Possible a electric heater installed?

[Silverado23]

The wife and I was camping this past weekend and the weather was cold and wet. So I decided to snoop around the inside of the trailer. I decided to check the filter on the AC and found this. I want to know if anyone has had an electric heater installed where the AC unit is? I didn't know this was an option.

If your A/C unit is ducted and is a coleman, chances are it will not work with a heat strip.
I have two A/Cs in my North trail. Both have a similar(if not identical) labels on the A/C units marking where a heat strip can be installed. However, the limitation the ducted ceiling assembly is not compatible with a heat strip and cannot have a heat strip install. The other is non-ducted and I installed the heat strip. It was a very easy straight forward installation. It did not take very long to install the heat strip. The kit consists of the heat strip and a replacement knob for the ceiling assembly that includes a low heat setting.

So far, the heat strip has been more than enough to heat the entire rv and maintain the temperature when the nights have been in the forties this past week.

 

[jmgratz]

FYI - The fireplace is nothing but a fancy 1500 watt electric space heater. Neat and functional.

 

[Bones]

If your A/C unit is ducted and is a coleman, chances are it will not work with a heat strip.
I have two A/Cs in my North trail. Both have a similar(if not identical) labels on the A/C units marking where a heat strip can be installed. However, the limitation the ducted ceiling assembly is not compatible with a heat strip and cannot have a heat strip install. The other is non-ducted and I installed the heat strip. It was a very easy straight forward installation. It did not take very long to install the heat strip. The kit consists of the heat strip and a replacement knob for the ceiling assembly that includes a low heat setting.

So far, the heat strip has been more than enough to heat the entire rv and maintain the temperature when the nights have been in the forties this past week.

What is it about the ducted system that is not compatible?

 

[jbeletti]

What is it about the ducted system that is not compatible?

Probably a combustibility issue with the intensity of the heat from the red-hot strip into the duct work.

 

[Silverado23]

Control box and thermostat compatibility.

I did some more digging and found a document for a control box indicating that if you have the correct control box and thermostat, You could, potentially, install a heat strip in a ducted ceiling assembly. I will have to take another look at my ducted ceiling assembly... The ceiling assembly may still be part of the issue.

The biggest problem that I saw was cost. If I need to replace a control box and a thermostat, in addition to the cost of adding a heat strip it may not be worth it.
The control box alone was nearly $200 and a compatible thermostat was over $100 and that did not even include the cost of a heat strip, shipping or installation costs if you don't do it yourself.

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Probably a combustibility issue with the intensity of the heat from the red-hot strip into the duct work.

The heat strip in my unit does not get red hot. Probably because the high air flow and the cooling fins hide the element.

 

[iowaone]

David. Maybe you could install one in my rear cyclone AC over thanksgiving

 

[jmgratz]

Wouldn't it be easier to change out the AC for a Heat Pump?

 

[Silverado23]

Wouldn't it be easier to change out the AC for a Heat Pump?

Considering the added cost of the heat pump, It may be easier to change out the A/C if you have other reasons to replace the A/C. The ceiling assemblies, control boxes and thermostats are all more or less replaceable on their own (within a brand) and may be necessary to replace if you were to install a heat pump anyway. If you switch brands your more likely to have to replace everything rather than just switch out a couple of items to make it heat strip ready.

The heat pump may have an advantage of having up to 3 times the heating capacity (15K BTU vs 5000 BTU) of the heat strip so if your really needing to supply a lot of heat, there may be that advantage. But if you already have other heating options, The heat strip as supplemental heat may be the better option.

In my situation, I did not want to run a space heater in the bunk area where my kids are present as a safety concern but really needed to offset the cost of heating with propane. Another advantage of the heat strip is that it uses the dedicated power circuit rather than use an electric outlet. The fan in the ceiling AC is much stronger and so far, I can pretty much heat the entire RV with the heat strip and use little propane. The daytime temperatures so far have been 50-60s with lows down around 30-40. Now when it gets colder, I do expect to either run a space heater in addition to the heat strip and supplement it with the furnace.

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David. Maybe you could install one in my rear cyclone AC over thanksgiving

Yes, I probably can do that for you. Send me the serial and model numbers of the AC and ceiling assembly, I will find the heat strip for you.

 

[porthole]

We have a ducted and non ducted AC unit and both are equipped with heat strips.
I do supplement them with a Pelonis disc heater (one of the originals).

I added a couple of 20 amp circuits just for space heater use, one in the main room and one in the garage.