Heat Pumps

[mikell]

Were fulltiming and are owners unless you concider the $1500 a month minimum for electric and $600 for water we don't pay for anything just the propane we use and this year someone left behind a full 300# tank so I think were good till about Feburary.I have an inline watt meter but it's for 30 amp cord if somebody wants it make me an offer

The weather has been real wet and cool high 30's and I think the unit freezes up but it knows it and seems to run to thaw it. I might be wrong but that seems to be happening. Snow this afternoon so we'll see what happens in the next week it might be furnace time

[mikell]

Going to call it quits with the logging the unit is working fine but I think all the wet weather is causing it to freeze up but it seems to take care of itself and have only had the furnace on once.

I think it's a wonderul thing to have and works well down to 30 if it's dry then it seems to freeze but does thaw itself out. All in all worth the few extra bucks

[mikell]

Been 30 or less every night and it's still working fine. I'ts slow so in the morning so I turn the furnace on when I hit the shower. it's set at 68 at night and keeps that.

[mikell]

Heatpump update. everything seems to be working fine in the warm Michigan winter. The heat pump has been great and when it defrost the thermostat tells you whats going on. It flashes DEFR . Last night the furnace came on I got up and checked and it was set to heat pump so I can only guess if it's too cold for the heat pump the furnace automatically takes over. Got down to 26 last night. So far it seems to be a great setup.

[CarKath]

Hi Mike;

Can you post what thermostat and what settings you are using? I am not getting the same results as you when heating with the heat pump.

For example, I had thermostat set to heatpump last night. Set point of 69. When I got up this morning it was down to 58 in the trailer. Outside temp was around 39. Also my furnace never kicked in automatically to maintain set point.

So I guess I am asking what mode you use for it to work as it does for yourself?

I would love to use heat pump instead of furnance, but it is not quit keeping up.

Thanks in advance for your input Mike

[mikell]

Don't know I'm just sitting it on HP and it has been working great. It's a 2010 model Alpine so I would assume the HP is about the same year. I was suprised when the furnace kicked in I didn't know it would do that I thought Janet changed the setting. Then this morning it was about 30 and the HP started working again

[CarKath]

Hi Mike;

Here is an image of thermostat I have

I did the unthinkable and read over the instructions again. I have done a factory reset on it and will let you know how it works out. I have it set to heat pump at 68 degrees. Fan speed set to auto. It is only supposed to get down to 45 tonight.

[mikell]

I screwed it up and did a reset and after that was the first time the furnace came on . It is the same thermostat. 33 outside 72 in here

[mikell]

Down t 23 last night the heat pump then let the furnace run. The thermostat flashed HP FURN and kept us warm with 50 MPH winds and all

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/data/obhistory/KBEH.html

[smiller]

Whenever I compute it the cost of propane and resistive electric heat come out to be roughly equivalent (of course much depends on what you pay for each, but assuming national averages it is pretty close.) Since a heat pump is a good deal more efficient than resistive heating I would expect it to be the most economical of all (assuming it is not always below freezing outside.) I'd like to have one and will pay the extra $200-$300 premium for one when my A/C dies, but I don't think it would be cost-effective to toss an existing healthy A/C unit to install a heat pump version. Maybe someday...

[mikell]

You could put the old AC unit in the bedroom area or sell it .You would probably be suprised what it might bring in. The after market wiring might be a bit to deal with though

[LeeMedic]

In very cold environments, doesn't running the furnace help keep the pipes in the basement from freezing up?

[Festus2]

You might want to read geo's recent post in the Repairs and Maintenance section in which he relates his findings about the so-called Polar, Arctic and other names Keystone has given to their units. A great and informative read -- He speaks about insulation and freezing temps with respect to tanks and plumbing.

[geo]

Festus2 -

Thanks! I hope to finish installing the insulation this weekend and will be upgrading my "basement air circulation" contraption in the process. I will also have more comments about tank insulation thanks to Steve's insight and advice! And thanks to Steve's insight, I now have different concerns about these "packages" and how they might add to the moisture content (free water) held inside the basements. When I complete the insulation installation over the top of the tanks, I'll take the final pictures and post this Modification on the forward black and gray1 tanks.

LeeMedic - If you look in the Modifications for 2010, maybe around August or September (?), you will find information on my present "basement air circulation" contraption. It is a 12VDC system that utilizes an Inboard/Outboard Bilge Fan, a 200mm silent computer fan, and plastic/aluminum ductwork. I have decided to replace this with a 120VAC Radon Abatement Fan. When I do, I'll post the results in Modifications.

LeeMedic - Here is the link to the older basement circulator system I built: http://www.keystonerv.org/forums/showthread.php?t=2001

There are several reasons, but I chose not to "winterize" this year. Rather I used my AirWedge/kayak inflator to blow the water out of the lines and am relying on the furnace set at 45F and the circulator to keep the pipes and my Reverse Osmosis unit from freezing. So far, it's been a mild winter in north Texas, so I don't really believe my "system" has been fully tested. Glad it hasn't!

Ron

[mikell]

OK 40 today now 29 and still pumping heat. Probably switch to furnace oon but working well

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/data/obhistory/KBEH.html

Going to let this thread die now I do product testing for a living and have a tendency to monitor everything new. So here's a nice litt bunch of data loggers that are really simple to use and quite cheap. Good to diagnose electrical or temperature problems.

http://www.dataq.com/products/hardwa...ta-logger.html





Temperature -35 to +80°C
(-31 to +176°F)
Temperature -20 to +60°C
(-4 to +140°F)
Temperature -40 to +125°C
(-40 to +257°F)

Humidity
temperature, dew point 0 to 100% RH
-35 to +80°C
(-31 to +176°F) * * *
*
Voltage 0 to 30 VDC

Process current 4 to 20 mA

Event, State, Count 3-28 VDC

Thermocouple
(no display) -130 to +900°C (J)
-200 to +1300°C (K)
-200 to +350°C (T)

Thermocouple
(with display) -100 to +900°C (J)
-200 to +1300°C (K)
-200 to +400°C (T)

Carbon monoxide 0 to 1000 ppm

PC connected Temperature, Humidity, Dew point