15K AC with/without Heat Pump - Is There a Difference in Cooling Performance?

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GaryB

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Jul 29, 2006
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Evansville, IN
Hi - On the owners forum of a 5er brand I plan to purchase, a few people said they noticed a 15000 btu A/C with Heat Pump did not cool quite as good as an equivalent 15000 btu A/C only (without heat pump).  Could there be any reason for this?  I'm trying to decide whether to order the heat pump upgrade, but I don't want to sacrifice cooling performance (espec. since I won't be doing much winter camping anyway). 

BTW - are "heat strips" something that can be added later on?  Or are they an integral part of the unit?

Thanks!
 
There should be no difference in cooling with out without a heatpump for the same rating.  We have heatpumps and they are really nice on those cool mornings (one of ours is running right now) to take the chill off without the noise of the furnace blower and the more expensive propane usage.  However, they won't heat the floors like the furnace does :)  I would get them.

As far as I know, the heat strips are an integral part of the A/C unit and not available as an addon, but only because I've never seen them offered that way.
 
As Ned said, there should be no reason for a drop in performance, the heat pump option simply reverses the cycle (Ok, it's a little more complicated but...) Every air conidtioner is going to perform a little differently depending on amperage available from the outside source, exterior temperature, cleanliness of the coils, insulation of the rig!  I would imagine the posting RVer had a 15K with heat pump and experienced some cooling inefficiencies and blamed the heat pump when in reality it may have needed a recharge, or one of the above issues?
 
SHould be no difference in performance.  If there is it is not because of the heat pump but more likely insufficent duct area or such.
 
An a/c unit is also often blamed when the outside ambient temp is so hot that it is an unreasonable expectation to bring the inside temps of your rv down to meat locker temps.

If it is 125 degrees outside, to get the inside down into the low 70's is tough work.  Did the poster also mention the size of his rv, did he have 2 a/c's or just 1.  All that comes into play with trying to cool something down.
 
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