Questions by a potential buyer

[Dave8850]

Hi all.

My wife and I are considering buying a Casita. We're looking at the Liberty 16. We are concerned about lighting and ventilation and we'd like to get some feedback form some experienced users. Here are our questions.

1. How much interior natural light is there in a Casita Liberty? Do you need to turn on the interior lights during the day?

2. Is there adequate natural ventilation? How often do you need to run the fan and A/C? Can you camp in 80 deg weather without the a fan and/or AC?

3. In the Liberty 16, is there a window in front of the stove? Is the front window in the bathroom?

4. Does the door have a a screen for ventilation? If not, can a screen be added?

Thanks in advance for the expert advice.

Dave Loebach

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by Dave8850

Hi all.

My wife and I are considering buying a Casita. We're looking at the Liberty 16. We are concerned about lighting and ventilation and we'd like to get some feedback form some experienced users. Here are our questions.
1. How much interior natural light is there in a Casita Liberty? Do you need to turn on the interior lights during the day?
2. Is there adequate natural ventilation? How often do you need to run the fan and A/C? Can you camp in 80 deg weather without the a fan and/or AC?
3. In the Liberty 16, is there a window in front of the stove? Is the front window in the bathroom?
4. Does the door have a a screen for ventilation? If not, can a screen be added? Dave Loebach

Hi Dave, surprised no one has answered you yet. I've got a SD 17so not quite the same but.....
1, plenty of light, I've never had to use the interior lights during the day.
2, ventilation is fine for me and I've rarely run the fan or AC but YMMV on that.
3, I think the kitchen window is an option but it can be added. Can't help with the bathroom but I believe that window is not installed now and they added a roof vent instead.
4, a screen can be added. The 17s have the flat door and screen as standard. Casita in the mid 90s did make the 16s with a flat door that I think came with a screen.

[bsedwebt]

sounds like you really want a 17' Liberty not the 16'. I have the 17' and it has a LOT more roomy feel to it. I am 6'2" and can walk around inside. I could not walk around inside the 16'. The windows are nice and big on the 17' with good air flow. The fantastic fan does a good job keeping things cool as we seldom use the a/c. The bathroom has a side window and a roof vent as well. No sink window in ours but don't need it. The door is flat with a full size screen door. I installed an opening door window in the flat door - very easy job - about 1/2 hour and it just unbolts and bolts in. The 16' has a curved door so I do not know about that. The 16' also has the a/c on the floor in the front vs. a rooftop a/c unit.

[Civilguy]

Dave,

I'm sorry I can't really tell you anything about the 16, they are much less common.

Hella marine fans and some other 12 volt fans can help keep you cool and will consume much less battery than the Maxx and Fantastic Fans.

Is the trailer weight and/or tongue weight part of why you are looking at the 16? I see you later posted in another thread regarding looking at a 16 or a 17.

The 17 has a much higher tongue weight. I work to keep ours under 400 lbs, taking care to keep heavy items in the back when towing.

[Mary F]

The older 16 ft Liberty models had a small window in the galley (kitchen) - it was above the sink...or perhaps midway between sink and stove. I'm not sure if this was eliminated from the 16's, but our 1999 17 ft. Liberty did not have the kitchen window.

AFAIK, the Casitas with the front window/rock shield are "standard" models (no bathroom). I think this is true regardless of length or floorplan.

[Raz]

I really like Casitas but would not own one because of the slider windows. Public campgrounds here in the Northeast do not have power. No power, no AC. My first trailer had sliders. Middle of the night the rain coming in would wake us up. Close the windows and things get stuffy. Many folks on this site have the Maxx fan with the rain cover to solve this issue.

.

[Donna D.]

If windows are a concern, the only current builder that I know that's installing the old fashion (and wonderful!) Jalousie windows is The Relic. Scamp is installing radius windows with a tip-out window in the center. Escape, with the new builds, is installing frame-less, upper hinge windows and dual-pane thermals are an option.

[kootenaigirl]

Again we have the Liberty 17 but for what it is worth.
1. Tons of natural light from the big windows on all sides
2. Good airflow from the 3 windows without AC or fan on especially a slight breeze. When it gets up to high eighties too hot in any trailer without those for me.
Not sure on other questions as they are 16 specific.
Good luck in your search.

[Raz]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

If windows are a concern, the only current builder that I know that's installing the old fashion (and wonderful!) Jalousie windows is The Relic. Scamp is installing radius windows with a tip-out window in the center. Escape, with the new builds, is installing frame-less, upper hinge windows and dual-pane thermals are an option.

The windows on the Scamp are a Hehr tork window which is basically a Jalousie with side lites. Happier Camper uses the same window as did Trillium. For ventilation the Happier Camper is tough to beat.

[k corbin]

The Hella Marine fan ca produce a maximum of 200 cfm
While it will stir the air next to you it is not designed to exhaust air from the RV or pull fresh air into it although of course you could position one near an window opening and that would move the air near the window around.

The Fantastic Breeze fans can produce a maximum of 920cfm and the variable speed models can be turned down to a much lower speed which reduces the power consumption. The reversible direction model can be set to exhaust air or pull in air. It would not have the advantage the Hella fan has of being a local spot fan that you could aim directly at you while you are sitting and sleeping unless you get the table top version of the Endless Breeze fan.

As condensation can be an issue in a small RV then having a rapid exchange of air can help remove excess humidity from the interior and it can also help quickly clear out odors as well as moisture from cooking or bathroom use.

My opinion is that is would be very nice to have a good quality, high cfm ventilating fan as well a small personal use fan as both of these products have functions that are quite useful.

[steve dunham]

We have a 17 ft Casita and added the Maxx Air on our rooftop fan and the Maxx Air window vents . No problem with ventilation even when it's raining .
Unless it is a cloudy , dark , overcast day there is plenty of natural light in the trailer.
Our bath has both the window and roof fan , again more than adequate ventilation.
We bought our 17 ft SD in 2013 and after over 20,000 miles of travel are happy with our purchase.
We are looking at getting a new trailer not because of any fault with the Casita but only because we have a case of 2ft itis.

[rbryan]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

We are looking at getting a new trailer not because of any fault with the Casita but only because we have a case of 2ft itis.

Just pull the trigger Steve. [emoji1] It's not like you haven't done the research. Tons and tons of research. I smell a new 19 or 21....

[thrifty bill]

Myself, I am not camping in 80 degree plus weather without AC. Its all what you are used to. My wife needs it even colder, so AC was a requirement in any trailer we bought. As to natural light, consider a cloudy day. Also, one thing about the Casita, with the front bath, it prevents having large windows around the front. This is one reason I prefer a trailer with a dinette on one end, and a bed on the other. Our 19 foot Escape has a front window, two side windows in the dinette, window in the kitchen and bath, rear window and two side windows in the rear. Pretty much maximum natural light.

The Casita we had before (older 17 foot Liberty), had a window across the back, two in the rear on the sides, and a small window in the bathroom (pretty much useless as far as getting light into the trailer).

Go to a rally and compare, I think you will see a huge difference!

[Civilguy]

Originally Posted by k corbin

The Hella Marine fan ca produce a maximum of 200 cfm
While it will stir the air next to you it is not designed to exhaust air from the RV or pull fresh air into it although of course you could position one near an window opening and that would move the air near the window around.

The Fantastic Breeze fans can produce a maximum of 920cfm and the variable speed models can be turned down to a much lower speed which reduces the power consumption. The reversible direction model can be set to exhaust air or pull in air. It would not have the advantage the Hella fan has of being a local spot fan that you could aim directly at you while you are sitting and sleeping unless you get the table top version of the Endless Breeze fan.

As condensation can be an issue in a small RV then having a rapid exchange of air can help remove excess humidity from the interior and it can also help quickly clear out odors as well as moisture from cooking or bathroom use.

My opinion is that is would be very nice to have a good quality, high cfm ventilating fan as well a small personal use fan as both of these products have functions that are quite useful.

Agreed.

The Fantastic Fan, which typically exhausts through the roof, runs at three speeds. It consumes about 1.3, 1.9 and 2.8 amps as best I can tell from an owner's tests. It will exchange the air in our small trailers very quickly, even at low speed. The company's Endless Breeze Stand Alone Fan is similar to box fans, but is smaller and runs on 12 VDC. It consumes a similar 1.2 to 2.6 amps per the manufacturer.

We ran down the remaining charge in a small 35 amp-hour battery in our teardrop trailer in one night running the the Fantastic Fan on low speed. If we had only run the Fantastic Fan on low speed and didn't use the battery for any other loads, that little battery would only support about 13.5 hours of run-time. (Most of our trailer batteries tend to be about 100 amp-hours, so would last three times as long as the little one in the teardrop.)

After that experience, I bought the Hella Marine fan which consumes 0.54 amps, about 40% of the Fantastic Fan. It's nice for boondocking to conserve battery life as a battery can run it about 2.4 times as long as the Fantastic Fan operated on low speed.

Personally, even at low speed, I find the Fantastic Fan runs too vigorously for temperate weather conditions. I may install a PWM drive in it one day to reduce its minimum speed and current draw. This modification is fairly common and has been posted on the forums.

As KC noted, each type of fan has their uses. I just found myself surprised by the relatively high power consumption of these fans, and also the ones in the gas furnaces.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Civilguy

... I may install a PWM drive in it one day to reduce its minimum speed and current draw. This modification is fairly common and has been posted on the forums. ...

Yup, I did that.

The first PWM controller I had did not like the heat. With the camper closed up, in the sun in summer and temps near 100 f the controller refused to function. Once it cooled it worked again. Perhaps there was a thermal protection circuit but none was documented and it was from China.

The second PWM controller I installed seems to work OK although it really ruins the radio reception in the camper. If the fan is on, there is no FM radio for me (or Ham radio for that matter).

[kootenaigirl]

ThriftyBill, must be the difference between the Escape 17 and 19. We just bought an Escape 17 and I finding it very dark inside compared to our Liberty. Much prefer having the bath up front instead of blocking all the light in the middle of the trailer. I think all the wood cabinets don't help either. Also dislike the tiny side windows by the front dinette, it's an adjustment for sure.

[The Minimalist]

Originally Posted by Civilguy

Personally, even at low speed, I find the Fantastic Fan runs too vigorously for temperate weather conditions. I may install a PWM drive in it one day to reduce its minimum speed and current draw. This modification is fairly common and has been posted on the forums.

Since I went with the PWM(pulse width modulated) switch, I run my Fantastic fan at about .5 amps unless it is really hot, or the trailer has been closed for a while. For less the $7 and the time to install it has been a great investment.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by rbryan

Just pull the trigger Steve. [emoji1] It's not like you haven't done the research. Tons and tons of research. I smell a new 19 or 21....

Or possibly a 23 footer !!! . My Casita has performed admirably and I am leery about spending $40 K on a new as yet unproven trailer
If Casita built a larger trailer my search would be over but I don't see that happening any time soon.
My money is doing just fine sitting in the bank ,resting !!
Researching is free.

[Glenn Baglo]

If Casita built a new larger trailer, you would still have an "untested" trailer option. I think your money is in a coma.

[rbryan]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

If Casita built a new larger trailer, you would still have an "untested" trailer option. I think your money is in a coma.

That's ok. Money in a coma doesn't get spent.