Tiny air conditioners

[Darral T.]

Very simple...get a $150 a/c (with remote if you want) and be done with it. The more expensive-hard-to-get 1000 btu a/c to me wouldnt be worth it. We have a 9K roof mount in our 13' Scamp. In the SOUTH in the dead of summer during the day with 95+ temps, it's all IT can do to keep up. Why?

REMEMBER.... your RV doesnt have NEAR the insulation your house will and that makes ALL the difference regardless the size of your camper- of course unless it's one of the better insulated Olivers or equal. Believe me, in the "Lite-house", the temps are going to rise and lower fast! That's just the way it is in a small camper.....and.... "it's the nature of the beast".

Quick story of mine: The Coleman 9K I have would let it get warm and humid in my trailer before kicking on again. The heat unit was too warm or well... you get the story. There was a gentleman on the Casita forum that devised a way to put a Hunter (or sob) on the unit. Now you can control it within 1 deg if you wish! My Scamp is now more comfortable than my house- which makes for EXCELLENT sleeping- with this digital setup! Just a thought.

[Huck]

I would be happy if there was an easy way to just cool the air in the bed area. My ac is in the front of the trailer and the bed in the rear.

[Darral T.]

You sound like myself..."cool at night" is where it's at! I mounted the digital Hunter I spoke about in the previous post at the end of the cabinet right at my head! I can reach over and bump the temp up or down with heat OR cold...either one. This Hunter has 3 settings (Span) so you can vary the swing of the temp change by 1 deg, 2 or 3. Of course in the daytime, we set it to 3. And generally 2 is comfortable enough. IF the therm tries to kick on after a minute...and it does in the summer.... these thermostats have a built-in delay of like 3-4 minutes so that it cant immediately kick on and harm your compressor.

There's one trick I had to do to complete the process. This blows people's minds, but I installed a 12v micro fan in the thermostat and "baffled" it so that it "sees" the temp as I do laying in the bed. Without it, there was a horrible "dead spot" and the thermostat wasnt getting sufficient airflow through it and it was varying worse than the manual thermostat on the unit! Quite a process but worth EVERY minute's trouble.

Originally Posted by Huck

I would be happy if there was an easy way to just cool the air in the bed area. My ac is in the front of the trailer and the bed in the rear.

[honda03842]

We're getting ready to leave Florida for the winter, The last week has been in the high 80's even hitting 90 one day. Our plan is to leave the air conditioner on at 85 for the summer and the humidistat at 50% to keep the temperature and humidity at reasonable levels.

I'm told that this is a low cost operation and keeps the humidity down. Our electric bill has been very reasonable, in the mid -$70s. This includes electric washer, dryer, stove, hot water heater and air conditioner.

As an experiment we have been gradually increasing the air conditioner to 85 wondering what it feels like. When coming in from out side it feels great. When continually inside it feels acceptable, particularly with the ceiling fans on. I beginning to see that it really doesn't take a really low temperature to be comfortable.

The ceiling fans are great. We've yet to feel the need to run the air conditioner at night. The bedroom ceiling fan with the windows open seems enough. We have four ceiling fans and have never owned one before.

[Jeannette in NS]

I just stumbled upon this website, unfortunately it looks like they're set up for Europe but I thought the design was brilliant. I'm not sure if anyone in North America is producing a similar unit or not. I'm also not sure if everyone has windows that open like this...



Cool My Camper - Air Conditioning For Caravans and Motorhomes

[Bob Miller]

There are a few split system a/c offered, and there have been a few mentioned hereabouts BUT.....

Me thinks that one is more hokum than facts:
While it might work under limited conditions in a very small and "Well Insulated" (which really doesn't exist) trailer, the number don't add up

Output is only 2.4k BTU. Some owners are pulling out 5k btu units as being inadequate and installing larger units. Roof-top RV a/c's start about about 8.6k BTU and most are 13.5kBTU.

In operation they have to leave an air leak )window) open for cool air to rush out.

A claimed drop from 86f. to 50 f. in three hours would almost have to be in a sealed and insulated box with only 2.4 kBTU of cooling.

And, for more than $850 USD, not a real bargain for a tiny unit.

While the split unit a/c is an up and coming idea, I don't see that one as an answer, even if it was 120VAC ready. And yes, I know that you can get an inverter to change 12VDC to 240VAC, but I just don't see it as a viable alternative for our FGRV's or environment (Cooling from 86F.... no big deal)

[Jeannette in NS]

I think you're right. I'd like to find a solution that looks nice - I like the split idea, I think the units look a little large. An in window unit under a seat looks a little better but I'm unsure about the ducting and how to get that to work well. I'll keep reading on here and see what others are doing.

[xanadu]

I have an older issue of an RV magazine that has an RV air conditioner called the Dometic Brisk 2. It says it offers a 15 percent airflow increase and is 19 percent lighter than previous models, making it the smallest 13.5K rooftop available. They have a number (574)293-9686 and a website www.dometic.com

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by xanadu

I have an older issue of an RV magazine that has an RV air conditioner called the Dometic Brisk 2. It says it offers a 15 percent airflow increase and is 19 percent lighter than previous models, making it the smallest 13.5K rooftop available. They have a number (574)293-9686 and a website www.dometic.com

I don't think anybody with a molded trailer would try to use a 13.5K roof AC unit although it would easily work on your 5th wheel.

[Bob Miller]

Add to that, many FGTRV's, especially earlier units, do not have enough roof strength to support the weight of any roof top unit.

[John McMillin]

For my money-- about $50, in fact -- I found a very neat and effective temporary solution, as simple as you can get.

My Scamp 16 has an empty cabinet where the fridge once sat, so I bought the smallest used AC I could find and fit it in there. The AC feeds outside air through the old fridge vent panel, and to assist that flow I sandwiched in a thin electric fan blowing out. The unit sits on a dish drying pan, draining out the wall. The knee-high placement of the cold air output wasn't optimal, but we have a few small AC and DC fans to circulate the cool air upwards.

It worked well enough to make the trailer chilly on a Kentucky summer morning, 90 and 90 outside. Best of all, after that sultry Southern trip, I could remove the unit and go back to stock for my usual mountain camp destinations.

[David Tilston]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

There are a few split system a/c offered, and there have been a few mentioned hereabouts BUT.....

Me thinks that one is more hokum than facts:
While it might work under limited conditions in a very small and "Well Insulated" (which really doesn't exist) trailer, the number don't add up

Output is only 2.4k BTU. Some owners are pulling out 5k btu units as being inadequate and installing larger units. Roof-top RV a/c's start about about 8.6k BTU and most are 13.5kBTU.

In operation they have to leave an air leak )window) open for cool air to rush out.

A claimed drop from 86f. to 50 f. in three hours would almost have to be in a sealed and insulated box with only 2.4 kBTU of cooling.

And, for more than $850 USD, not a real bargain for a tiny unit.

While the split unit a/c is an up and coming idea, I don't see that one as an answer, even if it was 120VAC ready. And yes, I know that you can get an inverter to change 12VDC to 240VAC, but I just don't see it as a viable alternative for our FGRV's or environment (Cooling from 86F.... no big deal)

I think Bob is correct in the sense that this would not lower the temperature of the whole trailer much. But I don't think that is how this A/C would be used. I would use it like a fan. At the bed side, blowing on us. I love the fact that it is not permanently installed. Yes, you need to crack the window a bit, but that crack can be stuffed with some insulating / sealing material, like a paper towel. But, since the inside of the trailer is not going to get much cooler then the outside, that is probably not necessary.

[dbir]

I have an 8000 btu single room AC unit that i use in the bedroom at home. If the weather looks unreasonably warm i'll bring it camping. i have a second window outlet that i installed into a thick piece of cardboard, and use duct tape to seal it around my window over the cooktop. It takes up some room, and can be in the way if you were to be cooking in the trailer, but when its +30 i'll gladly take a good nights sleep in the cool trailer.

[. Leigh .]

Didn't want to start a new thread to ask a question.

Has anyone found an A/C, or modified an A/C to fit in the space that the furnace goes in a 13ft Boler?

[Bob Miller]

You might tell us the dimensions of that space.

[. Leigh .]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

You might tell us the dimensions of that space.

The opening is 10" wide, and 17.5" deep. The shape is like an "r" though. The first 6" of depth is 16.5" tall, after that the remaining 11.5" of depth is 10" tall.

The original furnace fit within the front 6" and used the remaining depth for the exhaust pipe.

Ideally I'd need an AC that was either 10Wx10Hx17.5L or 10Wx16.5Hx6L. I doubt I can find one in the "r" shape of the stove.

[Bob Miller]

I have seen any A/C that small for an RV, even in a split system.
There are some very small industrial mini- a/c's for cooling very small spaces, such as electronics enclosures, but their capacity is very small and the prices are very, very high as they are usually protecting even more expensive equipment.

[. Leigh .]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

I have seen any A/C that small for an RV, even in a split system.
There are some very small industrial mini- a/c's for cooling very small spaces, such as electronics enclosures, but their capacity is very small and the prices are very, very high as they are usually protecting even more expensive equipment.

What about a dehumidifier that small? I find I can handle the heat as long as the humidity is really low.

[redbarron55]

If you have the dehumidifier then just fix it so that the cold air does not blow back over the hot coil and you have the dehumidifier and A/C.

[Bob Miller]

Originally Posted by . Leigh .

What about a dehumidifier that small? I find I can handle the heat as long as the humidity is really low.

I haven't had to shop for a small dehumidifier, but that's still a very small area.