re air conditioning (1 Viewer)

[Welsh girl]

hi all can anyone tell me whether it would be worth fitting an air conditioning unit on top of our van?
We feel that if we are going to be coming to france more often especially to leave Susie in the van, we dont leave her now the van gets too hot or is it just exceptional weather for this time of year , I know lots of you are getting nice weather in the UK at thre moment.
How many amps for example would it need to run one of these and are they effective?
Any advice would be appreciated

 

[yodeli]

hi all can anyone tell me whether it would be worth fitting an air conditioning unit on top of our van?
We feel that if we are going to be coming to france more often especially to leave Susie in the van, we dont leave her now the van gets too hot or is it just exceptional weather for [/SIZE]this time of year , I know lots of you are getting nice weather in the UK at thre moment.
How many amps for example would it need to run one of these and are they effective?
Any advice would be appreciated

It is an average of 4° higher than usual, last time was in 1994 or 6 can't remember now and in 2003 . It seems that the summer will be very very hot! Last year we had temperatures up to 42° in the shade! We already have water restrictions in a few areas(no garden watering and no swimming pool filling). I would recommend you to fit air con yes! for the "how" sorry dunno anything about that stuff:Blush:


Amicalement

Frankie

 

[motor roamin]

I wouldn't own any vehicle without Air, but as far as I know all roof air will be mains electric not 12v, once you have had it you won't want to be without it.

I don't think it would be feasable to run it on an inverter, but I am sure some one with much more knowledge than me will be along in a mo.

Hope this helps a bit.

All the best Rick

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[MikeandCarolyn]

I looked into air con a couple of yrs ago and eventually went for an 'under the bonnet' unit because it was when driving that we felt we needed it most and what with the solar panels and sattelite antena the only place left to install an on roof system was by utilising the main roof vent-which was a no-no for us.
I can't remember if all the roof systems ran off mains only or not-that would also have been a no-no for us.
We use the 'cab air-con' a lot now-as soon as the sun comes out,even in UK,the cab is like a greenhouse.
Glad to hear you're enjoying France so much-I have instructed my navigator to look out for the 'Draig Goch' on your bonnet as we go along

Mike.

 

[Welsh girl]

We do have it in the cab but that only works as you know when driving. We need it on site.

It's been lovely in the cab and very useful for Susie too.

Hey Mike you understand Draig goch. Even my predictive text doesn't know that one. Lol Diolch yn Fawr

 

[motor roamin]

Dash or cab air is a must, and I use it all year round in all of of my vehicles, what most people do not realise is that air con to work dehumidifies the air before conditioning, therefor in the winter with aircon on with the heat on it will prevent the windows from fogging up and keep the aircon working, it is not using air that causes most problems with it.

Hope this helps

All the best Rick.

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[MikeandCarolyn]

Croeso

Mike.

 

[Douglas]

Personally I don't have a use for air conditioning, but it depends on the use you put the MH too. IE. we spend the winter months in Portugal and Spain and although the temperature in the MH can get up to 32 we are acclimatised to it and its not a problem, plus we never have a mains supply so we could not run one if we wanted to.

Doug...

 

[scotjimland]

We had two roof air cons in the RV and seldom ever used, even when it was really hot. We prefer to get acclimatized, why go to a hot country and sit in a cool box..

They use about 6 Amps .. many EHU abroad are only 6A or less.. so can't be used unless you run a genny ... that will not make you popular.

Noisy .. both inside and outside, which does annoy neighbours.

They are a heavy bit of kit .. so, reduced pay load and MPG due to drag.

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[simsy56]

l use mine a lot, very comfortable.

Air conditioning is a system or process of controlling the temperature and humidity of a given volume of air.

Next time you are steamed up in a vehicle, bang it on and watch the moisture disappear.

Craig

 

[Dodgey]

My peneth?

Roof air is great, especially with dog/s in tow BUT...

As stated variously before some sites have low amp EHU so you may not be able to run and also, we poped out to a local Tesco on a hot day a couple of years back, van cooled down air on for the dog, only gone 40 mins and when we got back there had obviously been a power cut and on restart the load from our air had tripped the bollard.

We wouldn't leave the dog long whatever but it served as a good reminder that these thing happen, and no it wasn't any kind of malic, just bad luck/timing for us.

They have there uses, some are noisier than others and I'm not sure I'd fit one personally but given we play in RVs it's a bit academic as they generally come with them, mind you when the first RVs roof air died we removed and fitted and Omnistor roof vent instead, made a huge difference to the light in the RV:thumb:

 

[Squire]

hi all can anyone tell me whether it would be worth fitting an air conditioning unit on top of our van?
We feel that if we are going to be coming to france more often especially to leave Susie in the van, we dont leave her now the van gets too hot or is it just exceptional weather for this time of year , I know lots of you are getting nice weather in the UK at thre moment.
How many amps for example would it need to run one of these and are they effective?
Any advice would be appreciated

I have both cab-air and roof-air in my motorhome and I wouldn't be without either. I have toured all over Europe and had no problem with tripping the supply except in Italy in the Lake district. It appears that they have a miserly 2 amp supply that just about allows you to run the fridge and the battery charger but not much else. I voted with my feel (wheels?) and retrieved my passport and headed up the mountains where I found a restaurant in an orange grove and wild camped there - with their permission of course (after having a perfect meal on the veranda). No EHU of course, so no A/C but I didn't need one at that altitude as there was a cool breeze.
And that WAS the only time I have ever tripped a site supply - even in other parts of Italy. I certainly couldn't have enjoyed August and September in Venice and Pompeii without it - especially at night.

It isn't as much as refrigerating the air that matters but the de-humidifying of it. I don't mind hot but I loathe hot and sticky. Bringing down the humidity is what counts more than temp and that makes for real comfort when you get to bed.

There are 12v A/C units on the market but they are next to useless as they use far too much power and you'd need a battery bank like a WW2 submarine as well as huge power cables up to the roof. Personally I would fit a 'Fantastic Fan' unit before doing that.

Well .... that's my opinion anyway ...

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[Gooney]

hi all can anyone tell me whether it would be worth fitting an air conditioning unit on top of our van?
We feel that if we are going to be coming to france more often especially to leave Susie in the van, we dont leave her now the van gets too hot or is it just exceptional weather for this time of year , I know lots of you are getting nice weather in the UK at thre moment.
How many amps for example would it need to run one of these and are they effective?
Any advice would be appreciated

If it gets too hot go and do a bit of shopping in the Hypermarkets, all air conditioned and plenty to have a look at

 

[JJ]

My old Hymer has a 12 volt operated evaporation air cooler (not conditioner) called Travel Cool (I believe CAK Tanks stock them.)

OK they are not as effective as a full on air conditioner but mine cools down the Hymer significantly and using 12 volts can be run when not on hook up, (IE when parked at the supermarket on a hot day) in order to keep the dog cool(er).

JJ

 

[Welsh girl]

If it gets too hot go and do a bit of shopping in the Hypermarkets, all air conditioned and plenty to have a look at

Thanks for the info but I dont think we could leave susie in there to do some sightseeing... or sleep at night

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