Heat Pump?

[tclem177]

Does anyone on here have one of their A/C units that has the heat pump?
I was looking around and found out that they do or did offer an A/C and Heat pump for an overhead unit.
If anyone does have one of these units i would really like to know if you liked it or not. poss/cons?
maybe to be installed on the third unit over my garage area.

[howson]

Does anyone on here have one of their A/C units that has the heat pump?
I was looking around and found out that they do or did offer an A/C and Heat pump for an overhead unit.
If anyone does have one of these units i would really like to know if you liked it or not. poss/cons?
maybe to be installed on the third unit over my garage area.

Moved your post to it's own thread. (I don't have a heat pump so nothing to add.)

-Howard

[steve&renee]

Having said that, heat pumps, at some outside temperature will first reach their "balance point". This is a temperature that the can provide enough heat to maintain the need for heat. Once it gets colder outside, there is more demand than they are able to keep up with. ...

As I understand it, the RV models do not do that and then they will simply will not operate.

... so the heat pump is great for those nights when the temps are going to dip down into the 40s or 50s, yet you want some heat inside so that you don't wake up to a 50 degree inside of the trailer.

Second everything said in Triplethreat 's original response. To emphasize a couple points:

One of our two AC units has the heat pump. Definitely do not expect it to be a primary source of heat, and do not expect it to work well below 50 degrees.

As for not operating if it's too cold, ours seems to continue to operate and just blow cold air. When that happens, the "not operate" part is me shutting the darn thing off because it feels like the AC has kicked in. Brrr!

My take: I wouldn't pay extra for the heat pump feature. The fireplace is more effective.


-Steve

[Canyonlight]

steve&renee Triplethreat Guys - good feedback ! Carol and I are considering the HP on our next RV. I have also seen other posts over the years where some folks have shared that the HP feature when operating is quite noisy. Any feedback on this ?

Thanks, Dan

[steve&renee]

[USER="911"]... the HP feature when operating is quite noisy.

IMO, no more noisy than the AC when cooling -- but that's also is quite noisy.

-Steve

[OffToHavasu]

Heat pumps are great in the temperature ranges described above. The reason we went with the heat pump option is because your not using up your propane to use it. Most parks aren't charging for electricity, so if you run the heat pump you're saving on your propane.

As for the cold air, I'm not sure if these models have it, but most residential units will go in to defrost mode, which is basically back in A/C mode. The outside coils need to defrost, so the system heats it up by running in A/C mode.

[ThePowells]

The noise level is the same as your A/C since the vast majority of the noise is the fan anyway. Our cut off point for effectiveness is about 45 degree and from there go to gas. We also have been known to carry 1500 watt oil filled heaters to avoid using the gas system.

[Canyonlight]

Thanks, all. Our thoughts to spend the relatively small amount to get the HP would still be a go. It is a good option.......just another tool in the toolbox.

Dan

[Cate&Rob]

Another consideration is an electric heating element in (or added to) the air conditioning system. This will work at any outside temperature (not dependent on the heat pump technology). Probably not as efficient as an electric fireplace heating element because heat naturally rises, so trying to distribute heat through overhead ductwork is less than ideal.
https://www.rvpartscountry.com/Domet...eat-Strip.html as an example.

Rob

[Canyonlight]

Another consideration is an electric heating element in (or added to) the air conditioning system. This will work at any outside temperature (not dependent on the heat pump technology). Probably not as efficient as an electric fireplace heating element because heat naturally rises, so trying to distribute heatt through overhead ductwork is less than ideal.
https://www.rvpartscountry.com/Domet...eat-Strip.html as an example.

Rob

Rob - we had this in two of our prior mini homes and used it quite often in the cooler temps. It worked well. When our second AC was installed by Jerry's team in spring of 2018, I see that it does appear to have the option to install the heat strip.

Dan

[boyscout]

Does anyone on here have one of their A/C units that has the heat pump? I was looking around and found out that they do or did offer an A/C and Heat pump for an overhead unit. If anyone does have one of these units i would really like to know if you liked it or not. poss/cons? maybe to be installed on the third unit over my garage area.

We have it, the factory option which adds the heat pump to the main cabin A/C only.

Criticisms that I've seen above are accurate (just as noisy as A/C in use, not usable when outside temps are in the 40s). I'll add that at times when it's cold out the air it blows around inside feels more like a cool draft than warm air.

However we're glad to have it.

The option cost only a couple of hundred dollars or so. If you're likely to be camping when temps are in the 50s and 60s - temps that my wife considers to be "freezing" - then the heat pump works well in that range. When electricity is "free" - included in your site fees - running the heat pump is quite a bit cheaper than running the propane furnace. In less than two years we've already made back much of the cost of the option.

BTW, unlike steve&renee 's system ours automatically assigns heating tasks to the furnace if temps are too cold for the heat pump to be effective. We set ours to HEAT ELEC (the heat pump) and if it's too cold out the furnace comes on instead.

[steve&renee]

BTW, unlike steve&renee 's system ours automatically assigns heating tasks to the furnace if temps are too cold for the heat pump to be effective. We set ours to HEAT ELEC (the heat pump) and if it's too cold out the furnace comes on instead.

Well if yours works that way and we both have the same model and year trailer, mine must work that way, too. All I can say for sure is I had cold air blown on me when temps outside were too cold for the darn thing to work.

At least I know what the limitations of the system are. I agree completely with the list of positives you provided.

-Steve

[Derald Jr]

Most of what appears above is correct. My 2020Solitude has Heat Pump and we have used it in around 40 degree in New England. But as temp dropped at night the furnace will automatically come on if HP doestn keep up. If you have set to HP and temps rise the HP will than begin to work again. Trouble with heat pump is, yes it feels like cold air when working because it will only produce 70 degree air while your body temps are around 96 degree (+ - ). Also beware if temps drop with electric heat strip there is no heat being directed to basement area and undercarriage.
Hope this helps. I wouldn't be without it.