Air Condtioner question - Fiberglass RV
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Old 07-04-2018, 06:14 AM   #1
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Name: Barbara
Trailer: 1977 Trillium 4500
Quebec
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Air Condtioner question

We own a 1977 Trillium 4500. We never use our Duo-Therm furnace and are considering installing a small air conditioner in that space. Has anyone done this already? Any comments/advice?
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Old 07-04-2018, 09:12 AM   #2
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No doubt someone has done it. Be aware that almost all room style ACs need ventilation on the sides as well as the back. To the extent the air in back recirculates or is restricted, it will reduce performance.

In the past several months, a woman in the northeast, I think, had a thread on this. I believe she learned of a newer style AC unit: Noria
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...cool-redefined

Plan B might be a small mini split system. Try a web search. Some have mounted compressors on their hitch tongue. Also threads here if you search.
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Old 07-04-2018, 09:56 AM   #3
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Barb, This is a very good idea. The issue is the size of the space. I have measured it, but I don't have the numbers handy. It is wide enough, but since it is over the wheel well, not very tall. You would need to find the right AC unit. Likely no larger then 5000 btu. The hole for the exhaust vent could be enlarged some to provide more air flow. Maybe some creative ducting as well.
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Old 07-04-2018, 10:04 AM   #4
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Well, our ParkLiner has a small "window" Airconditoner located under the forward seat of the side dinette. We had occasion to test it out recently at a campground where the temps were in the 90s with high humidity.
It did seem to reduce the inside humidity some, but was not able to lower the temperature much. Fortunately it rained the next day, and we got a welcome relief for the heat.
Your point about inadequate air circulation at the side vents is probably why it didn't work well.
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Old 07-04-2018, 10:33 AM   #5
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Name: Steve
Trailer: 2018, 21ft escape— 2019 Ram 1500 Laramie
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Most window air conditioners are designed to vent the hot air out the sides of the unit and are not designed to be installed in a cabinet or a wall
Through the wall air conditioners are designed so that the hot air is forced out the back of the unit but I doubt you will find one small enough to fit
The other issue is draining the condensate
The other thing to consider is that if the air conditioner fails and needs to be replaced a unit of the same physical dimensions may not be available
When I install a through the wall air conditioner I now make the opening larger than the A/C sleeve so in the future I don’t have to cut the wall open to enlarge the opening . I learned this lesson the hard way !!
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Old 07-04-2018, 12:15 PM   #6
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There is both an air intake and exhaust at the back of a window AC unit. Air out the back, in the sides. If it is not fully exposed to outdoors, it will draw the exhaust air back into the intake. This makes it work much harder than normal. See diagram.
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Old 07-04-2018, 10:09 PM   #7
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Name: Barbara
Trailer: 1977 Trillium 4500
Quebec
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Air Condition Question

Thanks all for your comments and advice. Looks like I'll have to do some more homework on this topic. I'll keep you posted if we move forward with this project.
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Old 07-05-2018, 02:32 AM   #8
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Name: Felix47
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A/C

I am not saying that it is mandatory but I did not want to put A/C through the roof of my Casita b/c of my garage height. I did want to take advantage of a cheap window unit. The factory unit in the Casita died and the concept of having it sit on the floor in front with no ventilation was stupid anyway.....extremely inefficent with crappy airflow. You can stick a small unit through the fire escape window in the Casita. I built a wood frame against the fiberglass as the support because the fiberglass is not strong enough to carry the weight. I also put a long 2x4 under the A/C on the outside for support so the condensation goes outside and the fins are well ventilated......I made sure the A/C was hanging on the wood frame and not the fiberglass. I cut small panels to be sure that the area was sealed. It worked great in the middle of summer in the Mojave desert two years ago. It was a small A/C from Wal Mart and I was able to fire it up with a Honda generator. I know you need to match the generator to the size of the A/C. Of course nights in the desert are not that bad and it is not humid so I did not really use it much at night but midday with 118 outside it was fantastic. But it is a lot better than the factory unit because the airflow is high up, not in the closet and the outside airflow makes it quite efficent. Now I also have a nice storage locker in the front of the trailer below the closet. When I travel I take the A/C out and since it is so light weight I can carry it easily and I stick it in the front locker. When I set up I just install it and the frame and all and it takes about 15 minutes. Another possibility, that I suppose one could do if one did not want to take it out for travel would be to cut a hole in the back or stick it out the back window. But you have to have the A/C coils outside........otherwise I have seen it ruin the floor of RVs. I have a picture but unfortunately it is on my phone....but it is pretty intuitive.....and the small wal mart A/C units do fit with plenty of space to spare. They rotate the models but they always have one for about 119 dollars.....or did up to two years ago. And the fire escape issue might make it a poor idea for many people.....so I am only describing what I did and not saying it is an ideal solution. But I slept in the front bunk and I had the gas turned off and the generator was in front of the tow vehicle for noise control. And I never used it through the night because the desert does cool down by 11 PM or so.
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Old 07-05-2018, 08:58 AM   #9
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ClimateRight CR-10000-ACH Small House, Garage, Shed Air Conditioner;
Euromac AC2400 Split Air Conditioning System White
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Old 07-05-2018, 12:31 PM   #10
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They do make rear vented a/c units for going in sleeves in apartment buildings. You will probably pay more as they are not as common.
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Old 07-05-2018, 12:41 PM   #11
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Barbara, for our Trillium 4500 we removed and stored the Duo Therm furnace. Also removed the square cover plate (and small diameter pipe that's attached to it) that you can see behind the furnace vent cover on the outside of the camper. So, what's left is the large diameter vent pipe and the furnace vent cover on the outside of the camper.

Now we can attach our portable, wheel around air conditioner to the large vent pipe, and that's our AC solution. With this solution, we can take the air conditioner with us, but only if we think we'll need it. We actually haven't needed it yet.

-John

EDIT: To cover the hole where the Duo Therm furnace was, I installed a removable plywood cover. Just remove to attach the wheel around air conditioner duct.
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Old 07-05-2018, 01:54 PM   #12
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Climate Right CR5000ACH Portable Air Conditioner, Heater and Dehumidifier, 5000 BTU, Off-White and the CR10000ACH can sit on tongue of trailer and use two pipes, one in and one out. They are 10000 and 5000 btu units the 10000 is 700 watts and size is still reasonable.
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