what temp do you have to use the burner for night heating

[johnnyreno]

I usually use the electric setting at night if I am going somewhere and just stiop at a stop for the night with no hookup or a few hours sleep a quick shower and down the road again. Last night we stopped at new buffalo mi. four winds casino got to about 46 so i kicked on the burner. Was that useful or just keeoing wifey warm. I set the genny on auto while on electric it usually never even starts for some reson it fired twice what uses so much power while running the burner, not that it even matters just trying to learn. THX Gang

[mel s]

Originally Posted by johnnyreno

I usually use the electric setting at night if I am going somewhere and just stiop at a stop for the night with no hookup or a few hours sleep a quick shower and down the road again. Last night we stopped at new buffalo mi. four winds casino got to about 46 so i kicked on the burner. Was that useful or just keeoing wifey warm. I set the genny on auto while on electric it usually never even starts for some reson it fired twice what uses so much power while running the burner, not that it even matters just trying to learn. THX Gang

johnnyrenor
Burner.....?
Do you mean propane furnace??...Agua hot??... other??
Mel
'96 Safari

[johnnyreno]

let me reclassify the ques,, i mean i use the electric side of the aquahot. not the top units. Since its much quieter.

[taraf]

Johnny,
The genny will kick on if your batteries run below the preset threshold. The burner is fine for heating. Zone 2 runs the floor heat and will use the most burner energy (diesel).
The gen will also come on if your ACs have called for cool/heat. What were your thermostats zones set at?

[johnnyreno]

I have used the settings of heat,,,, zone 1 gas, zone 2 off, zone 3 gas set thermosatats to desired temp and the coach has been warming fine no genny starts all night, runs off inverters i guess I know if i run the top units the genny will start air or heat

[wmpbauer]

Jr......what model coach do you have? Your profile doesn't say...
Aspire, Anthem, C-stone?


Wmpbauer

[johnnyreno]

14,, anthem dlq til next year. thx

[CLIFFTALL]

Originally Posted by johnnyreno

14,, anthem dlq til next year. thx

It's in your signature loud and clear.

[RW8804]

I had a chat with CS about this. The electric side of the AH gets less efficient as the outside temp drops. But it has to be quite cold (not sure how cold) before the electric fails to work well. When it is cold out I have my AH switch set to elec only, and
Zones 1-3 on "Gas". I turn the basement heat on as well. CS suggested that I turn the basement thermostat up high (heat rises) and I set my other thermostats to give me a temperature in the low 60s. It all works, but don't expect much hot water from your taps.

In cold weather, and when needing hot water, the diesel must be on.

[Curtisgeiger]

Originally Posted by wmpbauer

Jr......what model coach do you have? Your profile doesn't say...
Aspire, Anthem, C-stone?


Wmpbauer

His profile indicates the coach he is driving...

Are you having trouble finding it?

I just click on the avatar / photo and I see his coach info.

Curt



Sent from my iPhone

[pasdad1]

Originally Posted by johnnyreno

I have used the settings of heat,,,, zone 1 gas, zone 2 off, zone 3 gas set thermosatats to desired temp and the coach has been warming fine no genny starts all night, runs off inverters i guess I know if i run the top units the genny will start air or heat

You have been running the electric heating element of the aquahot off your batteries and inverter? Wow, don't think you want to do that....that's far too much power for your batteries and I guess why your generator kicked on twice.

Use the diesel burner and turnoff the electric element when not connected to shore power.

You might also want to check what voltage your AGS (auto generator start) is set to start the generator.....might be too low Letting the batteries get too run down. Then you might not have been fully recharging them. That could explain why the batteries could last the night for a few nights, and now they cannot.

[johnnyreno]

Pasdad, this goes back to my question when i use the electric burner only switch the generator does not kick on all night or even in the morning. Now when i use the burner it does turn on seems to me the better setting would be electric only Please correct me if i may be offtrack here THX,

[pasdad1]

Originally Posted by johnnyreno

Pasdad, this goes back to my question when i use the electric burner only switch the generator does not kick on all night or even in the morning. Now when i use the burner it does turn on seems to me the better setting would be electric only Please correct me if i may be offtrack here THX,

There must be data here we are missing .... How cold were the overnight temps on each of nights in question (both with diesel burner off and on)? Could have been that it was warm enough that just residual engine heat kept you warm and never used the batteries. Batteries now may not be fully charged, takes more than a couple hours of generator time to fully charge as large a battery bank as you have.

Because just from a mathematics view I'll present the numbers.

To heat your coach from the aqua hot electrically off the inverter and batteries (not even sure your coach is wired to allow this)

1 KWh Electricity = 3412 BTU

To supply 1 KWh your batteries would need to produce 84 amps for 1 hour. ( more actually to allow for inefficiencies in the inverter)

You have 8 six volt AGM batteries, combined approx 800 amp hours.

If your generator kicked on at 50 discharged, then your batteries would get to this level in about 4 hours. (The 200 amp hour rating per battery pair is calculated at 20 amp draw, increase amps and the capacity is less)

By contrast, 1 gallon of diesel fuel contains 139,600 BTU. ( from memory the burner can burn about 1gph ....good enough for this discussion )

The diesel burner makes the same amount of heat in 6 minutes that your batteries produced in 4 hours.

Now after thinking a while.....I will bet your aqua hot had enough residual heat in the boiler even after you turned off the engine, because in the Anthem, the engine coolant heats the aqua hot continuously as the engine runs.

You need to now check that your batteries are indeed getting fully charged, as they should easily last overnight even with the aqua hot diesel providing heat.

[99phantoms]

Not sure if this applies to your coach, but Anthems currently being built are wired such that the electric water heater will not operate unless the AC breaker panel is powered... by either shore power or the generator. You can see that at the AC breaker panel above the driver's seat... it's under Leg 2 (blue).

Electric Aqua Hot cannot be powered by the batteries alone.