Air con, is it worth it? (1 Viewer)

[Madbird]

We had (we just sold our UK plated camper as live in Spain) a Viesa Holiday 11
(https://www.laserlineleisure.co.uk/) it runs off 12v and was excellent on or off campsites - great when we had to leave the dogs inside as it works great! And it was lovely on the hot nights too! Will be installing another on the new Spanish plates camper when we get it!

 

[Swifter]

We had (we just sold our UK plated camper as live in Spain) a Viesa Holiday 11
(https://www.laserlineleisure.co.uk/) it runs off 12v and was excellent on or off campsites - great when we had to leave the dogs inside as it works great! And it was lovely on the hot nights too! Will be installing another on the new Spanish plates camper when we get it!

A 12 volt air conditioning unit ? That’s got me Interested . How does this unit perform ?

 

[Langtoftlad]

It's a roof mounted swamp cooler.

 

[Richard n Ann]

How does this unit perform

It doesn't perform very well at all really. It's an evaporative type so a circulating fan and a pool of water with maybe a cloth in it.

 

[Bessy765]

As stated in the instructions it can add between 1/2 and 1&1/2 litres of water to an already humid atmosphere. I find the humidity a greater discomfort than dry heat.

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[Swifter]

It doesn't perform very well at all really. It's an evaporative type so a circulating fan and a pool of water with maybe a cloth in it.

Ah one of those . I got excited for a moment there. I think 12v air conditioning would be difficult to achieve .

 

[WESTY66]

Ah one of those . I got excited for a moment there. I think 12v air conditioning would be difficult to achieve .

Yes it would be the holy grail of motorhomers in hot climes

 

[Swifter]

If I purchased one of these at over £2000 and pitched as a “ 12 volt air conditioner “ I would be seriously pissed off to find out I had a swamp cooler bolted to my roof! That’s the same sort of money as a Dometic system !

 

[Richard n Ann]

If I purchased one of these at over £2000 and pitched as a “ 12 volt air conditioner “ I would be seriously pissed off to find out I had a swamp cooler bolted to my roof! That’s the same sort of money as a Dometic system !

What i can't understand is why some people love them. Are they in denial after spending a fortune on what is little more than a legal scam? Have they never experienced a proper air conditioner? Or do they somehow just work!? Err no.. forget the last one

 

[WESTY66]

I’m in the process of deciding whether ac is worth the money, I suppose it is when it’s hot, less so when it’s cool, it’s a cost vs value thing.

I KNOW I’ll end up getting it done, it’s just other problems that go with the fitting but I’ve got a very good company doing the necessary calcs

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[Swifter]

I’m in the process of deciding whether ac is worth the money, I suppose it is when it’s hot, less so when it’s cool, it’s a cost vs value thing.

I KNOW I’ll end up getting it done, it’s just other problems that go with the fitting but I’ve got a very good company doing the necessary calcs

Might be worth getting one that works as a heater as well .Dometic do one . That way you can use it during the winter when visiting colder areas .

 

[Richard n Ann]

Might be worth getting one that works as a heater as well .Dometic do one . That way you can use it during the winter when visiting colder areas .

Yes the heating is the main benefit, very efficient if you are metered or on limited ehu. My house AC uses 900w electrical, that's about 4 amps but puts out over 2.5kw of heat.

Consider A 1000w element heater, it puts out 1000w of heat.

 

[WESTY66]

Yes the heating is the main benefit, very efficient if you are metered or on limited ehu. My house AC uses 900w electrical, that's about 4 amps but puts out over 2.5kw of heat.

Consider A 1000w element heater, it puts out 1000w of heat.

Very useful info Richard, thanks

 

[simsy56]

We have a roof a/c and have used it maybe 3 times. Far too noisy. Couldn’t possibly have it on all night long, and during the day we would rather sit outside in the shade with a cold drink.
Craig

 

[Jofang]

We had a roof aircon in our 2018 Voyageur which didn't perform well in hot climates, so we tried to get it re-gassed and were told it wasn't possible without cutting into the tubing and fitting adaptors so we didn't bother. We now have an SL 898 Hymer with no roof aircon so we asked for a price for a good aircon and sufficient lithium to allow us to run overnight off the grid. We were quoted 9,000 euros, ouch! So we don't have aircon. However we did pay 7,000 euros for AlKo's hydraulic self levelling & weighing, which worked great at the dealers but the rear nearside cylinder blew out all its oil all over my driveway when we got home leaving us with the cylinder extended unable to return, which rendered the Hymer undriveable. The fun & games continues.....

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[CazPaul]

I’ve never thought habitation air con was worth it but with the way the weather temperatures are increasing I’m not sure now.

 

[Figaro]

Might be worth getting one that works as a heater as well .Dometic do one . That way you can use it during the winter when visiting colder areas .

I find the heater on my dometic B2200 to be almost useless.
Later models may be better ?

 

[Richard n Ann]

told it wasn't possible without cutting into the tubing and fitting adaptors

That's correct but it's a 5 minute job with a ¼ tee and schrader valve, total cost about 2 quid.

 

[Langtoftlad]

Suspect the answer is to tour places where aircon isn't necessary.
As an example
https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/soooo-galicia-it-is-again-👍😊.266762/post-5149609

 

[Bessy765]

Re the self contained ability to run air con. When we bought our van new in 2019 the offer was a free Dometic 22000 Freshjet. Having made use of it in France in 2020 and this will be our last van Thought why not go the whole hog. We had 700 watts of solar, a Victron 12/2000/80 inverter charger and 2 x 100 Transporter lithium batteries fitted. It came out around £8000. 2 underslung gas tanks £2000 but we use the van a lot all year round. If we set the air con to 20c it cycles on andoff around 50% bit more at the moment, but more sunshine = hot = more input from the solar. We did 85 days in France some days 38C managed without hook up and were parked for 3 or 4 days at a time. So yes a lot of money but in our opinion and as I dont do hot weather too well, well worth it.

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[DuxDeluxe]

We have a Truma unit on ours that is also a quite useful heat pump. Not needed that often but it works very well indeed

 

[CazPaul]

Had the endless breeze fan on last week now that was lovely.

 

[Bart]

Re the self contained ability to run air con. When we bought our van new in 2019 the offer was a free Dometic 22000 Freshjet. Having made use of it in France in 2020 and this will be our last van Thought why not go the whole hog. We had 700 watts of solar, a Victron 12/2000/80 inverter charger and 2 x 100 Transporter lithium batteries fitted. It came out around £8000. 2 underslung gas tanks £2000 but we use the van a lot all year round. If we set the air con to 20c it cycles on andoff around 50% bit more at the moment, but more sunshine = hot = more input from the solar. We did 85 days in France some days 38C managed without hook up and were parked for 3 or 4 days at a time. So yes a lot of money but in our opinion and as I dont do hot weather too well, well worth it.

Is that just 200 ah of lithium or did I read it wrong , set up sounds great

 

[Bessy765]

Yes it is 2 x 100amp Transporter Lithium, they are not cheap but guaranteed for 10 years. We considered more amps but to be honest our Burstner Iexo 736 A class does not have the best layout for storage. We had them fitted one under each front seat in a Kevlar shroud. We could have used the gas locker but felt they would be vulnerable to theft and the idea of freeing up the locker by having underslung lpg tanks was to free up the locker for other things. Rather than putting everything in the rear locker which is a long way back from the rear axle. As we only need the air con when the sun is shing the 700 watts of solar cope very well. And we can run it when driving. we don’t have a B2B and the alternator copes easily when driving and the lithium tops it up if required. I know there is a debate about not using a B2B with lithium but I am assured that it is not required as we dont have a smart alternator. The whole installation is guaranteed for 5 years, the only advice is not to run the engine when stationary for more than 15 mins if just charging the batteries. Pics. Show when driving at 55 mph.

 

[Jonno1103]

This had me thinking.

The Truma unit that I have pulls 4.3 amps max when running so could theoretically run on a 6 amp EHU provided that nobody is being silly about what else they are running. It also pulls 28A for 150ms on start up. I have read reports of people running this unit on a 6 amp EHU but am slightly concerned about tripping on stat up. I can run it without any issues at all on 10A EHU.

My question is.... would the start up trip the breaker? It doesn't trip the 10A one or indeed 16A. Can any wise electrickery people advise? Thanks

It's why we opted for the Dometic Freshjet, it has a very low power start up and is quieter. Consumes 2.5 amps in use.

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[DuxDeluxe]

It's why we opted for the Dometic Freshjet, it has a very low power start up and is quieter. Consumes 2.5 amps in use.

Mine was already on the van when I got it. Appreciated it the last few days and now we are back, we will be sleeping in the van the next couple of nights

 

[EuroTrotters]

We have a roof a/c and have used it maybe 3 times. Far too noisy. Couldn’t possibly have it on all night long, and during the day we would rather sit outside in the shade with a cold drink.
Craig

That’s the bonus of an under bench unit. The noise is just the airflow you can hear.

 

[DuxDeluxe]

That’s the bonus of an under bench unit. The noise is just the airflow you can hear.

Ours is pretty quiet - certainly does not disturb the sleep

 

[Ridgeway]

Our new van came with both roof mounted aircon and a Thule/Dometic roof vent. As I didn’t choose them or pay for them (of course I did really) I’m pretty impartial regarding my view on them. If I’d spent the 2k on the aircon I’d be quite disappointed, where as the roof vent is just wonderful in every respect. I reckon we’ll hardly use the AC as firstly you need to close all the windows for it to be effective, then it’s quite loud so after say a 1hr cooling down of the van it’s then better to open them all again… too much hassle.

The fan is silent, runs off 12v and creates a really decent flow through the van, can even be left on all night on a low setting, just simple and effective

 

[Jofang]

It's why we opted for the Dometic Freshjet, it has a very low power start up and is quieter. Consumes 2.5 amps in use.

Which model Freshjet did you choose? I'm interested in the low power start up and low power in use. I wonder if yours is an inverter or soft start.

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