heat

stpax · 11-23-2019, 02:31 PM

We purchased a 2016 21 and camped on our first fall trip...when we were just propane, the heat would come on and off from the unit. When we were hooked up to electricity, the air conditioner ran blowing air continuously. It wasn't cold air and i figured it was just circulating the heat...I'm guessing? Is this normal? it just seems loud at times. thanks Steve

cpaharley2008 · 11-23-2019, 02:36 PM

Read your manual on the thermostat, you may have to set it to Auto to keep the a/c fan off. Or you may have the optional heat strip, is this a used unit or do you have all the paper/manuals that came with the unit?

davidmurphy02 · 11-23-2019, 02:41 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjlRayhj-44&t=266s

dfandrews · 11-23-2019, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidmurphy02

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjlRayhj-44&t=266s

I take it that you are hinting, David.

stpax · 11-24-2019, 05:30 PM

What i can see i have, is not what is in the owners manual.it has a digital temp readout on the right. Fan Cooling and Furnace on the left. On and Off on the bottom.

cpaharley2008 · 11-24-2019, 05:49 PM

that is the first type of digital Escape used before the one in use now. Dometic or the files section here on the forum may have the manual.

mimie · 11-24-2019, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Read your manual on the thermostat, you may have to set it to Auto to keep the a/c fan off. Or you may have the optional heat strip

Chiming in with my own questions.

Have the new digital thermostat, have A/C with heat strip. Didn't know what the heat strip did, exactly, when I ordered, but "it seemed like I should get it". Have learned a bit more since ordering, but still a bit mystified by it.

That Escape training video #23 helps me understand how A/C, A/C fan and propane furnace work. But - heat strip was not mentioned. Questions:

1. If turn on A/C and set thermostat a few degrees higher than ambient temp, is that when heat strip engages?

2. How much help might I be able to expect from the heat strip - ie, when would it be ok/better to use it, than to use propane furnace?

cpaharley2008 · 11-24-2019, 06:40 PM

The heat strip will be louder than the propane furnace as it uses the a/c fan speed which you can set to low. The colder it is the more heat you will get from the propane furnace as the heat strip is just to take the chill off and not full time heat alone. That said I have never used nor seen one.

stpax · 11-24-2019, 07:04 PM

so if this is my thermostat, and from reading, i think i must have a heat strip...because my AC turns on when i put the heat on...but only when I'm hooked up to AC....is there a way i can turn that off and just use propane to heat the trailer? Can i install a new thermostat that bypasses the option? The sound is just too loud for my ears...
we haven't run the air conditioner other than in our driveway for a check...but from what i read it sounds like that is loud too. thanks

steve dunham · 11-24-2019, 07:08 PM

We had the electric heat strip in our Casita 17SD

1) Heated our trailer when outside temps were below zero F
2) We did not find the noise level to be objectionable
3) More reliable than our current Attwood furnace
4) It never ran out of fuel in the middle of the night
5) No worry over carbon monoxide build up
6) Does not take up trailer space or tip over like a portable electric heater

** Our next trailer will have the built in electric strip heater **

cpaharley2008 · 11-24-2019, 07:10 PM

I always thought they were auxiliary heaters, not the main one? What wattage are they 1k or 1.5 k or more?

cpaharley2008 · 11-24-2019, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stpax

so if this is my thermostat, and from reading, i think i must have a heat strip...because my AC turns on when i put the heat on...but only when I'm hooked up to AC....is there a way i can turn that off and just use propane to heat the trailer? Can i install a new thermostat that bypasses the option? The sound is just too loud for my ears...
we haven't run the air conditioner other than in our driveway for a check...but from what i read it sounds like that is loud too. thanks

Unless you paid for it and it is on your build sheet I would not assume you have the electric strip heat option. The video explains how to turn off the fan when using the furnace....

steve dunham · 11-24-2019, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

I always thought they were auxiliary heaters, not the main one? What wattage are they 1k or 1.5 k or more?

Our was 1700 watts or 5800 BTU’s
The Escape furnace is 12,000 BTU imput - assuming 60% efficiency 7200 BTU output

dfandrews · 11-24-2019, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steve dunham

Our was 1700 watts or 5800 BTU’s
The Escape furnace is 12,000 BTU imput - assuming 60% efficiency 7200 BTU output

FYI

AFSAD Furnace is 76% eff.: 9120 Btu/H output

rubicon327 · 11-24-2019, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stpax

What i can see i have, is not what is in the owners manual.it has a digital temp readout on the right. Fan Cooling and Furnace on the left. On and Off on the bottom.

Steve: You probably don’t have the heat strip. It’s a rare option and I believe your thermostat would need another mode for heat strip to be selected. See picture attached. As others have said you probably just need to set the fan to “auto”. If it is not in auto the A/C fan will run when the furnace heating mode is enabled. See below for further info.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

The video explains how to turn off the fan when using the furnace....

The Escape video that was posted is for the newer thermostat. Here is a link to a video that should explain the issue and how to get the fan in auto for the exact thermostat that Steve has:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tYD5FN6SmjQ

stpax · 11-25-2019, 03:27 PM

Thank you very much! That video explains everything...the other videos have a different setup and my owners manual showed one that was different also. I could not figure out what the problem was, with only four buttons! thanks again

rubicon327 · 11-25-2019, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stpax

Thank you very much! That video explains everything...the other videos have a different setup and my owners manual showed one that was different also. I could not figure out what the problem was, with only four buttons! thanks again

Glad I could help

rubicon327 · 11-26-2019, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stpax

...the other videos have a different setup and my owners manual showed one that was different also.

This should be the manual you need...
https://www.intechtrailers.com/image...ion-manual.pdf

cpaharley2008 · 11-26-2019, 07:36 AM

I'll add it to our files section...thanks

rick · 12-04-2019, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steve dunham

We had the electric heat strip in our Casita 17SD

1) Heated our trailer when outside temps were below zero F
2) We did not find the noise level to be objectionable
3) More reliable than our current Attwood furnace
4) It never ran out of fuel in the middle of the night
5) No worry over carbon monoxide build up
6) Does not take up trailer space or tip over like a portable electric heater

** Our next trailer will have the built in electric strip heater **

We used the heat strip in our Casita all the time, which is why we added it as an option to our Escape 19. After a couple of tries in cold weather, we came to the exact same conclusions, and haven't used it since.

We had a number of issues with the Atwood in our 19 over the first year we owned the trailer; ultimately it was traced to a couple of bad Dometic thermostat units, which control both the heat and the a/c. Lesson learned there...

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