All Electric Coach Quandary

[THenman]

Our coach has more than floor heat. The two furnaces do provide hot/warm air from the aqua hot if I understand correctly. In ours floors are electric not Aqua hot. It's in 20's out today and if I went to our stored coach it would be a couple of hours getting it warmed up but there is a lot of mass to warm up! Just warming up the solid surface counters and tile is a lot of BTU's add in the furniture, walls, etc. and it is going to take some time with any heat source. Shucks look how long it takes to pre-heat the engine.

Tom

[MisterT]

.... by the way,

if my 'all electric' house has a diesel 'back up' generator,
does that mean it's not REALLY an 'all electric' house????


just askin'.... and, glad to add more to the discussion! ; )

[C&SL]

Originally Posted by MisterT

.... by the way,

if my 'all electric' house has a diesel 'back up' generator,
does that mean it's not REALLY an 'all electric' house????


just askin'.... and, glad to add more to the discussion! ; )

Lol And my coach has a DIESEL engine, so I guess I do not have a all electric coach anymore!

[Cranemec]

We love our all electric. Our last coach was a 35 ft gasser with propane furnace, water heater and cooking. The only thing we used the oven for was biscuits. The propane stove took way to long to boil a pot of water for pasta. We rarely used the propane hot water and we used the furnace once. We found the electric fireplace put out enough heat for us. We did have a residential fridge in it though.
The propane tank was full when we bought it new and still had 3/4 of a tank when we traded it in 19 months later.
We cook way more inside now. Our coach stays nice and toasty with the floors, fireplace and heat pump. We take as long of showers as we want as long as we have full hook ups.
We are not "resort" hoppers. We stay in them but our favorite park and where we are going for 4 days over Christmas is a local COE park with water and electric only. So don't lump us all in to one category.

BTW, we cook outside on our Weber Q.

[RubiconTrail]

Originally Posted by PathfindrVan

Thanks again.

P.S. This is not just academic...we would like move from truck/TT to get into a Class A at some point.
P.P.S. No comments about "sludge in the Aquahot"

Sorry about the flippant answer, tired of being poked at this morning I guess.

Sludge...I have been told by Camco that there are two resons for the sludge. First, people have mixed the two types of approved coolants. Both are approved, but they do not mix well. Apparently people didn't understand that. Second, there was a manufacturer that "cross plumbed" the engine coolant into the aquahot on a series of coaches. I am very familiar with that manufacturer, luckily mine was not one of them

[Gordon Dewald]

Originally Posted by PathfindrVan

So everyone is in agreement that All Electric is NOT actually All Electric?

Well, at least my local dealers weren't trying to pull a fast one...first time for everything

But, there seems to be confusion even here about a standard gas set-up...like:
-A gas furnace severely dries the air. If there is condensation in the coach from the furnace (that is not from the occupants breath) I submit that there's a leak in the heat exchanger. However, propane cooking DOES create condensation.
-And, the tanks capacity is rather large. We often travel with 2 other families, both have Gas Class A's with propane and their (very large -100 lb I think) propane tanks only need filling 1-2 times a year, so the "gotta watch the level" argument doesn't hold true in real world experience. The twin 20lb tanks on our TT do require more attension, but still last a LONG TIME.

Radiant floor heating is neat, but that is not going to take a cold coach from chilly to toasty in just minutes like a forced air unit. Do the Diesel boilers have a forced air option? If not...forget that - too limiting. And what about the complaints of "sludge in the Aquahot"?

If we were in RV parks all the time so we could have endless showers, a tank-less propane water heater is readily available. I guess we keep going back to that...Resort based RV's.

Finally, I worry about the longevity of using a residential fridge in an RV. They just are not built for the constant vibration of the road. Failures have been reported here on iRV2. But from my shopping, replacements are less than half the price of a 2way fridge. Guess that is why these apartment units are being installed in many, many RV's at the factory now (cheaper at acquisition).

So thanks for the feedback and insight. I guess I would be like the Tiffin owner above, who wanted ALL the options...gas and electric.
My Mrs. actually cooks in our gas oven...says cooking with gas is MUCH better than electric. And I am so glad she can...yum!

Thanks

We have an all electric. That means no propane. The coach is able to run entirely on electric. Use of the diesel burner (as a backup) adds convenience, comfort and unlimited hot water!

Instead of an RV oven (hot spots) we use the convection oven. My take on it is the pie crust is much flakier in the convection than in the standard oven.

Induction stove top - instant heat, instant off and great heat control. We are able to set the heat in 5 degree increments from 100 to 550 degrees.

We have used the diesel burner to heat the coach. I have a 5 gallon jug I can use to top off the tank. Propane delivery is also a possibility. The fellow next to us needs propane about once a month as everything is propane. While propane in town was selling as low as 1.49 to have it delivered as 4.89 a gallon plus a delivery charge. To get a delivery he had to register with the company and have a credit check done (Amerigas). He ended up buying a couple 20 lb bottles and a changeover regulator. He will save the cost for the change in two months.

Whatever suits your lifestyle and comfort in your unit is the best thing to buy.

[PathfindrVan]

Originally Posted by Selah

Really? Twenty six posts about what the term "all electric" means?
No one is trying to pull the wool over someone's eyes by calling a coach "all electric" It is an industry standard terminology: nothing more and nothing less.
Twenty seven post now.

Well over 30 posts now

I asked the question in the original post because a few dealers of different brands (those not selling the Diesel fired boiler type) have told me that there ARE some RV's that are actually All Electric in the "house"...with electric water heaters and electric interior heaters.

They said, they're made by different brands than those they sell or something similar, so they could not be specific....just made it more confusing.

I searched and searched the Internet in attempts to find examples that had no Diesel boiler and could only find owner - aftermarket or DIY modifications of older conversions...not new.

So...in total confusion I asked here.

Thanks

[nothermark]

Originally Posted by BillJinOR

Have had a convection oven at home the last 15 years and make plenty of cookies that taste great. We do the same in the RV The RV is nothing different than a electric oven with a fan to eliminate hot spots. Or it can be a microwave It does require some temp and time adjustments to recipes however because of the fan blowing around the hot air . Perhaps it's because we already moved to convection years ago? We hated the Gas ovens in RV's, they are junk .. hot spots and total lack of temp control
As far as A good induction range with the proper pans it provides instant (I believe it boils water faster than gas) exact temp control, no burning the bottom on sauces. It's all in what you get used to I guess.

I'm sure you enjoy what you have and use. My point was that we are happy with what we have and do not see a reason to change just to do something different. What we have works for us. what you have works for you. As long as options continue to exist we are both fine.

[jleamo1]

What is Aqua Hot Sludge? I service our Aqua Hot annually which includes replacing the nozzle and cleaning out the boiler chamber, it takes about an hour to complete and cost me around $40.00 in parts. No sludge in the boiler or coolant that circulates through the heat exchangers.
Sleeping at night is fantastic, it delivers moist hot air and its quiet, you don't have the roaring of the propane furnace we had in our last coach that would pull you from a deep sleep as it cycled throughout the night. I have 3 zones with small computer type fans that sit behind a small heat exchanger, simple design works great blowing air throughout the interior through the 7 or 8 heat exchangers.
I removed the 75 gallon propane tank and installed an induction cook top, replaced the RV absorption refrigerator (Norcold 1200 series) after it caught fire with my family inside with a residential unit. I chose the same model that Fleetwood installs from the factory on the Excursion. Looking back I should have done it sooner. We didn't like cooking on the propane, it heated up the interior, in the summer it was bad enough not to want to use it. To boil water it also took 2x longer to boil the same pot of water than the Induction does. Now we can cook easily and no unwanted interior heat.
How do we grill? The same way I do at home, on my grill. I carry a portable grill under the coach and a portable smoker. The grill is Charcoal and the smoker is a Trager electric wood pellet.
Boondocking; Not a thing we often do, usually a Wally dock (Thank you for that term whom ever posted that above) Our generator has an auto start/stop feature, batteries get low it starts up recharges them and shuts off. This only happens maybe once in a 24hour period for a less than 1.5 hour run. We have found that when we boondock it is often hot enough that we need the A/C anyway, so the generator is already on.
I gained more under storage by removing the propane tank and took almost 800lbs from the coach, just with the propane removal, not counting the refrigerator, which is a lot heavier that it appears.
Please elaborate on the Aqua hot sludge.

[Gdawgs]

Originally Posted by PathfindrVan

Yep, that's it exactly...not poking...or are there any RV's that are actually "All Electric"?

If the RV's heat AND hot water is coming from an Oasis, Aquahot or similar Diesel fired boiler device, how is that an All Electric coach?

And, do these devices generally have an electric booster element that can provide the maximum capacity heat and hot water on electric? The dealers here said "no"...that Diesel is always required for the high demand situations.

Plus, I'll ask again...do these heat devices have an option for forced air heat, or only radiant floor? Radient floor generally requires the temp to be maintained vs the more efficient setting the temp cooler while sleeping. And what about the complaints here about sludge in the Aquahot?

If Diesel is carrying the majority of the load for the heat, why call it All Electric?

Thanks

All Aqua-Hot units have electrical elements. Some have one, some two. They are generally good for one shower and do not provide continuous hot water because of cycle time, turning on the diesel burner will provide continuous heat and hot water. Think of old homes with radiators. The hydronic systems have 12v fans at each register (small radiator). They all act independently so heat may been felt around the cockpit but not the kitchen. Most have zoned heating and cooling to keep the entire coach with at heat throughout, not hot spots.

[vito.a]

We were able to find a coach that had the residential fridge with the extra batteries, larger inverter, and solar system. The previous owner ordered it with a propane cooktop, so I can still plumb my BBQ grill.

It's all personal preference. I agree with the others on Aqua Hot. I would not now own a coach without it. However, I like the propane cook top and can't live without my BBQ grill. I added a hose with a quick disconnect to the high side of the propane tank and connect my grill to the large onboard tank.

You have to decide what's best for you.

[MisterT]

that's really a perfect setup, but what I understand
about the RV industry is that many folks are also
looking for more storage - hence, get rid of propane tank : /​

[Dutch Star Don]

Edit

[BillJinOR]

Originally Posted by nothermark

I'm sure you enjoy what you have and use. My point was that we are happy with what we have and do not see a reason to change just to do something different. What we have works for us. what you have works for you. As long as options continue to exist we are both fine.

I agree ! Don't change just to do something different! I took your post as you appeared to imply you couldn't cook cookies? etc etc .. with convection and induction . I felt That's just wrong so I chose to point that out. And yes you do need to be willing to adapt temps and times. But change just to be modern? ..absolutly not ! I misunderstood you to say you wouldn't upgrade to a "electric coach " for any reason because ...
now that I think of it , I guess I feel the same way in the opposite direction we enjoy cooking ourselves and won't go back.
Just so people get a accurate perspective on the possibilities they can decide themselves as you say and we both are happy campers :-)