adding AC.. non roof units do they work in the 90s

[madduckdog]

I have been lurking and looking and working up the guts to drop money one a camper.. probably a scamp 16... but being in the south AC is here we have triple 95s .. 95 degrees,95 percent humidity and at 9:50 at night.

I have some money saved up I could spend $5000 maybe more ... I see older campers that have air window units installed down low ... I when I ask how well it works I am told it does OK not sure OK works on the scorchers I plan on camping in.

[Markz]

Depends on how down low you plan to install one. I would suggest hip height or higher. Camping in the shade, under trees or under an awning such as an EZup helps tremendously.

We have been comfortable in our 13' under a 10 x 10 awning when it was 99 degrees with the Air Conditioning on.

It is also important to move the Air around inside the camper. The lower the Air conditioner the more you will depend on a supplemental fan to circulate the warm air down and cold air up.

We use a little USB fan that it just enough to accomplish the task while being inconspicuous.

[RussL]

This was my worry when installing a small 5000 BTU unit in my Boler. I decided to mount it in what was the top of the closet to get it up higher. Having never used a low mounted unit I can't say how much better this works but I feel better that natural convection should be working for me and not against me.

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by RussL

This was my worry when installing a small 5000 BTU unit in my Boler. I decided to mount it in what was the top of the closet to get it up higher. Having never used a low mounted unit I can't say how much better this works but I feel better that natural convection should be working for me and not against me.

Nice looking install Russ. How did you work out the venting?

[rbryan]

Originally Posted by madduckdog

I have been lurking and looking and working up the guts to drop money one a camper.. probably a scamp 16... but being in the south AC is here we have triple 95s .. 95 degrees,95 percent humidity and at 9:50 at night.

I have some money saved up I could spend $5000 maybe more ... I see older campers that have air window units installed down low ... I when I ask how well it works I am told it does OK not sure OK works on the scorchers I plan on camping in.

I'm not sure if this is too much of a wildcard or not, but lately we've had some folks install a mini-split AC unit in an Escape. But alot would depend on what trailer you were trying to install it in. The condenser unit would sit on the tongue, and the air unit would be mounted high across the front.

[Markz]

Really like your install Russl.

[Rog Mich]

Originally Posted by madduckdog

I have been lurking and looking and working up the guts to drop money one a camper.. probably a scamp 16... but being in the south AC is here we have triple 95s .. 95 degrees,95 percent humidity and at 9:50 at night.

I have some money saved up I could spend $5000 maybe more ... I see older campers that have air window units installed down low ... I when I ask how well it works I am told it does OK not sure OK works on the scorchers I plan on camping in.

We got a window mount adapter for our 16' Scamp from Vtec on this forum. We will install a 5000 btu unit in the rear window once we are set up at our camp site. First time using it this weekend for the solar eclipse. We are only expecting mid 80's temps but have no shade at the camp site. We are hoping it keeps us cool during the heat of the day.

[RussL]

Originally Posted by Borrego Dave

Nice looking install Russ. How did you work out the venting?

All the venting goes out the back. I thought about pulling the intake from underneath the trailer using a hose going down through the closet but didn't want to lose the storage space.

I used 2 refrigerator vent panels on the outside of the trailer. I attached some baffles to the back of the AC unit to direct all the exhaust to the upper vent thus pulling all the intake air through the lower vent. With the exhaust air being hotter my thinking was that most of it would rise before it would get pulled back through the intake.

In practice, it works well but I think there is some mixing of the air so I built a little deflector that I can hang on the outside between the upper and lower vents which keeps the intake air cooler.

Russ

[Markz]

@ RussL, What did you do about the water?

I really like your setup.

Ducting the hot exhaust out the roof takes up about 4"x4"x 36" of closet storage space in the corner. Our Microwave takes up considerably more :-).

We went with our design because we wanted the Air Conditioning to be hidden from the outside, but your design blends in quite well.

I find all the different approaches to Air Conditioning quite fascinating.

[RussL]

Originally Posted by Markz

@ RussL, What did you do about the water?

The "shelf" under the unit is pitched down at about 20 degrees toward the outside wall and completely fiberglassed over and into the the trailer and closet walls so it's water tight. I drilled a couple holes near each bottom corner and epoxied in some fittings that feed tubes that go down through the closet and drain out through the wheel well.

I wanted to be able to deal with not only condensate but also any rain that blew in through the vents and this seemed the best way to go.

[cmartin748]

Nice install. May I ask how it gets its intake air through the condenser?

[RussL]

Originally Posted by cmartin748

Nice install. May I ask how it gets its intake air through the condenser?

It comes in through the lower vent. The intakes are on the sides of the unit and there are a couple inches of clearance between those sides and the closet walls. I'm sure it's not as efficient as it would be in open air but everything is a compromise.

[Darral T.]

I'm from Tennessee as well. For the "naysayers" that say you dont need A/C? NOW would be an excellent time to come to TN and see why that is NOT true! This humidity is horrible right now!!

Like your install Russl. At least that little A/C doesnt have to run the compressor long periods of time so that will help the external "cooling" somewhat. Most of the new ones recycles the water to help cool the coils and supposedly makes the A/C exterior run a bit cooler and more efficient. But I have a couple - one I use in our bedroom at night- it POURS the water out here in Tennessee.

Originally Posted by madduckdog

I have been lurking and looking and working up the guts to drop money one a camper.. probably a scamp 16... but being in the south AC is here we have triple 95s .. 95 degrees,95 percent humidity and at 9:50 at night.

I have some money saved up I could spend $5000 maybe more ... I see older campers that have air window units installed down low ... I when I ask how well it works I am told it does OK not sure OK works on the scorchers I plan on camping in.

[Markz]

Originally Posted by RussL

everything is a compromise.

Indeed! But that's the fun in it. Very nice work.

[Markz]

This is our setup.

[RussL]

Originally Posted by Markz

Indeed! But that's the fun in it. Very nice work.

Thanks Mark,

I've really enjoyed your thread with all the fantastic updates you've made to your Boler.

Russ

[Markz]

Likewise!

[Tom 72]

I saw one post mention the mini splits. I think they may offer a lot of advantages. Less wall space, higher BTUs available and a smaller opening through your trailer to name several. I'm no expert, but I encourage all to research those. There are several threads here.

[J Ron]

Draining the water off will reduce efficiency but I like your install.

[RussL]

Originally Posted by J Ron

Draining the water off will reduce efficiency but I like your install.

If you're referring to mine I'm not actively draining off any water from the unit. I didn't remove any plugs and I can hear the "splash" cooling when there's some water in there. I just built the structure around it to catch any water that happens to get in there from any source.

I'd love to say this was a grand plan I came up with knowing how to most efficiently utilize the window unit. But if I had realized that I could have l likely hooked a drain fitting to it and just run a hose from there I might have done that.

Russ