22MLE first time out, with freeze warnings

[redfernclan]

We actually have one in the back utility room of our house that is the size of the old paper bags at the grocery store. Works great and is on castors so you can roll it around. When we camp in the summer it is not an issue but when we camp at the coast or when its cooler out, I just grab it out of the back room and we take it in the trailer. So much more enjoyable. Heat is not running trying to keep up with the open windows as we are sitting inside a RV and have to dress warm. Plus your feet getting cold from the thermal layers because the hot air is rising, right out the vent. Yep, I'm getting old. :]

[redfernclan]

As far as how they work in the cold, ours in the back room does pretty good down to about 40 degrees, but in an RV, you never get it that cold in there so they are running in there efficiency range and work pretty well.

[Harvestmoon]

Well I said we wouldn't do it again but the weather forecast for this past weekend was too perfect to pass up another chance at late season camping. Took the advice of redfernclan and packed up our basement dehumidifier, which is a beastly 50 pint model. Got down to 34F both nights, but condensation was pretty minimal. We were condensing about 1/2 to 3/4 of a gallon of water each night, which of course was way more than the tabletop unit was doing. I was concerned about the coils frosting and they did a bit, but it is a self defrosting model and it also helped placing it near one of the heat duct outlets. We had shore power and since no concern about freezing, we ran a 750W electric space heater continuous all night to reduce the propane burn. We set the gas heat at 68F, and it would cycle on starting early in the morning as the outside temp dropped and the electric heater slowly lost ground. If we do more early/late season camping, I'll invest in a more portable residential dehumidifier.

[redfernclan]

Glad it worked out for you.

[jkwilson]

Standard dehumidifiers quit working effectively around 60 degrees. The coils have to get below the dew point. The dew point gets too low to keep the coils from freezing.

[Second Chance]

Standard humidifiers quit working effectively around 60 degrees. The coils have to get below the dew point. The dew point gets too low to keep the coils from freezing.

I'm pretty sure you meant "dehumidifier."

Rob

[jkwilson]

I'm pretty sure you meant "dehumidifier."

Rob

Yep. Good catch. I’ll edit to avoid confusion!

[ajg617]

Standard dehumidifiers quit working effectively around 60 degrees. The coils have to get below the dew point. The dew point gets too low to keep the coils from freezing.

Wonder how that works with the heat pump? I assume the coils are up in the AC unit and outside. We were using the heat pump in the 30s (granted over 60 inside) and every time it ran, it discharged a lot of water into the gutters.

[jkwilson]

Wonder how that works with the heat pump? I assume the coils are up in the AC unit and outside. We were using the heat pump in the 30s (granted over 60 inside) and every time it ran, it discharged a lot of water into the gutters.

Heat pumps are subject to the same physical limits as dehumidifiers, but since the coils on a heat pump are outdoors it’s simple to reverse the operation to clear the ice from the coils.