Digital Heating & Cooling Thermostat Installed

[HBarlow]

I'm posting this to offer a sincere public thank you to Ken Lenger (Klenger) for the helpful information contained in his website regarding installation of a handy and inexpensive digital thermostat to control RV heating furnaces and air conditioners. The digital thermostat is an easy installation and works very well.



I purchased and installed the $20 Hunter digital thermostat suggested in Klenger's website a week ago when I was in Indiana with temperatures in the 90s and humidity near 100%. The ten or eleven year old OEM Coleman analog thermostat in my trailer had recently failed. It kept the compressor running continuously as the temperature in the trailer declined toward, I guess, the freezing point. I had already made a cursory inquiry of prices for an OEM replacement unit and was quoted a price of approximately $70 plus tax and shipping. I didn't really want one anyway and then I remembered the discussion here about converting to a digital thermostat.



I visited my local Wal-Mart and purchased the recommended thermostat for under $20 and printed out the instructions contained in the website. The only problem I ran into was the website instructions either contained a minor error or were unclear regarding connecting of ground wires. The instructions that came with the Hunter thermostat tell the installer NOT to attach ground wires to the thermostat because doing so would route 12vdc current through the thermostat. The thermostat uses two 24vdc batteries and does not need trailer 12vdc power. Connecting the ground wires to the thermostat might damage the thermostat or the batteries.



However, what I learned was that the trailer's ground wire that was originally connected to the OEM thermostat and the blue (ground) wire coming down from the Coleman AC unit must be connected to each other in order for the air conditioner unit to work. My AC unit would not run until I connected trailer ground and the AC ground wire together. I simply connected them with a butt connector (NOTE:I did not connect either wire to the digital thermostat) and shoved them back into the wall space behind the thermostat.



The new digital thermostat works very well. It displays room temperature as well as the set point for the AC or furnace. I did not perform a scientific test but by simply observation of displayed temperature when the AC unit started and when it shut off in my unit the trailer's inside temperature only ranged 2 degrees from start cooling to stop cooling.



A great improvement for $20 and one hour of work. I recommend the modification to anyone. Even better, the new digital thermostat cost only a fraction of what a replacement old-fashioned analog unit would have cost.



Harvey

 

[Grey Wolf]

I agree, the best $20 I spent. Way better that the stock units... .

 

[TowPro]

Did you add a Single Pole Single Throw toggle switch so you can switch between high and low fan? I have done several of these installs. I mount the switch so it stick out of the bottom of the thermostat.

 

[Blue Ox1]

Is this thermostat a normal style one or is it one for a ceiling fan or something like that. I would be interested in finding out where to get it.

Joe

 

[Grey Wolf]

Did you add a Single Pole Single Throw toggle switch so you can switch between high and low fan? I have done several of these installs. I mount the switch so it stick out of the bottom of the thermostat.

I did the high low switch except I mounted it on top of the T-Stat, so my grandson couldn't reach it



Joe, I did the same as HBarlow and picked up one a Wally world...



Check Ken's web site for more info... http://www.klenger.net/arctic-fox/index.html

 

[klenger]

Here's the link to the Hunter T-stat instructions: http://www.klenger.net/arctic-fox/hunter-tstat/index.html



and here's a link to a Honeywell 2 stage heat/cool t-stat I recently put in: http://www.klenger.net/arctic-fox/TH5220D_T-Stat/index.html



A correction about the batteries in the Hunter T-stat. They are plain old 1. 5 vot AA cells, not 24 volt batteries.

 

[llotton]

Thermostat

Doesanyone know of a programable thermostat that I could install in my 23' Arctic Fox? I would like to be able to set the heat to be at one level in the day in colder clims. and warmer at night to prevent freeze up when it is really cold like into the teens or lower. At the present time I use a electric heater in the coach to keep the interior warm in the day, on a timer set to go off at night then let the propane heater take over when the temp falls. The tlr. has a heat duct in the area of the holding tanks below the floor which keeps that area from freezing when the propane heater operates. Thanks for any help you can offer

 

[klenger]

I've installed a Lux 500 programmable in my 5er with good results. Available at Home Depot and Ace Hardware I think. Wire it up the same way as the Hunter.

 

[TowPro]

My new Titanium has a digital Atwood thermostat in it so I did not need to convert it.



Plus the Heater is a 2 stage heater. When you first turn it on it runs additional burners plus a high speed blower, then as you get closer to thermostat set temps the heater goes to a lower heat output and the fan slows down. Once the RV is warned up, the fan and heater only runs on low. The AC works the same way. I think the logic is if your within 1 deg of set point, both heater or AC only runs on LOW, more then 1 deg and they both run on High. Plus the thermostat lets you bypass this and pick Auto, High, Low or High fan only or Low fan only. It would be a Major operation to replace it with a 2h 2c thermostat.

 

[HBarlow]

TowPro:



Sorry, I was on the road and unable to read or reply to your message. No, I have not yet installed the SPDT switch to change from low to high speed fan. I will eventually do that but didn't have a switch when I installed the thermostat and the local RadioShack in Ligonier, IN where my trailer is parked did not have one either.



Harvey