Originally Posted by Moondoggie
Hi everyone. Sorry to be so long in posting but this was the first really hot day since my AC order arrived. I settled on the EdgeStar AP8000W Portable Air Conditioner which I ordered from Amazon for $269.00. I also ordered a kit to efficiently remove the heat exhaust from our unique style windows, however I have not opened that package. I was able to use the standard exhaust hardware that came with the unit coupled with a few strips of Styrofoam packing to set up an exhaust system that I believe will work. I'll keep the kit on hand, though, in case I have problems from my homemade set up.
I set the Edgestar on the little dresser under the television cabinet where there is only 24.5 inches of clearance. As expected, the Edgestar was a fraction of an inch too tall to fit in the space I had available but I was able to easily remove the little wheels at the bottom of the unit. Now it fits perfectly (though I still have not devised a way to secure the AC in place--a problem I'll have to work through before we hit the road.)
This afternoon the temperature in Northern Arkansas hit 97. I keep my RV plugged in to shore power and with the Thor AC unit, I try to keep the inside temperature at 85. For this reason, I already had a head start on cooling the interior. As usual, the temperature in the bedroom was a few degree warmer and when I turned the new AC on the unit thermometer read 88 degrees F.
To begin my test, I lowered the Thor coach AC thermostat from 85 to 70, then went back to the bedroom and lowered the EdgeStar thermostat to 70. I also closed the four ceiling air vents in the bedroom so that the Thor unit would be dedicated to cooling only the living area, galley and bathroom. The EdgeStar would be used to cool only the bedroom. The specs for the Edgestar said it would cool a 150 sq. ft. room and since the bedroom (with the slide extended) measured only 80 sq ft, (8 x 10 ft.) I expected it to easily do the job.
I was happy to see that with both units running the 30 amp breaker held, so I decided to press my luck. The current was already handling two Air conditioners, two refrigerators (I have an outside kitchen), and the bedroom lights. I then turned on all of the additional coach lights, the small bedroom dvd and the bedroom television, still no problem. I then went into the kitchen and fired up the microwave with no issues (as a side note, it took 90 seconds to heat seven chicken nuggets). The breakers all held. Satisfied that the 30 amps would do what I wanted it to do, I went back into the bedroom to find that the temperature had dropped from 88 to 79 and was still dropping.
All went well for the next ten minutes or so, until suddenly the breaker tripped. Immediately I realized that I had forgotten to switch the water heater from electricity to gas, a modification that some of you fellows warned me of earlier. I'm still not sure that was the problem, but it made sense to me. I made the switch-over from electric to gas hot water, then went out to reset the breaker. When I came back in I laid in the bed and watched Bonanza on the DVD as the temperature display on the Edgestar continued to drop. Eventually (I estimate about 90 minutes from beginning to end) the bedroom temp hit 71. Figuring that was a cool as I'll ever need it, I raised the Edgestar thermostat from 70 to 73 to test the thermostat. I learned that the fan on the Edgestar continues to run even after the temp reaches the set point. You can, however, turn the fan off with the remote that I kept beside the bed.
Later (after Hoss, Ben and Little Joe saved the fate of Virginia City) I fired up the generator and unplugged from shore power. Everything I tested with the AC's running on generator power seemed to be working well.
With reflection, I wish I had checked a few other things. I would like to have known if turning on the water pump would have made a difference. Likewise, I wonder if having two TV's and two DVDs at the same time might have caused a problem. I purposely did not check to see if the amperage would handle a hair dryer, since my 30 amps would not handle that even without the new AC.
All in all I'm feeling pretty good about the new addition. The AC sits fairly quietly in the little corner I have for it, vents effectively through the nearby window, and has apparently saved me quite a few bucks by not having to install a new rooftop AC and/or switch to 50 Amps.
We'll be taking the RV on the road in a couple of weeks. I'll let you know if I run into problems.
Thanks for all the advice and help.
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