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RV Digital Thermostat Installation
Note: This article is if you have a Duo-Therm Roof Air and a Suburban Furnace. For Coleman Roof Air and Suburban Furnace, see the RV Thermostat Guide Part 2.
 A lot of campers come with an old fashioned analog thermostat like the one pictured here. The problem with them is the temperature range before they cycle on or off. A digital thermostat has a tighter degree of control (+/- 1 degree of temperature change before it cycles "on" or "off"), a digital readout, and no guesswork about what temperature it is actually set at. Features we all like to have...
Like many others before us, we decided to swap out our analog thermostat for a nice digital one. Many digital thermostats that will run on batteries will work as a suitable replacement. We decided on a simple, inexpensive model... the Hunter model 42995. You may also find model 42996 or model 42999 and these will work just as well.
First we have to remove the old thermostat. For safety reasons, make sure everything is turned off and you are not connected to shore power. Also disconnect the negative cable from your main batteries. Pop the cover off of the thermostat and remove the screws that hold it in place. You'll see a set of colored wires connected to the thermostat. Using a small screwdriver, disconnect the wires from the thermostat and make sure they do not contact each other during this entire process.
Tape off the blue and red wire, they will not be used. Next, attach the remaining wires as per the picture below. Brown wire to G, white wire to W, yellow wire to Y and green wire to Rh. Keep the jumper between Rh and Rc in place. Wiring in this manner will allow operation of the furnace and A/C with the fan on the "low" setting. Since the Hunter thermostat doesn't have a Hi/Lo fan switch, you won't be able to switch anyway and if your unit is like ours, there is virtually no difference in airflow between the settings.
Fasten the back plate to the wall using as many screws as you feel are necessary. We used 2 but you can use up to 4. Make sure it is level before you make holes in your wall. Once you are satisfied with the mounting of the back plate and all screws are tight, pop the main thermostat unit into place. Ours went in bottom first then the top snapped in. Open the little doors on the unit and make sure the switch is set to OFF, then install 2 alkaline AA batteries as shown.
Reconnect the negative cable to your batteries and plug in to shore power again. Press and hold either the UP or DOWN arrow until the display blinks. Now tap an arrow to increase or decrease the temperature setting. Once it shows the temperature setting you want, stop pushing the buttons and after a second or two, the display will stop blinking. Set the fan to AUTO and select either HEAT or COOL.
You are now ready to go. Make sure you keep spare batteries with you at all times because if your batteries go dead, you cannot operate your furnace or air conditioner!
Note: There are multiple ways to do this upgrade, this page simply shows how we did it. Google can help you find how others did this procedure.
Comments
Brent Smith (soonerhooligan)
13 Jun 2010, 12:54
Jerry I did your Hunter digital conversion. Question for you. Is my unit
now in "low" setting? I'm in Oklahoma and we are seeing temps. in the high
90's. I need every ounce of cooling I can get. I've got a 15K unit. Others
have shown a micro swith install. Will I need to do this to get my unit
back to high setting. Thanks in advance. Brent
Jerry
14 Jun 2010, 07:49
If your unit has a noticeable difference between the high and low setting,
then you probably should do the toggle switch installation.
RICH MEYERS
24 Jun 2010, 01:24
Jerry I completed this digital conversion last night with the Hunter 42995.
Your instructions were so so right on that I didn't even open up the
manufactures instructions. Thanks for Posting...
Ted L
12 Mar 2011, 19:48
Where can I find out how to install the toggle switch modification for this
particular set-up? Wiring Diagram?
Bill
18 May 2011, 05:38
Nice write up! Does it make any difference whether the green (ground) wire
goes to Rh or Rc?
Jerry Fisher
05 Jun 2011, 13:59
I tried your system,but my duo therm has 6 wires,blue,red,white, yellow,blk
and salmon.I know the blue is high speed fan,but there is no brown? Is it
black?
Jerry
06 Jun 2011, 06:32
The salmon wire should have been connected to your low fan terminal. If
so, connect it to the low fan terminal on the Hunter. The blue wire can go
through a switch if you want HI/LOW operation instead of just HI or LOW.
Cory Canning
01 Sep 2011, 13:07
Do you know if this can replace a Suburban thermostat in a 2005 pop-up? If
so any idea what the wiring would look like?
Jerry
01 Sep 2011, 13:16
Cory, pop the cover off of your thermostat and see what the wiring looks
like. It should match up to the article on this page or the one linked near
the top. If not, visit the RV forums and someone there will have first hand
knowledge for you.
Jason
02 Nov 2011, 13:31
Jerry, My brown wire was not used when I removed my duo therm t-stat. It
was in the wall not being used. Did you find that was the case with yours?
I would think I am supposed to use the wire that is originally used for the
fan. Is this correct?
Jerry
02 Nov 2011, 14:49
I would check with the makers of your thermostat and A/C unit to be sure.
Maybe they are using different color wires in your unit, or somebody at the
factory wired it wrong or you have a different make/model than listed on
this page.
Greg Squires
13 Nov 2011, 20:28
Jerry ... great info. My unit has a definite difference in high vs. low
fan. Where do you install the "toggle" switch and to what wires. I tried
a $60.00 dometic thermostat but it didn't control the a/c at all. returned
it to CampingWorld and am looking fo other options.
Jerry
14 Nov 2011, 06:34
We didn't use a toggle switch on these installations, we simply just used
the high fan wire and taped off the low fan wire. Visit the various RV
forums and you will find others who have added a toggle switch.
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