Houghton AC with heat pump

[Unit # 1]

I had been wondering how the heat pump would work for heating the trailer in 40 degree weather. I had a heat pump in a house 20 years ago and remember it not working well below 36 degree or so. The propane heater in my old camper was loud and would wake me when it cycled. The heater in the new Escape is much quieter but I prefer not to use the propane while I am paying for power at a campground or when I am plugged in at home.

I have been using it now in the 40's and have been impressed with how it heats and how quiet it runs. The fan has been running most of the time but cycles up when compressor runs and down when it cycles off. The roof top unit also spreads the heat around the coach much better than the small portable heaters I have been using. Cycling up and down are smooth and you don't notice much. It does pull up to 1100-1200 watts while compressor runs full, cycling lower draw depending on demand, and down to 50 watts with fan only. It cycles up smoothly also and draw does not jump up quickly (Must have soft start built in) an runs fine of the inverter.

I'm sure I will be using only propane heater while off grid, but this seems a great option while on shore power.

[sofmerc]

I have been happy with the heat pump on my Houghton.... Down to mid 20's at night last year at the Fl Egg rally.... Been down in low 40/s and low 50's last few nights in North Fl. I'm on day 3 of being comfortable without furnace... I also crack a window and have Maxfan on exhaust... to keep humidity below 60%. Nice thing about the heat pump is, you don't use propane if connected to shore power...

[rubicon327]

As one that did a mini-split heat pump in 2016 and has been advocating for better RV air-conditioning equipment offerings I’m thrilled that Escape listened to its customers and offered the Houghton on the 23. I hope they expand it as an option on the other models.

[gklott]

We too are pleased with the Houghton AC3400’s heating capability. Our use has been into the upper 20ºF at 4000 ft elevation. The heat pump option was a major reason for our selecting the 13.5k BTU AC3400 over the cooling-only 9.5k BTU AC2801. We think our quiet AC3400 is the best upgrade we have made in our E19.

[bborzell]

After nearly 20 years, we replaced one of our two propane fired heaters in our home with a new efficient propane model. As it turned out, I would have preferred to have installed the same heat pump that we used a year later when we replaced the 2nd unit.

Heat pumps have come a long way in recent years. The heat pump side of the house keeps temps consistently comfortable down to at least 20 F so far. The propane side performed admirably too, but the cost of propane will never again see a downward slope, IMV.

The mini-split I installed in my shop provides the best heat the shop has ever seen.

[Unit # 1]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

As one that did a mini-split heat pump in 2016 and has been advocating for better RV air-conditioning equipment offerings I’m thrilled that Escape listened to its customers and offered the Houghton on the 23. I hope they expand it as an option on the other models.

It is great that they are going to make available on all their units going forward. I saw this in their "Year end highlights" .