You can run the Aqua Hot on diesel or electric or both. I use the diesel when the electric is not sufficient to meet the heating needs when we are staying in the coach. And my rule of pinkie finger has been to turn on diesel if the ambient drops to about 45 degrees.
I wonder though if the electric alone is sufficient if the difference between ambient and desired interior temperature is small? Or is the need for the diesel triggered solely by the ambient temperature?
Example: If ambient is 35 degrees and the coach inside temperature is set at 55 degrees, can electric only handle that or does it need the diesel to supplement? (I am pretty sure the diesel has to be used if ambient is 35 degrees and you want 72 degrees in the coach).
Just curious, not a huge deal.
When it gets cold I run both elec and Diesel together. The newer units with two electric heaters can mostly run on electric. 45 is not cold single digits are cold.
I am going to plug mine in tonight as the temps are getting low next week (30's). will the electric keep up if I want the coach to keep from freezing if I turn the thermostat to 45 degrees?
Run interior heat till the electric can no longer keep you comfortable inside. Then add the diesel burner.
As the outside temp desends, the electric element will be on 24/7 unless you lower the thermostat to a temp it can keep up with. That temp will be to low for me but may be grand for you.
David S., that what I am trying to get to. I want to be able to set the inside temp to about 55 and not be in it, so not know if electric can keep up or be comfortable and turn on the diesel if it not.....but rather can the electric keep the inside to say 55 or 60 without me having to go off and leave the diesel on and be inside to monitor it, IF the ambient is say 30 degrees? As I will not be there to know, I am having to guess.....hopefully educated
I could just take the tact that as long as it is not freezing outside, do nothing. But it is kinda not like my old CJ2B jeep left out at the cabin in the forest....it just had to take whatever it became. But Gus? Just leave it real cold....oh no, momma not going to like that!
As John S suggests, we are not all that cold here (to him, but 30 is to me!) so I am planning for when we get to 20 for a couple of days, that is enough to do damage to the coach pipes.
Hope all are well and snugly warm....we may have to build a fire inside tonight, I think getting down to 40 degrees!
Turn them both on. Electric thermostat is higher temp than diesel. Diesel will only turn on if electric can't keep up and temp falls below diesel switch on temp. No need to get involved.
Assumes coach is not inside a structure......
Not to hijack but how many watts is the electric element. Up here the cost of the electricity could cripple you if left on for days at a time.
About 1600 watts, same as small 110v box heater. That's the reason you cannot heat coach and have hot shower in cold weather, without using diesel side.
You will be fine mike at 20 degrees if it is only for the night with electric but my rule of thumb has been if it goes below freezing I turn in the diesel. That burner heats up the basement as well as the vents and have not had an issue down to 6 below zero in the winter. Now starting the coach it sounded like it ate a toaster.
Oh and James t said set the inside heat at 65 or higher to insure the basement does not freeze,when I had propane but the AH has a thermostat in the basement you can adjust to I think about 55 degrees max
Mike, in the 2001 coach with an AH (and earlier years with the same madel AH) the basement thermostat will call for heat at whatever temp you set it at. If you set it to 40° for example and it drops below 40° where the thermostat is located then the AH pump for that zone will come on and the heat exchanger fans will come on. This happens whether you have the AH electric or diesel on or not. The thermostat does not appear to have an off position so with the AH off it will try to heat the bay with a cold supply from the AH.
If you do not need to heat the bay then turn it to the lowest possible temp setting or as I did add a M/F multiwire plug in the wires leading to the thermostat to disable it. This also makes removing that panel easier for service in that bay or winterizing the coach.
I thought that the bay heater was wired into the bathroom circuit? If the bath thermostat is off so is the bay circuit?
The electric circuits for bathroom and basement are separate. The zone pump and coolant loop are the same.
So the bay heater has no shutoff if either the 110 volt or diesel switch is on other than the off position on its face? Did I remember correctly that the bay thermostat has an off position?
In glancing at the basement thermostat, I have not seen an OFF position on the Non-Electronic Control Board heaters. But I have not looked carefully at the thermostat for an OFF position either.
But turning the setting to Zero degrees would turn if off in all the places I go. But this would not be true later this week in Duluth, MN, gonna be below zero up there for a while.
I vaguely remember an "off"
My bay blower was struck on a couple of weeks ago and I forgot about the thermostat down there. Called Rudy and he reminded me where it was. Contacts were stuck closed. Cleaned and lubed them, now working. Did not see anyway to shut off completely. Appears to be a simple thermostat only.