AC upgrade!

[wiredgeorge]

I did ALL the things that can be done to get temps in our camper tolerable during triple digit heat. Dark window film, installed 15K btu rooftop A/C, sealed inside vents and A/C lower, keep shades down, try to find shade (no very easy in S. TX). These things made life camping in July/August tolerable. I then added an LG 8K BTU portable A/C and got temps under 80F on triple digit temp days in direct sun.

Next step was to remove the LG portable and install a Ningpu (Amazon and rated decently) 14K BTU portable. I do have a window for the exhaust and fashioned a wood insert to hold the exhaust outlet. This stuff comes out when we travel and I use an 8 ga. extension cord to plug into the power pedestal. Temps are now about 5 degrees cooler in triple digit outside temps to around 75 or so. Seems to work fine. Chose this unit as it uses the evaporation to cool the condenser coils and shouldn't need to drain often.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1


I could have added a 2nd rooftop (have on in my storage building) but my low rise fiver profile made this an awkward proposition. I would have run wires across ceiling in bedroom down an inside wall and through floor and along bottom of the camper to the rear and an outlet. Chose not to go this route.

[jim1]

How noisy and does it pump the water out? My bride has a space heater to be comfy, I think I might need one of these to keep me company!

[Frank G]

I have been seriously looking at and studying portable air conditioners. I am intrigued with the two hose models, they pull air in through one hose and expel hotter air through the other hose. This eliminates the issue of creating a vacuum in the living space by exhausting large volumes of cooled air.

Your Thoughts

[BrooksFam]

If all else fails, summer in the PNW ……

I'm sure I wouldn't fair well in your area right now.

[wiredgeorge]

With my old portable (8K BTU LG), I unplugged when leaving a campground and rolled it to the door and opened the drain. Never had much more than a pint. This new portable has this feature:
SELF-EVAPORATION - Automatic self-evaporation technology - no bucket to empty (except in some high humidity area) - Built-in dehumidifier removes up to 50 pints/24 hours with continuous drain option for long unattended operation. Condensing water can Pump to Evaporator self to support energy and make high efficient .



Since the above is written by an obviously foreign write (like Chinese), I am not really sure but think they intend this unit to not have to be dumped unless it is used as a dehumidifier.



As far as one hose vs two hoses, I prefer the portable to draw in cooler air from the inside and exhaust warmer to the outside. If it is 100 degrees, not sure how effective drawing in 100F air into the unit for cooling since I have the main Dometic 1500BTU unit running as well and throwing cool/cold air down at the portable to intake. I think one or more of our members is A/C savvy and could weigh in on this issue but sucking in hot air from outside didn't seem like a great idea to me. As far as a "vacuum" being set up, never noticed that and the noise is there but not really all that bad. Can comfortably watch the TV (have soundbar) only a few feet away. This 14K BTU unit doesn't seem any louder than the 8K although the far is far stronger. The roof A/C with the quick cool exhaust closed and air coming out the ducted vents is quite a bit louder.

[Tooth Ferry]

Probably won't make the cooling any better but a product made by Wacko reduced the noise level from our ceiling AC enough to make the little pricey addition be a good investment to us. Look for Wacko RV AC sound reducer or something like that.