Rooftop, Portable, Window Air conditioning

[Trekking]

What style of air conditioners have you folks went with, rooftop, portable or window air conditioning. The window air conditioning seems cheaper and seems like it puts out a good deal of cold air.

 

[Donedirtcheap]

I have an RV with a roof top unit and its noisy. In a small area a very cheap walmart, home depot type a/c unit will work. You might look for the through wall style rather than a window unit. Probably run off a small generator too. I bought one at HD, don't remember the btu but it was very small and it would easily cool an insulated one car garage. Less expensive travel trailers now use them. They have a shelf inside with just part of the a/c unit sticking outside. Probably quieter than an RV roof unit. Most RV roof air units are not going to run on a Honda 2000 watt. Many companies recommend 2800 watts minimum for a 13,500 btu.
You might be able to make a louvered panel for the outside to trim it out and hide the coils.

 

[Blue]

seems like more people are using the condenser cooling systems (aka water coolers) as they take very little power and do cool things down well, others are making cooler ACs out of ice chests with metal slats stuck in the ice and fans one in one out on either side, but if its REALLY hot outside (like your parked in the sun at noon in a desert) neither of those is going to work for ya, under that situation I'd probably leave the engine running and keep the AC on. somebody figured out for my van's V6 engine the cost of doing that is like 2.00 per hour. I'm not sure if the combined cost of electricity, a wall AC unit, the mods you'd need to make, and the gas to run the generator would be worth it over the cost of just keeping the auto AC on for the hours its necessary.

 

[WheelEstate USA]

In drier places, like Arizona a swamp (water evaporative) cooler works quite well, but requires several gallons of water over a day, so not really good for van/RV use.
Blowing air over ice is a total waste.
A genny, even a small one, running an A/C will put a dent in your wallet at the end of the day.

Being used to Az heat, we don't even think of A/C till it reaches 100 outside. Our solution is to travel to cooler places when it gets hot. We didn't use our A/C at all last summer.

 

[Kisatchieman]

I've tried a 5000 btu portable air conditioner in my camper shell and found it woefully inadequate for cooling on those high 90's days, even when parked in the shade. Would rather have had a small window unit, but no good place to mount it. Roof AC would be overkill and too heavy. I guess I'll upgrade to a 8000 or 9000 btu portable unit. Surely that will do the job, assuming my Honda 2000 genny will run it.

 

[arizonatruck]

I have a 5000 btu window ac unit, yet to install it in the trailer, no really good place to mount it. It's an 8.5 foot wide trailer and the wheel wells are on the inside of the trailer. I would like to use a rooftop of about 6k btu, but I am unsure as to whether or not the trailer roof would be able to hold it. The front seems the only place to put it. Has anyone used a cabinet to hide it from view? I really do not want to cut anything on the exterior walls.

 

[Stargazer]

This is what came in my TT:

http://www.frigidaire.com/Air-Conditioning-Dehumidifiers/Air-Conditioners/FRA052XT7/

I bought the exact same unit (to replace the original one -- long story) at Lowe's last fall, on sale, for $135. It's a little noisy but in 105+ degree heat, it worked pretty good in my 15' TT, parked in partial shade (grow little tree, grow!).

It's built into an open-faced cabinet with only about 1"-2" protruding outside the wall, covered with a screen-like cover. If you decide on something like this, know that it recycles the condensate but still needs to sit in a pan of some sort for overflow.

Good luck and best wishes.

 

[decodancer]

I've learned my lesson about roof top air conditioners on vans. The fiberglass on my high top has a permanent dent from the weight where water pools. I owned several dog grooming vans and we installed 5000 btu ACs in the rear of the hightop and it would freeze you out in Florida. I've seen them in the rear window and don't think it looks too bad.

 

[SoulRaven]

What style of air conditioners have you folks went with, rooftop, portable or window air conditioning. The window air conditioning seems cheaper and seems like it puts out a good deal of cold air.

Greetings!

I use a 12v Non-Evaporative Swamp Cooler like this:



Up to ~95°f = just plain water
~95°f - ~120°f = add big block of ice
> 120°f = add dry ice

Ice or Dry Ice will last the better part of a week, if running just water, which is the vast majority of the time, you never have to add any, since it is a sealed system.

One summer in Death Valley at 130°f I used the dry ice, and it got so cold I was wearing a sweater and had to open a window to let some heat in...

Cheers!

The CamperVan_Man

 

[compassrose]

We took a window AC unit from Sam's Club and built it into the front bulkhead of the bus over the windshield. We have another one (too small but older one we already owned) in the rear. It will be replaced with a larger one this spring. These were far from the first window units we have turned into built-ins. The secret to building in a window unit is to make sure it gets plenty of air to the motor and the water it generates during operation is drained away without damaging anything. Our goal was to make the units as unobtrusive, both inside and outside, as possible. Mostly from the outside. I think we succeeded as a friend drove right past our bus and asked where the AC unit was (meaning the rear one which is the one he would have seen). We have a converted school bus and prefer for it to not look too tacky so we can get into more private campgrounds. Other reason to avoid the "window unit sticking out of the side of the bus" look is to avoid damage from trees, hail, and any other damages. We prefer a more "streamlined" look and the only thing sticking out of our (metal) roof is a small vent pipe for the waste tank. When we help convert a bus for our daughter, she will cannibalize the RV she currently lives in. That means she will use her RV rooftop AC unit which will be turned into a basement AC unit. Nothing to get scraped off the roof by low hanging tree branches or bridges.

Front


Rear view before adding the vent covers


Got lots of pics on Photobucket AC Install I need to get the pics of the painted covers up. Now the big modified silver coloured vent cover is painted to match the body colour of the bus. Not very noticable.

 

[Dino]

Greetings!

I use a 12v Non-Evaporative Swamp Cooler like this:



Up to ~95°f = just plain water
~95°f - ~120°f = add big block of ice
> 120°f = add dry ice

Ice or Dry Ice will last the better part of a week, if running just water, which is the vast majority of the time, you never have to add any, since it is a sealed system.

One summer in Death Valley at 130°f I used the dry ice, and it got so cold I was wearing a sweater and had to open a window to let some heat in...

Cheers!

The CamperVan_Man

That's really interesting Camper. Do you just drill a couple of holes in the ice chest for the tubes? What model of heater core would you recommend? What about the dimensions of the box containing the fan and heater core. I'm fascinated by this cooler!

 

[SoulRaven]

That's really interesting Camper. Do you just drill a couple of holes in the ice chest for the tubes? What model of heater core would you recommend? What about the dimensions of the box containing the fan and heater core. I'm fascinated by this cooler!

Greetings!

Yes, you drill 2 holes in the top of the ice chest, a couple of inches below he lid. I also siliconed mine in just to insure that if the ice chest was nearly full of water, it wouldn't leak out.

Part of what makes this work without adding ice, is that the air box helps to keep the water cool, plus in a typical day the ~10 gallons of water in a sealed 7 day ice chest isn't going to heat up that quickly because of the mass and the insulation.

I just use whatever heater core I can get, no real preference.

I make the air exchanger box out of coroplast which is basically plastic cardboard like the political signs are made of. The box needs to be just wide enough to house the heater core, and deep enough to give you several inches between the fan and the heater core. The heater core needs to be sealed to the front of the box, and the fan sealed to the back, so that all air is forced through the heater core.

If you need to use ice, you need to drain enough water off to accommodate the ice. If you're using Dry Ice, it needs to be insulated from actual contact with the water. An open topped plastic bag works well for this. If you have freeze up problems, replace the water with antifreeze. I've never tried it with dry ice and plain water, for fear of freeze up, but it may work.

Holler if I didn't cover everything,

Cheers!

The CamperVan_Man

 

[offroad]

Swamp coolers will only work west of the Mississippi. To the east the humidity gets too high. Anything above 40% humidity and high temperature just stops them completely.

But wondering if you could park near water and get a fish tank pump and drop a copper coil in the water to circulate the heat. Suppose too rare if a situation in finding a water heat sink area.

 

[SoulRaven]

Swamp coolers will only work west of the Mississippi. To the east the humidity gets too high. Anything above 40% humidity and high temperature just stops them completely.

But wondering if you could park near water and get a fish tank pump and drop a copper coil in the water to circulate the heat. Suppose too rare if a situation in finding a water heat sink area.

Greetings!

You are confusing swamp coolers with evaporative coolers. Real swamp coolers were designed for the the humid swampy area's and work marvelously in any humidity.

The plans I gave will work just as well, if not better than any commercial AC unit in ANY type of humidity. All of the moisture is in a sealed unit, we are just using a different technique for the refrigerant so that it doesn't need an energy hogging compressor, and will work on any old 12v system with very little energy draw.

Swamp Cooler = Works Anywhere
Evaporative Cooler = Works in non-humid areas only.

Cheers!

The CamperVan_Man

 

[Bdog1]

I have a 5k low draw 110v unit in my back door.

I mounted it low in the door to camouflage it behind my swing away tire carrier.

It keeps my insulated EB cool, and only struggles a little on the hottest days in direct FL sun. The key, I find, is to circulate air inside the van since it's location isn't ideal. The swamp cooler concept is something I'd like to try.

 

[SoulRaven]

I have a 5k low draw 110v unit in my back door.
I mounted it low in the door to camouflage it behind my swing away tire carrier.
It keeps my insulated EB cool, and only struggles a little on the hottest days in direct FL sun. The key, I find, is to circulate air inside the van since it's location isn't ideal. The swamp cooler concept is something I'd like to try.

Greetings!

Nice camouflage job!

I've used my swamp cooler all over FL, TX, LA, AR, GA, AL, and more, and it works every bit as good as it does in drier area's.

(This is a NON-Evaporative swamp cooler...)

Cheers!

The CamperVan_Man

 

[Bdog1]

Yea. Campervanman I like your designs and thinking! On my list to make a swamp cooler out of an old igloo I have. Real nice thing you did for the older guy with the tired little trailer too!

 

[SoulRaven]

Yea. Campervanman I like your designs and thinking! On my list to make a swamp cooler out of an old igloo I have. Real nice thing you did for the older guy with the tired little trailer too!

Greetings!

I sure love mine... Even at the ridiculous costs of the commercial units, it would sure beat cooking to death.

And the fact that they'll run off any old 12v battery, makes them perfect for camping and off grid use.

I just don't understand people who spend thousands for some elaborate set up to be able to run an AC Air Conditioner when there are better ways to go, that work just as good or better, for waaaaayyyyyy cheaper.

I guess I was blessed by never having the feeling that I needed to keep up with the Jone's or impress anyone. As long as I'm a happy camper, I'm content. It doesn't need to look fancy as long as it works.

Cheers!

The CamperVan_Man

 

[offroad]

Campervan man can you show pictures please?

 

[SoulRaven]

Campervan man can you show pictures please?

Greetings!

Sorry, I don't have a camera...

Here's a link to a video of one someone else made though:



Cheers!

The CamperVan_Man