHot-connected furnaces put out.  When plugged into 30 amp I can use one heat pump or one air conditioner.  Of course, when I am boondocking and want to run the generator minimally, or when plugged into 30 amp, then I use the AquaHot and furnaces if more heat is needed.  I like the versatility of having both the heat pumps and furnaces.  When traveling down the road I can use the engine-connected furnaces.  BTW, these are all the same furnaces.  Their heat source comes from three places, the AquaHot diesel burner, the hydronic heater (electric element), and the engine (engine waste heat coolant circulation); and the heat may come from one, or two, or three of these sources concurrently depending upon the availability of the heat source.

[William Brosam]

nice definitely gonna look into this option some more.

[Richard And Babs Ames]

We went from 13,500 to 15,000 BTU heat pumps over 5 years ago. Great here in Fl were you do not get the real cold temps.

[William Brosam]

richard which ones did you get?

[Jim Nichols]

William,
Have you pulled the a/c cover and looked at the fan while running?  Or turn by hand when off.   When our new front a/c was one year old the began making rumbling sounds.  I pulled the cover and spun the fan by hand and found it touching the shroud. The brackets holding the fan motor were loose. It's worth a look and see.

[William Brosam]

Jim i have not yet, but i can tell that the air from the front is nothing like the ice cold air from the newer back unit, making noises and it appears the front unit is the original unit from 2000.

front unit operates and blows cold but not COLD like the back unit.

[Jim Nichols]

Yep time for it to move on. 15k w/heat pump will do it.

[Joel Ashley]

Like David, I enjoy the versatility of choice that our heat pumps offer.  When I've already paid for park power, why should I use my diesel to fuel the HydroHot?  I can use the electric element of the HHot, but what we've found is that the floor outlet (exchanger) fans are friggin' noisy, and interfere with evening TV.  Comfortable conversations in the living area with visitors or ourselves is less than great.  There are quieter versions of exchanger fans available, but I've never found enough impetus to shell out for replacements.

We used to have a propane furnace on our old Pace Arrow, but quite often when I paid for park power I used the heat strip in the one roof air to heat the coach.  It wasn't at that time a super great heat source, but I easily installed it myself and it sufficed to save some propane when things were cool outside but not freezing.  It wasn't quite the same as today's actual heat pumps though.

In our Beaver, by kibashing the HHot thermostat up front and turning on the rear AConditioner's heat pump side, and partially closing the bedroom door or (on our particular floor plan) swinging open the bathroom door to block some AC sound, annoying noise is mitigated up front.  In moderate ambient outdoor temps, enough heat gets through the ceiling ports up front to keep things comfortable, rather than expecting the rear floor registers and HHot electric to leach enough heat up to the front.  The hitch is that heat pumps only work down to a certain ambient temperature, at which point they cannot extract heat from outside air.  After that, you must revert to hydronic floor heat.

Generally, an AC heat pump will cease trying to extract heat at 30 degrees F.  Modern DuoTherm thermostat controls will automatically switch at that point to hydronic heat - "Aux Heat" on the control display.  When outside temps return to about 42 degrees F, the AC heat pump is automatically turned back on.  This automation of course can only occur if you leave the hydronic unit on in either diesel or electric mode so that hot boiler fluid is available to the floor exchangers.

Also be aware that within that 30 to 42 degree range, every 40 minutes the device will go through about a 5 minute defrost cycle, and then resume operation.

Joel

[Dennis Crawford]

We have the heat pumps.  They served us well why in Glacier NP in May.  The way our stats and system work is if the heat pump cannot keep up, the furnace will come on.

My front one on my 05 Monterey is about shot as well.

Dennis

[William Brosam]

what brand of units do you guys have that you are satisfied with, dometic? coleman?

[Jim Nichols]

Dometic low profile. It was 4 years ago and I think they called it a Penguin II.

[Joel Ashley]

Dometic