Basement air & heat pump

PaulC · 08-31-2007, 04:06 AM

We have a new to us 2004 Adventurer. It is equipped with basement air with a heat pump. When we run the air conditioning it is very quiet. Last night it got a bit cool so we figured we would try the heat pump to see how well it worked. The heat pump is A LOT noisier than the air conditioning is. Is that normal? How do people ever sleep with all the noise that the heat pump makes?

Thanks for any information.

Paul

PaulC · 08-31-2007, 04:06 AM

We have a new to us 2004 Adventurer. It is equipped with basement air with a heat pump. When we run the air conditioning it is very quiet. Last night it got a bit cool so we figured we would try the heat pump to see how well it worked. The heat pump is A LOT noisier than the air conditioning is. Is that normal? How do people ever sleep with all the noise that the heat pump makes?

Thanks for any information.

Paul

smlranger · 08-31-2007, 04:08 AM

Paul, can you describe the noise? The basement air is somewhat noisy. Some of the noise is due to the fact that the return is on the side of the bed. Mine makes a droning sound and others have reported the same.

PaulC · 08-31-2007, 04:29 AM

The noise is just like the noise that the air conditioner makes only a lot louder. I guess the best way to explain it is a sort of rumble, compressor sound, slight vibration. It is like it is working a lot harder on heat pump than as an air conditioner. When the air conditioner is running it makes "the usual" sound that an air conditioner makes but it is relatively quiet. Of course it is louder in the bedroom than the rest of the coach but the heat pump is a lot louder. We have never had a heat pump before so we weren't sure if it should make more noise than the air conditioner or not.

Thanks,

Paul

PaulC · 08-31-2007, 04:40 AM

I just turned the heat pump on again. I guess the term "droning sound" could discribe it. It is a lot noiser than the air. That is what I wondered if it was normal. We would be able to sleep with the air on but the heat pump is a lot louder.

Thanks,

Paul

tomsm · 08-31-2007, 07:20 AM

Paul,

One possible explanation is that only one compressor is running in AC mode. The heatpump always uses both compressors. If you turn on the AC before it gets hot and one compressor is able to handle it (keep the temp within 1 degree of setpoint), the 2nd compressor does not get called. The droning sound is caused by slight difference in speed between the 2 compressors. If you don't hear the droning in AC mode, you're only using 1 compressor. If you're not plugged into 50A, you can also monitor the amps on the panel to tell if you're on single compressor. As you've probably noticed, when plugged into 50A you don't get the amp readout.

If this is the problem, and you don't need much heat out of the heatpump, you could just turn off the #2 compressor circuit breaker when you go to bed...

John_Canfield · 08-31-2007, 07:21 AM

The only difference between the heat mode vs. A/C mode is the freon circulates in a different direction when the reversing valve is activated.

Perhaps you have both compressors running in the heat mode instead of one for the A/C mode? With both running the rumble is more noticeable.

In the cooling mode, set the thermostat 8-10 degrees colder than the room temperature to force both compressors to run. Is there more noise?

Thudman · 08-31-2007, 08:03 AM

In the Heat mode, you may have the T-stat set more than 4 degrees above the ambient room temp. In that case, the LP Gas heater will operate, and that's very noisy, in addition to the heat pump noise.

You can check the floor heat registers to see if airflow is coming out of them. By keeping the Temp Set less than about 4 degrees delta from ambient, will preclude the LP heater from coming On.

Below about 35 to 40 deg outside temp, the Heat Pump will default to LP Heater, and Heat Pump is out of the loop.

Thudman

Dmadzia · 08-31-2007, 02:00 PM

My HVAC is definately louder in heat pump mode than air conditioning mode as well. Not much louder, but the wife definately notices the difference. I think everything is running normally, it's just when you are trying to sleep and the blower and both compressors suddenly come one, it wakes us up.

PaulC · 08-31-2007, 03:58 PM

I will try turning off the breaker for compressor #2 and see if that helps. I'll let you know if it helps. Thanks for all the information and great ideas.

Paul

Petro · 08-31-2007, 04:22 PM

Paul;
We had a 97 Adventure prior to our present 03 Chieftain. The Adventure had the A/C above the bed and the Chieftain has the compressors under the bed. My DW says the bottom unit makes less noise than the one above. I don't find much difference in noise between a/c & heat when both compressors are running. As John pointed out the change over is just a reverse in the flow of freon.

Don

j griff · 09-02-2007, 08:20 PM

We also find the heat pump too noisy for nighttime use. Our solution has been to use it during non sleeping hours then switch to gas heat at bedtime. Our gas furnace is so much quieter than in our '98 Sunflyer that we hardly notice it being on. Works for us !!

Duner · 09-07-2007, 10:05 PM

The rumbling sound you hear is the two compressor motors running at slightly different rpm's. What you hear is the "beat" frequency. You'll probably get used to this sound after a while, just like your partner's snoring or trains running in distance.

We find the cycling on/off thru the night is a bigger problem and tends to wake us up. So while in bed we use 1500 watt heater up front in living area and keep heat pump off at night. This works ok for us in moderately cold nights (40's at night). Also we set the LP furnance to come on only when it get below 60 deg inside.

Happy Trails,
Duner

agiledog · 09-25-2007, 08:12 PM

I have a new 2007 Suncruiser and the heat pump is very noisy like many of you have said. The "droneing" is dur to the two compressors slightly out of syc with each other. I tried turning off #2 when we went to bed but it is still too noisy without the drone.
I called tech support at RV Comfort and they knew exactly what I was talking about. They said that's the way it is. Use the furnace at night. I can't figure out why, after installing hundreds of these units, the customer complaints didn't have them fix it.

PaulC · 09-26-2007, 07:27 AM

Thanks for all the replies and ideas. I tried using the heat pump with the second compressor shut off. It was a lot quieter but still quite noisy and would wake us up out of a sound sleep. The really poor design on W's part is that the gas furnace on this particular model (38R) is also in the rear of the coach. Using the gas furnace at night is just as noisy as the heat pump. It sure would have been nice if the gas furnace was closer to the front to cut down on the noise at night and during the day the heat pump could be used as needed. The best solution so far is an electric heater in the front of the coach. Again, thanks for all the ideas and input.

JC2 · 09-26-2007, 01:27 PM

The (2) ac's on our MH are Coleman roof units and each is a combo ac/heatpump. Our heatpump(s) is also noisy and I attributed it to the fact that the fan only blows on the high fan speed setting and cannot be made to work on the low setting like the ac's can.

Tom N · 09-26-2007, 07:41 PM

I have a 38r. A 2005 Suncruiser and neither my propane furnace or my heat pump make excessive noise. We have never been awakened by either of them.

-Tom

NeilV · 09-27-2007, 01:14 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by PaulC:
Thanks for all the replies and ideas. I tried using the heat pump with the second compressor shut off. It was a lot quieter but still quite noisy and would wake us up out of a sound sleep. The really poor design on W's part is that the gas furnace on this particular model (38R) is also in the rear of the coach. Using the gas furnace at night is just as noisy as the heat pump. It sure would have been nice if the gas furnace was closer to the front to cut down on the noise at night and during the day the heat pump could be used as needed. The best solution so far is an electric heater in the front of the coach. Again, thanks for all the ideas and input. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I guess that a sound sleep is hard to qualify. My wife and I are not that easily awaken from a truely sound sleep by our basement air or rear furnace. Is it a major difference in how noisy our ac/furnaces are or in how soundly we sleep?

The furnace in the rear is a real benefit to us and one of the best features of these models. During cooler weather we can enjoy our patio without the ehaust from the furnace blowing on us and minus the safety hazard of having a hot exhaust port where someone could easily lean up against it. When the furnace is on the drivers side as it was on our previous coach it is still a bit of a hazard amd we did have someone get a burn from it when they went to get something from a bin on that side of the coach.

Imagine sitting outside for a sunrise breakfast and being the one sitting too close to the furnace and getting a facefull/earfull of hot exhaust gases.

Izzyblueye · 09-27-2007, 04:19 AM

Neither my heat pump or A/C are excessibely noisy. Do I hear them, yes until I fall asleep, then they do not bother me any further. I find it comforting to know they are doing what they are intended to do. Now a hard rain on a fiberglass roof, that's another story.

Chief · 09-27-2007, 05:46 AM

We have a 36G and the heat pumps do seem to make excessive noise (clunk, rattle and Pssssaa). Propane furnace located in the bedroom seems to make a low frequency whirring sound (Wrrrrr) and the sound of air passing an open car window (Wrrrr-sssss). We usually try to avoid cold weather but sometimes get caught and have to use the heat. The noises are annoying but after we fall asleep I don't hear them. At any rate, I think that they could something to dampen the operating noises.