After using our roof A/C for the whole night for the first time in our new RV we noticed how incredibly loud it is in our 21' trailer. The fact the the fan never goes off does not help. Researching on the internet led me to a lot of similar complaints and many discussions on the topic.
The manual that came with the unit says it's an Airxcel 48000 series unit. The ceiling assembly says it's a "Coleman Mach" with "model 9430D715" printed inside. I see that model looks like it really only refers to the ceiling assembly part of it though. My first idea was to see if there was a real thermostat accessory to buy for it. I came across two options:
AirSwitch RV Auto-fan kit for Coleman Mach RV Air Conditioners -- A module that basically turns the fan off when the compressor is not running. This would be the easiest option. However, I would still be left if a temperature knob that isn't very useful at setting it to a desired temperature. Still considering this though just for sheer simpleness of the solution.
Coleman Mach 8330-752 Cool-Only Control Package -- A module that replaces the fan and temperature knobs and gives you connections to hook up a traditional thermostat. This is more appealing in the sense that I could hook up a digital/programmable thermostat. However, I would need to figure out a way to run the wires. This bring me to the next topic...
I was also looking at replacing the t-stat for my LP furnace. The t-stat it came with (suburban, pic attached) also has nothing more on it a low-to-high dial which again, you're kind of guessing at what you are setting the temperature to. My thought now was to combine these two systems into 1 t-stat.
I came across the following:
Coleman Mach 8330-3362 Digital Heat/Cool RV Thermostat which looks like it will do the job. According to the instructions for it, "The 8330-336x thermostats may also operate any RV furnace 12 VDC control circuit not exceeding 1 amp."
If I didn't tie in the furnace and the A/C I would probably do the "airswitchrv" thing for the A/C fan and then get this the replace my furnace thermostat:
LuxPro Digital 2 Wire Heat Only Thermostat - PSD010B
...so with all that said, my questions are:
- Am I right in my thinking through all of this and the parts I found?
- How difficult am I going to find to try and fish these wires from the AC through the ceiling and over to the location of my current LP t-stat? Any tips or alternate ideas?
- The operation of this coleman t-stat specificaly states in the instructions that the fan for the A/C will not be engaged when in heat-mode operation. I believe this is not the case with traditional t-stats as homes almost always have a fan going with both the heat and the A/C modes. Or do almost all traditional thermostats have some way to disable the fan in heat mode as well? e.g. am I forced to use a RV style t-stat such as this one?
- I found a thread here with someone doing something very similar. However, it looks like this guy ran extra power cables and added additional relays. I believe the coleman module I linked earlier takes care of all of this for me?