Air con

[BigAl1]

We looked at a portable air con' unit that fits through a caravan window. Part hangs outside the van and the remainder on the inside.

Anyone tried one of these and if so what are your conclusions.

Alan B

 

[RogerL]

Sounds like the one at www.koolcamping.co.uk

Its about half the price, weight and a quarter of cooling power of conventional caravan air-con but it seems a more efficient design so it may be good value.

I'm hoping someone will try it and report back.

 

[Icemaker]

Not sure which type of unit you are looking at but there are two types of through the wall / window airconditioner. the first and most basic has a hose similar to a tumble drier that is designed to be fitted to a vent outlet in the wall or window, this hose is usually about 5 inch diameter and emits steam from the condensing part of the airconditioner. obviousley for airconditioning to be effective all windows and doors need to be closed so a 5 inch pipe through the window would make the a/c unit useless.

The second type has a seperate condenser attached to the indoor unit by a flexible pipe, these pipes need to pass through a window or wall also but are only usually about 2 inches wide. the problem again is the window needs to be left open but worse is the weight of the unit and the pipes which are usually too short to reach the floor, they are designed to be hooked on to the window frame of a building but they would easily damage the side of a van if used in this way.

As ive stated before i am a qualified a/c refrigeration engineer and having had a/c in my coachman laser i can only say it is a complete waste of space and weight in a caravan, we found it to be too noisy to use at night when it was most needed and the only time we ever needed it during the day was on the continent but most sites abroad dont supply enough power, our new van has not got a/c and in the past year we have not once missed it. the only reason i did not buy another laser was becouse it had a/c as standard and i didnt want to lug something around that was never going to be used, coachman seem to have listened to customers and a/c is now an option.

sorry to sound so negative about it but the unit you are looking at is far inferior to the dometic one with regard to duty so any benefit would immediately be lost through the open window.

 

[cris_408518]

I've noted vans on the continent with the Aircon Off due to lack of power! Have also noted the racket from some units as well.

Blown air moving the air through the van woith tghe heater off works fine for us. I can't see that they are that worth

while.

They look "posy" though! ;-) Roof mounted units must cause extra drag as well.

 

[Surfer]

We are going ahead with installing air con but cannot decide whether to go for the Dometic B2100 or the Telair 7200H as both are supposed to be super quiet. My only concern with retro fitting is whether the roof is strong enough to take the weight otherwise we will need to go for a split unit.

 

[Icemaker]

Ian, before you buy either go to a dealer that has one fitted in a van and listen to both. I was given a demo of the a/c when i bought my laser and the sales rep was not amused when i warmed up the sensor with my hand to bring on the compressor, the units are quiet with just the fan but when the compressor starts the noise is just too much to sleep with. Apparently most van roofs are not strong enough to take the weight of the dometic unless it is fitted from new, check with your dealer.

 

[Surfer]

Thanks Icemaker. I think you are right about the roof but no one can tell me if our roof requires strengthening. Apparently Lunar started strengthening the roofs sometime in late 2004 but they don't know which ones were strengthened. Hende the consideration for the split unit but there is supposed to an issue with vibration on split units which have the main unit in a storage area.

As we are in our caravan full time with our dogs, air con is no longer a luxury but rather a necessity. I take your point about noise and it is a concern. I am told that the Telair is a better and quieter air con than the Dometic. Any thoughts?

 

[Icemaker]

I have no experiance of the telair unit unfortunately apart from seing them in shops on shelves so to speak, but if i was living in my van permanently then i would also consider a/c despite its faults especially in view of the dogs which in my house get more pampering than me. i would definately go for the split type with the unit in one of the bed boxes if its an easy enough fit, remember you will need to route pipes the same size as the blown air heater to a high level point within the van for the air distribution. the main benefit being the weight is so much lower when towing, i could never get my head round all that weight on the roof with the dometic. my parents had a lunar in 2002 that could not have a/c fitted due to the roof not being strong enough but as with most manufacturers lunar have improved strength in the last couple of years but i would still try to find out, if lunar are still unable to confirm then i would leave the dometic well alone. lunar will almost certainly state any warranty claim void if you fit a/c in the roof without theire clarification.

The type of units alan is looking at are completely useless in a van as i stated due to having to leave a window open, 70% of my call outs in summer where due to staff opening windows or proping doors open then expecting the a/c to cool the world for them. its high time one of the manufacturers made a model that fits under the van and attaches to the chassie with anti vibration mounts there is plenty of room and under the van is always the coolest place, ideal for the condenser. if any one from dometic etc is reading the design is in my head, contact me via the mag. lol.

 

[Surfer]

I have no experiance of the telair unit unfortunately apart from seing them in shops on shelves so to speak, but if i was living in my van permanently then i would also consider a/c despite its faults especially in view of the dogs which in my house get more pampering than me. i would definately go for the split type with the unit in one of the bed boxes if its an easy enough fit, remember you will need to route pipes the same size as the blown air heater to a high level point within the van for the air distribution. the main benefit being the weight is so much lower when towing, i could never get my head round all that weight on the roof with the dometic. my parents had a lunar in 2002 that could not have a/c fitted due to the roof not being strong enough but as with most manufacturers lunar have improved strength in the last couple of years but i would still try to find out, if lunar are still unable to confirm then i would leave the dometic well alone. lunar will almost certainly state any warranty claim void if you fit a/c in the roof without theire clarification.

The type of units alan is looking at are completely useless in a van as i stated due to having to leave a window open, 70% of my call outs in summer where due to staff opening windows or proping doors open then expecting the a/c to cool the world for them. its high time one of the manufacturers made a model that fits under the van and attaches to the chassie with anti vibration mounts there is plenty of room and under the van is always the coolest place, ideal for the condenser. if any one from dometic etc is reading the design is in my head, contact me via the mag. lol.

Thanks Icemaker your advice is really appreciated. Taking everything into consideration the split unit seems the better alternative especially regarding weight distribution. Our dogs are also very pampered but they give us a lot back in their own way.

 

[Surfer]

Icemaker, one other question. If the initial start up ampere is 23A for 0.15 sec won't this trip a 10 or 16 amp EHU supply on a site?

 

[ProfJohnL]

Ian

Site and caravan over current trips (MCB's) are designed to accomodate some surge current, I think that 23A may cause some to trip and not others.

 

[WatsonJohnG]

We had the Travel Kool on the roof type for a few years .These are sold by C A K Tanks and weigh 8kg.

They do reduce the temp but the fan is noisy and they work on the evaporation principal.

I fitted an extra resister to give a slower but quieter fan speed.

We now use the "Detor" mobile type which has a refrigerator type of cooler.

For the technical:

Cooling capacity:3200BTU/H

Heating capacity:1220W

Dimensions:700mm high by 365mm deep by 265mm wide

It also dehumidifies and is very refreshing when pointed at you on a hot day.

In the Oklahoma it fits inside the cupboard by the sink for travelling and in use the fan noise is acceptable and contained within the caravan.

The exhaust tube heat takes your breath away !!

It cost about

 

[Surfer]

John we have just been told that we cannot retro fit an air con as the Lunar roof cannot take the weight. It cannot handle a 9kg weight which would be for a split unit and I am not very keen on the Truma unit which is noisy and overpriced for what it is. Can you give me so more details on this Detor unit, such as who stocks it etc as it looks like we going to go down that route.

 

[WatsonJohnG]

Ian did you see the article in this month's Caravan magazine on air con.

They mentioned some lightweight sheeting that could be placed on the roof to strengthen it.

The Detor was sold by Focus but the D I Y chains stock similar units at this time of year.

Some of them work by evaporation which increases humidity but with the Travel-Cool I didn't find that to be a problem in France/Spain

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello John W

You mention the re-humidfiers/coolers. In hot dry climates these work better, but for hot spells in the UK, where we tend to have high humidity, they are notably less efective, and in a closed caravan, they will drive the humidty up and it becomes even more unbarable. Also they are a perfect breeding ground for bacteria not forgetting legionaella.

In the UK you will get almost as much imroved comfort with a desk type fan that simply creates a draught and moves the air around.

 

[Allyson]

We were looking at the CA-1000 roof miunted air conditioner in our local dealers.

Has anyone any experience of this model or brand?

 

[Allyson]

Sorry about the above message, I missed out the make of the unit WAECO CA-1000 roof mounted air conditioner

 

[Surfer]

JohnG, are you refering to the June issue as I have not got this issue. Can you please tell me a bit more about this sheeting as PC magazine can be a bit difficult to obtain around this part of the woods?

 

[Surfer]

Ian did you see the article in this month's Caravan magazine on air con.

They mentioned some lightweight sheeting that could be placed on the roof to strengthen it.

_________________________________________________

Can any one advise on the sheeting that John Watson mentions? Is it possible for some one to copy and paste the article or to confirm the month it was produced in the PC magazine? Maybe I can order a back copy if need be.

 

[Surfer]

BUMP!

I am still hoping that John Watson will respond to my query regarding the lightweight sheeting. John are you out there.

 

[BigRoy]

Hi Ian, to quote from the article

"most roofs on British built caravans are not capable of taking the weight of air con without reinforcement.Honeycomb reinforced aluminum is immensely strong for its weight and was used to build the Jaguar 220. you can buy it in sealed, coated 10mm thick panels to the size you need, from Panel Projects, Portview road, Avonmouth, Bristol BS11 9LQ, tel 0117 316 7020 www.panelprojects.com"

hope this helps

Roy

 

[Surfer]

Thanks. looks good.