A/C heat strip January 25, 2016, 10:48:39 am Yahoo Message Number: 158339I'm considering getting this addition in my 1995TK. Does it actually heat the RV or just take the chill off? Is it worth spending the money on?
Re: A/C heat strip Reply #1 – January 25, 2016, 11:30:33 am Yahoo Message Number: 158341Our heat strip "just takes the chill off." We've found that a small 12.5 amp heater is much better at warming the coach and is clearly much (MUCH) quieter than the heat strip. Btw, our heat strip is built into the Dometic AC unit. I didn't know that it could be an add-on ... learned something new once again. Hope this helps.Ed & Margee Fort Worth
Re: A/C heat strip Reply #2 – January 25, 2016, 12:09:15 pm Yahoo Message Number: 158342Thanks. I was thinking an electric space heater for when we are plugged in would be better.
Re: A/C heat strip Reply #3 – January 25, 2016, 12:17:27 pm Yahoo Message Number: 158343The space heater is far more flexible in directing heat, and situated low, it will do better than a ceiling heater at reaching you. Of course your '95 is old enough the AC may not survive long, if original, so accessorizing it would not be a good investment. Should it fail, you could consider replacing with a heat pump, if electricity cost is a concern. They are more efficient than electric heaters, and may produce more heat.Steve
Re: A/C heat strip Reply #4 – January 26, 2016, 08:36:44 am Yahoo Message Number: 158360Whether the heat strip will warm the coach or just take the chill off depends on how well you have cold-proofed your rig, how cold it is outside, and what is comfortable for you. In my case, I use it. When I am "home" I use a Lasco ceramic radiant tower for my primary heat. It is set at 66. My heat strip in the AC is set at 64. My furnace is set at 60. I have been in temps down to -5 with that combination. Below 30, the furnace will occasionally come on, and the heat strip will frequently come on, but will cycle off. Below 20, the heat strip will be running most of the time. Obviously, at those temps, the Lasco will be on all the time. When I am not "home" I turn the Lasco heater off. On my return, with outside temps down to about 40, my heat strip will cycle on and off, maintaining the thermostat setting without the need to run the furnace. If I were to dial it up to 70, it might be unable to maintain that below about 45 outside. So, in deep cold I rely on my furnace, as the heat strip will not be enough by itself. In moderate cold, it can provide enough heat to make furnace use unnecessary. I hope that helps.Ken F in NM
Re: A/C heat strip Reply #5 – January 27, 2016, 03:37:36 pm Yahoo Message Number: 158395Ted,For my 23' front lounge I have a 1500 watt oil filled heater I take with me for use when I have shore power. Generally speaking, with shades down and the living area isolated from the cab, if the outdoor temperature is above 40 degrees, it will gradually heat the coach. Mid-40's or above and it can bring the cabin up into the mid-60's. Somewhere slightly below 40 degrees outdoors the cabin temperature will start to fall, again gradually depending on the temperature outside.Yesterday, with the shades down and the cabin isolated, the outdoor temp. only made it to around 44 degrees, but by mid-afternoon the cabin was 64. Overnight it got down to 24 degrees outside and the cabin dropped to 50 degrees with no occupants or other heat. Still not bad!The size of the coach, number of occupants, and methods to manage heat loss will all have an effect, so your experience will vary, but this may give you an idea of what to expect. Certainly in fairly mild conditions some sort of free standing electric heater will be worth the money, and even as it gets cooler, if you're paying for shore power, why not use it? Preserving propane and not having the fan running are both welcome benefits.I hope this helps!Bill.
Re: A/C heat strip - now space heaters Reply #6 – January 27, 2016, 04:09:30 pm Yahoo Message Number: 158396Regarding using space heaters when hook-ups are available, keep in mind that most electric pedestals, in addition to 30 and/or 50 amp receptacles, have a 15 or 20 amp outlet. Running an extension cord into your LD through a window or elsewhere allows you to run a second electric heater on really cold days/nights without tapping into the 30 amp limit of the LD.Chris
Re: A/C heat strip - now space heaters Reply #7 – January 28, 2016, 10:20:43 am Yahoo Message Number: 158407"Running an extension cord into your LD through a window or elsewhere allows you to run a second electric heater on really cold days/nights without tapping into the 30 amp limit of the LD."Also remember that the microwave oven and air conditioner are on a separate 15 A circuit. Even if you have electric heaters plugged into your regular outlets up to their capacity, you can still plug another heater into the "special" outlet that serves the microwave (it's usually buried deep inside a kitchen cupboard). Just don't try to use the microwave at the same time.Andy Baird
Re: A/C heat strip - now space heaters Reply #8 – January 28, 2016, 12:30:05 pm Yahoo Message Number: 158409I plugged a short power strip into that outlet and Velcroed it to the wall above the sink and now don't to struggle to get to that "extra" outlet.Chris
Re: A/C heat strip - now space heaters Reply #9 – January 29, 2016, 07:28:18 am Yahoo Message Number: 158412We tried using the microwave outlet for an electric space heater, but found the cord coming out of the cabinet right over the stove was a pain. And I didn't like having a cord running through a window. My solution was a new, separate 20A circuit: a new outlet inside connected to a "reverse" outlet outside. I can now use a heavy duty (#10 wire) extension cord with the female end plugged into the outside "reverse" outlet and the male end plugged into the site's 20A outlet on the utility post. We don't have to remember to turn it off before using some other appliance, be it the toaster oven or the microwave. Pictures and details here.WxToad @ St Bernard SP, LA www.wxtoad.com www.ultimatecampgrounds.com "Running an extension cord into your LD through a window or elsewhere allows you to run a second electric heater on really cold days/nights without tapping into the 30 amp limit of the LD." Also remember that the microwave oven and air conditioner are on a separate 15 A circuit. Even if you have electric heaters plugged into your regular outlets up to their capacity, you can still plug another heater into the "special" outlet that serves the microwave
Re: A/C heat strip - now space heaters Reply #10 – January 29, 2016, 03:57:51 pm Yahoo Message Number: 158416Andy,Clarification, please:It was my understanding we get 30amps total when plugged into a 30amp outlet. I understand the microwave is on a separate breaker, but isn't that still part of the 30amp total?I believe the reason some people run a separate cord off the 20amp shorepower outlet on the post is to access additional power beyond the usual 30amp.Respectfully, Lori Y 2011 24FL
Re: A/C heat strip - now space heaters Reply #11 – January 29, 2016, 08:23:45 pm Yahoo Message Number: 158420"I believe the reason some people run a separate cord off the 20amp shorepower outlet on the post is to access additional power beyond the usual 30amp."Correct. I only mentioned the microwave oven outlet because many people are not aware of it, or of how it's wired, and thus may not realize that using it to power a heater could obviate the need for a separate cord.For the record, Lazy Dazes built since the late 1980s (can anybody fill in the exact date?) have had 30 amp shore power wiring that's split at the breaker box into two 15 A circuits. One circuit powers most of the AC outlets, the converter, and the refrigerator when it's running in either automatic or AC mode. The other 15 A circuit powers the microwave oven (via a dedicated AC outlet buried deep in a cabinet) and the air conditioner, which is hardwired.(Some LDs also have an inverter-powered AC outlet located in a cabinet near the TV set, but you won't be plugging any heaters into that--it only supplies 400 watts, and that power comes from your house batteries.)Thus, if you have as many heaters as your "regular" AC outlets can handle, and assuming you're not using either the air conditioner or microwave oven, you can use the special "microwave outlet" to power another heater.One other thing to keep in mind--I know this has been mentioned before, but it bears repeating--is that when in either AC or automatic mode, the refrigerator intermittently draws about 350 watts (3 amps at 120 V). If you have multiple heaters plugged into your regular AC outlets and the breaker keeps tripping, you might try switching the fridge over to LP operation to eliminate that load.Similarly, in summertime if you're visiting friends or relatives and are plugged into a 15 A household outlet rather than 30 A, you may want to switch the fridge to LP operation so that your air conditioner doesn't trip their breaker.Andy Baird
Re: A/C heat strip - now space heaters Reply #12 – January 29, 2016, 10:26:29 pm Yahoo Message Number: 158423I've read about this microwave plug in the cabinet and could not find it. So once more I take a look. Our plug is above the sink in the lower cabinet and on the outside wall. It's actually not real easy to see. That AC plug gives us a total of 8, which is one more than the spec sheet. What a hoot!!.Ed & Margee Bonham SP
Re: A/C heat strip - now space heaters Reply #13 – January 29, 2016, 10:56:58 pm Yahoo Message Number: 158424I bought a special extension cord to plug into the microwave plug in the cabinet. I got it at Lowes. it is heavy duty and it allows me to use that circuit more easily as the extension cord is 2.5 feet. david
Re: A/C heat strip - now space heaters Reply #14 – January 30, 2016, 10:47:58 am Yahoo Message Number: 158431I know this has been addressed to some extent in The Lazy Daze Companion under Electric Heaters, but would offer the following for consideration when adding an additional heater with an extension cord to the pedestal, or when using the microwave outlet for a second heater. Good practice recommends electrical conductors\cords used for continuous duty (more than three hours) should not be loaded to more than 80% of their rated capacity. A 1500 watt heater @ 120 volts will draw 12.5 amps, slightly exceeding this recommendation if one happened to be using a 14 gauge extension cord rated for 15 amps. Two 1500 watt heaters operated off of the 30 amp service cord to the RV will draw 25 amps, which again slightly exceeds the recommended continuousduty amps of the cord. Either of these could potentially cause overheating of the wire, especially when considering other factors such as additional loads, cord length and integrity, the receptacle connections, and ambient temperature. IMHO, to be safe, a 12 gauge extension cord should be considered the minimum appropriate to the pedestal for an additional 1500 watt heater. If using the microwave outlet, one of the two heaters should be operated at no more than 1000 watts and the other at 1500. This would result in a combined load of about 21 amps, allowing for other loads such as computer, TV, refrigerator, etc. without too much concern for pushing the limit for long periods of time.Submitted respectfully. I hope this is helpful.Bill 2003 - 23' FL
Re: A/C heat strip - now space heaters Reply #15 – January 30, 2016, 11:09:24 am Yahoo Message Number: 158432Andy, Thank you for the thorough explanation. As always, it helps better understand LD systems.Lori Y 2011 24FL
Re: A/C heat strip - now space heaters Reply #16 – January 30, 2016, 11:41:35 am Yahoo Message Number: 158434Good points, Bill.When I buy a new space heater, the first thing I do is test it at home using a Kill-A-Watt meter. I run it at each heat setting and mark on the back or bottom with a Sharpie how many amps each setting draws. Knowing this exact amperage info helps prevent tripping the breaker when the electrical draw is borderline.Chris
Re: Space heaters Reply #17 – January 30, 2016, 07:12:21 pm Yahoo Message Number: 158436For what it's worth, I've found that with the heaters I prefer ($16 Pelonis cheapies from Walmart), I rarely need to use any but the lowest heat setting. These heaters draw 600, 900, or 1,500 watts depending upon the setting. On the 600 W setting, I can run two of them on the same 15 A household circuit... and in in my experience, two heaters running on low power do a much better job of heating the whole coach than one heater on high power.Andy Baird
Re: Space heaters Reply #18 – January 30, 2016, 07:16:59 pm Yahoo Message Number: 158437Hey Andy, Please send me the Link to the repair instructions for replacing the Black Tank Valve. Escondido, CA John
Re: Space heaters Reply #19 – January 30, 2016, 09:18:22 pm Yahoo Message Number: 158439The LD Companion is a good place to look for this type of information. http://lazydazearticles.blogspot.com/search/label/Holding%20Tank%20Valves?m=0Larry
Re: A/C heat strip - now space heaters Reply #20 – January 31, 2016, 02:17:08 am Yahoo Message Number: 158441Bill makes some good points about the load carrying capacity of power cords. There is another consideration that limits what you can, or should, do. The duplex outlets in most homes and coaches are "15-amp outlets" that are intended to be connected to a 15 amp circuit breaker with #14 wire. (The exception, typically, is the microwave outlet which is generally a "20 amp outlet" connected to a 20 amp circuit breaker with #12 wire.) However, the NEC limits the current drawn from these outlets to 80% of their rated capacity or about 12 amps for a 15 amp outlet. (NEC applies to motorhomes that conform to RVIA Standards.) Even with the limited current it is not uncommon to have these outlets "get warm" over an extended period of use. Often the issue is the quality of the duplex outlet. Many of the home improvement stores sell some pretty cheap outlets. The difference in quality of a $1.50 outlet and a $4.00 outlet can be significant.Doug Baker
Re: Space heaters Reply #21 – February 01, 2016, 06:22:31 pm Yahoo Message Number: 158472I have been following the comments concerning heat, heaters, etc. I have a question regarding heat/heat loss through the storage compartment located behind the range and kitchen drawers in our 04 MB.This compartment is very open; I.E. not sealed or segmented off at all. When the temperatures are cold outside, drafts circulate within the kitchen area. I have checked the storage door seal and it appears to be OK. My question is: does anyone know of safety issues or venting requirements that would be compromised if I used insulation board to completely seal off the compartment and eliminate drafts from the compartment into the drawer, under sink, and range areas? I would do this in a way that the board would not come into direct contact with the back of the range.All other storage compartments seem to be much better enclosed than this one. Barring venting/safety issues, I don't understand why this compartment would not have been better sealed off from the inside of the unit by the factory.Jim NC, 04 MB
Re: A/C heat strip - now space heaters Reply #22 – February 02, 2016, 06:47:53 am Yahoo Message Number: 158476Doug Thank you for commenting on my post and for adding to it! I had thought about mentioning outlets and circuit breakers as part of it, but decided not to stray too far from my main point. I'm glad I didn't. You added important information to the topic that I could not have hoped to do in such a clear and efficient manner.Respectfully,Bill
Re: Space heaters Reply #23 – February 02, 2016, 08:59:24 am Yahoo Message Number: 158479Jim, I am confused. I have an '08 MB. I have no storage compartment behind my range and kitchen drawers. There is a drawer under the refrigerator that has the external battery compartment behind it. There is a small dead air space behind the oven and the two drawers to the left of the oven. That space has no exterior opening. There is a storage area beneath the sink which, if you have the external shower option, has an opening to an exterior opening, the door closing the external shower access. The exterior wall of the storage space under the sink is insulated and sealed just like the rest of the exterior wall. To the rear of the space is an interior wall providing openings for plumbing needs. To the front of the space is a thin partition that prevents items stored under the sink from sliding against or behind the drawers. That partition is open at the top to allow air circulation to and from the space behind the oven. The only vented areas on the left side of my rig are the refrigerator service/vent area and the battery storage compartment. Both are vented of necessity and must not be obstructed. The few inches of area behind the oven is there to allow cooling of the oven exterior. The clearance is necessary and air flow there should not be blocked, else you risk heat damage to your rig, if that is what you are asking about, but that certainly is not a storage space, just clearance for safety. I know of no door providing access to this space, much less an exterior door with a seal. So, I cannot picture the storage area you are talking about. Can you give more description of the area you are concerned about, and how you want to block it?Ken F in NM
Re: A/C heat strip Reply #24 – February 02, 2016, 10:04:20 am Yahoo Message Number: 158482Are there any plumbing runs, fresh water or drains, through that compartment? If so, do more insulating between the compartment and the outside. Let interior heat prevent freezing of the lines. I.e., if there are drafts from outside air into the compartment, seal those leaks. In general, all exterior compartments above the floor line should be within the insulated perimeter. An exception would be full-height compartments that extend below the floor line too. Those should be insulated and sealed from the interior.Steve
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Topic: A/C heat strip (Read 14 times)
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