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Old 08-17-2017, 04:15 PM   #1
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2 air conditions

I currently own a 36 foot travel trailer and was told the 1 AC would be sufficient.WRONG. So my question is at what length should you start considering a second AC unit?

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Old 08-17-2017, 04:20 PM   #2
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I currently own a 36 foot travel trailer and was told the 1 AC would be sufficient.WRONG. So my question is at what length should you start considering a second AC unit?
We only recently bought our RV, first ever so nothing to compare it to. But I know the 2nd AC unit is definitely necessary in our 38 footer, and don't think that would change even if it were, say, 32'.
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Old 08-17-2017, 04:29 PM   #3
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My personal opinion is all units over 18-20 ft should have a second AC. I have a 31 ft coach and there is no way one AC could keep up in Texas heat. Don't think you can ever have to much AC, you never know where you might end up going, and if it's hot you'll wish you had it.
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Old 08-17-2017, 05:16 PM   #4
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Most RV's that exceed 33 feet or so come with two AC's, and the trend now for anything approaching 40 feet, is three AC's. Unfortunately because of power restrictions, RV's with 3 AC's have lower capacity units, so other than better air distribution, cooling effect is only a marginal improvement. Problem with any RV is the lack of insulation in the walls, which are very thin to start with. Parked in direct sunlight, the heat load is intense.
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Old 08-17-2017, 06:00 PM   #5
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The size of the RV is only part of the equation. Heat load, humidity, outdoor temperature, color of RV, number and locations of windows receiving direct sunlight and even number and size of slides all have an effect. Add in a washer/dryer and you have even more heat load.
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Old 08-17-2017, 06:09 PM   #6
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Most RV's that exceed 33 feet or so come with two AC's, and the trend now for anything approaching 40 feet, is three AC's. Unfortunately because of power restrictions, RV's with 3 AC's have lower capacity units, so other than better air distribution, cooling effect is only a marginal improvement. Problem with any RV is the lack of insulation in the walls, which are very thin to start with. Parked in direct sunlight, the heat load is intense.


Yes. We spent 2 weekends at the beach in Florida last month and it was miserable
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Old 08-17-2017, 06:11 PM   #7
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We have only owned three RVs, but all have had 2 air conditioners. The two fivers cooled pretty good, one was 38' long and one was slightly larger at 39'. Our present Thor Challenger has two that can barely keep up. I know when the sun is directly on one side you can really feel the heat through the side walls. Three smaller units may work better but with a lack of wall insulation I'm not sure how well.
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Old 08-17-2017, 06:18 PM   #8
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when you're hot
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Old 08-17-2017, 07:01 PM   #9
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Our "31" class C is on the edge
really it needs something more
ok most of the time, but....

If there was an option on the market for a roof mounted 5,000 BTU or so unit reasonably priced one would likely already be installed in place of our bedroom roof vent

It's not quite worth it to me to install the larger things that are available on the market since it opens up issues with powering it in a 30A RV
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Old 08-17-2017, 07:03 PM   #10
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Had an Axis 25.2 and had 1 AC. Cooling was fine. Got Windsport 31s and at almost 32 feet 2 AC's were the way to go. I would say anything over 25 feet get 2 AC's.
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Old 08-17-2017, 07:28 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by Brooks2017 View Post
I currently own a 36 foot travel trailer and was told the 1 AC would be sufficient.WRONG. So my question is at what length should you start considering a second AC unit?
Mine is 31' and has two a/c's. They had ones on the lot with one and I had them order one with two. I live in Florida and wouldn't even consider one a/c. So far best move I have made.
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Old 08-17-2017, 07:33 PM   #12
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I currently own a 36 foot travel trailer and was told the 1 AC would be sufficient.WRONG. So my question is at what length should you start considering a second AC unit?

fotofx is right -- size is just one variable.

Assuming you're in Alabama and want to camp in summer, there is little doubt in my mind that a 36-foot trailer should have 2 air conditioners (of roof-top type limited to no more than 15,000 BTU/hr capacity per unit).

Some central air conditioners are much larger but since you didn't mention that, I'll assume you have a 15k roof-top A/C.

In my opinion any RV much larger than 25 feet could use more than a 15K A/C in the south during summer. Some 27~30 foot RVs get by with one air conditioner, but they have to be much more diligent at reducing heat load.


Quote:
Originally Posted by fotofx View Post
The size of the RV is only part of the equation. Heat load, humidity, outdoor temperature, color of RV, number and locations of windows receiving direct sunlight and even number and size of slides all have an effect. Add in a washer/dryer and you have even more heat load.
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Old 08-22-2017, 12:34 PM   #13
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While in the Black Hills this summer we got to know two other couples that were traveling together in similar Tiffins. They were 43' DP in the 2010 to 2012 range with 3 air conditioners. On a day when the temps were almost 100 degrees our Challenger struggled to stay in the high 80's. The inside of their coaches stayed in the high 70's. We were all on the same 50amp service of course and they had 5 more feet of coach to cool.
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Old 08-22-2017, 12:39 PM   #14
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I've posted this several times but here it is again. Add this rotating vent to your inside cover and you will get more cool air output and a cooler coach, if you have dual ACs put one one each.

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Old 08-22-2017, 02:01 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by Joe-FL View Post
While in the Black Hills this summer we got to know two other couples that were traveling together in similar Tiffins. They were 43' DP in the 2010 to 2012 range with 3 air conditioners. On a day when the temps were almost 100 degrees our Challenger struggled to stay in the high 80's. The inside of their coaches stayed in the high 70's. We were all on the same 50amp service of course and they had 5 more feet of coach to cool.
We are experiencing the same situation in our Challenger in Florida. In the heat of the day the best/lowest we can go inside is 84 degrees. This is WAY too hot for me. I don't need 70 degrees, but something less than 80 would be nice!

Both units work fine, and the rear of our coach cools down well enough. The rear unit will cool the coach by itself at night. It's up front where the problem is. Opening the vents on the ceiling cover helps. Pushing it through the ceiling duct work is useless. Almost no air passes out of those vents, even with some strategically closed.

Have not yet done the additional vent as SuperD suggested. Husband is looking in to swapping the front a/c unit for a 15,000 BTU. Also adding snap on window covers for the windshield and side windows up front. Not sure how else to try and overcome the crappy insulation. That's all on the back burner for now as we work on other modifications and getting some warranty work completed.

We had one coach, a 32ft Bounder with just one unit. It wasn't super cold, but it got cooler than our new Challenger. Last coach was a 37ft with two 13,500BTU units and that RV would get seriously cold, even in the FL heat.
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Old 08-22-2017, 03:12 PM   #16
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I think some of the Thor products including mine (VEGAS) does not have adequate insulation in the side walls and roofs some of the higher quality RVs have thicker walls and roofs which gives you better insulation.
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Old 09-01-2017, 01:22 PM   #17
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Originally Posted by BradnKaren View Post
We are experiencing the same situation in our Challenger in Florida. In the heat of the day the best/lowest we can go inside is 84 degrees. This is WAY too hot for me. I don't need 70 degrees, but something less than 80 would be nice!



Both units work fine, and the rear of our coach cools down well enough. The rear unit will cool the coach by itself at night. It's up front where the problem is. Opening the vents on the ceiling cover helps. Pushing it through the ceiling duct work is useless. Almost no air passes out of those vents, even with some strategically closed.



Have not yet done the additional vent as SuperD suggested. Husband is looking in to swapping the front a/c unit for a 15,000 BTU. Also adding snap on window covers for the windshield and side windows up front. Not sure how else to try and overcome the crappy insulation. That's all on the back burner for now as we work on other modifications and getting some warranty work completed.



We had one coach, a 32ft Bounder with just one unit. It wasn't super cold, but it got cooler than our new Challenger. Last coach was a 37ft with two 13,500BTU units and that RV would get seriously cold, even in the FL heat.


We have a 32 ft four winds and we are experiencing the same problem. The unit doesn't get below 80 until 3:00 in the morning.
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Old 09-01-2017, 01:57 PM   #18
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I find the front of the coach to be the least insulated. So adding length is not directly proportional since all coaches start with the poorly insulted front end. In a pinch, one AC will keep it livable at least IF I start the day with a cool coach. One AC will not effectively COOL DOWN a hot coach.

Hang a blanket from the overhead bunk, does wonders to isolate the heat loss from the front end.

I do a lot of 30A camping, so I have to do some planning and use 2 ACs for short periods as needed.
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Old 09-01-2017, 02:03 PM   #19
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I have a ACE 30.2 31ft with one 15000 A/C. I live in it here in Florida for weeks at a time while at work and its not bad as long as i keep the 20" box fan on high blowing in my direction. adding foil insulation to all the windows made a huge difference, and i recently added a curtain rod behind drivers area with insulated black out curtains which helped even more.
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Old 09-01-2017, 02:09 PM   #20
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Fellow RVers, I know how you can get busy doing other things but doing the vent mod I suggested does make a big difference in airflow and cooling. The mod is easy and doesn't take very long to do.
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