Dometic Freshlight vs Freshjet both 2200

[sallylillian]

Has anyone had experience of both for comparison? On the face of it they seem the same spec as far as the AC side is concerned but for extra money you get a rooflight in the Freshlight for reduced real estate allowing more solar. Comments please?

 

[TCG]

we have the freshlight in between the lounge and bedroom areas.. i think it would be rather dark without the roof light

 

[sallylillian]

we have the freshlight in between the lounge and bedroom areas.. i think it would be rather dark without the roof light

Thanks, I am having 2 AC's on the new Morelo and asked to get the 2200 model instead of their standard 3200 so I have flexibility and they have come back with an offer to put in the freshlights, they are slightly larger but not quite as high. Having the roof light incorporated means I can ditch a couple of Heki's saving a bit of money (not much as the Freshlights are more expensive) but importantly releasing some more roof space. My concern is if I am missing something about capability between the 2?

 

[tacr2man]

Do they normally have two 3200 or just the one ? If two then going down to 2200 x2 might be struggling in hot conditions.

 

[sallylillian]

Do they normally have two 3200 or just the one ? If two then going down to 2200 x2 might be struggling in hot conditions.

Normally one, but I wanted more flexibility with a lower power requirement individually so I can run one for some cooling when need has it. Equally 2 gives a better spread plus in total more cooling.

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[RogerThat]

I may have missed an update elsewhere, but which did you go with in the end sallylillian ?

And how is it / they preforming?

 

[pandas]

we had one with a roof light - worked very well as good daylight but be careful about the housing - they tabbed us off with a cream instead of white.

 

[sallylillian]

I may have missed an update elsewhere, but which did you go with in the end sallylillian ?

And how is it / they preforming?

I went for 2 off of the Freshlights, unfortunately I did not get delivery until late June and although back in the UK early July we have only now completed the import process due to an error on my part with the VCA. So we drove up from southern Germany through France and did not need to use them as the van is well insulated and our Fantastic vents work well up to 30c
The light from the Freshlights is totally different to a Heki, sure its a smaller glass but also its sort of up a tube so you do not get direct sunlight in the way you do with a Heki which helps to keep the heat down. With our Hekis in sun we very often had to pull the blackout blind across, not with the Freshlight.
The Freshlights have a feature not on the Freshjets. A ventilation only mode. This enables blowing fresh air in from outside, and I use this with the Fantastic vents in extraction mode to move air. This provides for a cooler environment and the ability to get the maximum cooling without opening the windows. Connection of one of the Freshlights through the inverter means on aires or security risky sites we can leave the van cooling without concern.

 

[EuroTrotters]

noisy horrible things

Fit under bench and duct it

 

[MikeD]

We had a fresh light in our Autotrail and it was useless.

After our first trip into Germany. The weather was warm and the unit could not cope at all.

We had the makers out to check it out as it hardly cooled anything down and was noisy inside the van.

The service engineer had the opinion all the Freshlights did not perform very well and Dometic would replace it for free if we pursued the complaint farther.

I would not buy another.

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[Wh05apk]

We had a fresh light in our Autotrail and it was useless.

After our first trip into Germany. The weather was warm and the unit could not cope at all.

We had the makers out to check it out as it hardly cooled anything down and was noisy inside the van.

The service engineer had the opinion all the Freshlights did not perform very well and Dometic would replace it for free if we pursued the complaint farther.

I would not buy another.

Interesting, we have been sleeping in the van on the drive for the last few nights just to use the Aircon, but it makes such a racket, when it cuts in every 5 minutes or so it's like a lorry starting up outside.

 

[sallylillian]

noisy horrible things

Fit under bench and duct it

See that's where you are misguided I would respectfully suggest. I had 2 Truma Saphir's on the Flair, which pleased me during the order process for just the reason you quote. But they are more noisy outside compared to some "modern current" roof units. The "underfloor" units require to take air from underneath the van, but more importantly exhaust air under the van next to the inlet. This creates a huge amount of air noise depending on the ground you are standing on. Truma do an external silencer box. I fitted 2 of these but still would get sour looks from neighbouring pitch occupants, especially from the bedroom unit. The exhaust for this was on the opposite side to the awning and therefore closest to the next pitch. Secondly with the inlet and exhaust next to each other with just a simple 2 inch baffle plate between them I am convinced that the cooling effect was somewhat depleted
I studied and listened to other units on other vans over the last 2 years and found that if I was looking at a recent van with clearly a new unit the sound from around the van at ground level was hardly noticeable. The exception was on a terraced site where we were above another van, however the air roar was intermittent compared to constant with my Truma Saphirs.
Next performance. The rear bedroom unit with ducting very close to the box, it cooled, but never to a level that caused the compressor to cut in and out. The lounge was completely useless. The ducting was too long and distribution poor, one could accuse N+B of a bad install and I do, but try to think how you would with only 3 tubes distribute cool air to a large area like that without long pipe runs which reduce and nearly eliminate any power of blow.
Roof conditioners, and Dometic ones as they have easy start compressors, were my choice, I could have selected underfloor again. However we only use them when the ambient temperature is over 30c as our Fantastic vents manage a comfortable environment up to that point.
However if underfloor units are your choice thats your choice, but I considered a more detailed explanation of actual experience was more helpful to those reading this thread over time attempting to come to conclusions.

 

[sallylillian]

Interesting, we have been sleeping in the van on the drive for the last few nights just to use the Aircon, but it makes such a racket, when it cuts in every 5 minutes or so it's like a lorry starting up outside.

We have probably only ever used the AC overnight for a couple of times, but using the sleeping mode and minimum fan reduces the noise, but there is inevitably noise internally. We have found the best solution is to run the AC early to late evening in a closed bedroom to bring the temperature of all the fabric and structure right down and then go to bed in as cold a room as possible, having switched the AC off.
Earplugs, which I have used for 40 years due to constant traveling during my working life, I find are a good solution to any unusual if only ambient noise which you are not used to.

 

[sallylillian]

We had a fresh light in our Autotrail and it was useless.

After our first trip into Germany. The weather was warm and the unit could not cope at all.

We had the makers out to check it out as it hardly cooled anything down and was noisy inside the van.

The service engineer had the opinion all the Freshlights did not perform very well and Dometic would replace it for free if we pursued the complaint farther.

I would not buy another.

That is interesting, as Dometic still sell and promote the Freshlight, can you share when this was and how old the unit was? Most mass manufacturers would have ceased selling and production of a product if they had a free for all exchange policy on a unit they had no faith in. Well that would seem logical, unless the reason is that they re-engineered the unit to resolve the known issue, as for example Dometic have done with their absorber fridge cooling units.

 

[MikeD]

That is interesting, as Dometic still sell and promote the Freshlight, can you share when this was and how old the unit was? Most mass manufacturers would have ceased selling and production of a product if they had a free for all exchange policy on a unit they had no faith in. Well that would seem logical, unless the reason is that they re-engineered the unit to resolve the known issue, as for example Dometic have done with their absorber fridge cooling units.

Our Autotrail was 2012. The Freshlight was new with the van.

All the paperwork went when we sold the van. I can't remember what we paid for it, model etc.

Our first trip abroad to Germany was in 2012 and it did not performed at all well so on our return to UK we complained to the maker and we had to pay for an engineer to come out and inspect it.

They checked it all out and said it performed to specification.

The engineer at the time said if we made enough fuss they would replace it with the non-light version.

Sandra did not want to lose the roof light so we put up with it.

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[EuroTrotters]

See that's where you are misguided I would respectfully suggest. I had 2 Truma Saphir's on the Flair, which pleased me during the order process for just the reason you quote. But they are more noisy outside compared to some "modern current" roof units. The "underfloor" units require to take air from underneath the van, but more importantly exhaust air under the van next to the inlet. This creates a huge amount of air noise depending on the ground you are standing on. Truma do an external silencer box. I fitted 2 of these but still would get sour looks from neighbouring pitch occupants, especially from the bedroom unit. The exhaust for this was on the opposite side to the awning and therefore closest to the next pitch. Secondly with the inlet and exhaust next to each other with just a simple 2 inch baffle plate between them I am convinced that the cooling effect was somewhat depleted
I studied and listened to other units on other vans over the last 2 years and found that if I was looking at a recent van with clearly a new unit the sound from around the van at ground level was hardly noticeable. The exception was on a terraced site where we were above another van, however the air roar was intermittent compared to constant with my Truma Saphirs.
Next performance. The rear bedroom unit with ducting very close to the box, it cooled, but never to a level that caused the compressor to cut in and out. The lounge was completely useless. The ducting was too long and distribution poor, one could accuse N+B of a bad install and I do, but try to think how you would with only 3 tubes distribute cool air to a large area like that without long pipe runs which reduce and nearly eliminate any power of blow.
Roof conditioners, and Dometic ones as they have easy start compressors, were my choice, I could have selected underfloor again. However we only use them when the ambient temperature is over 30c as our Fantastic vents manage a comfortable environment up to that point.
However if underfloor units are your choice thats your choice, but I considered a more detailed explanation of actual experience was more helpful to those reading this thread over time attempting to come to conclusions.

I am very pleased with our Truma Saphir.

Never had any complaints from neighbours (not for the a/c noise anyway).

Cools very well for a 7m van.

Only comment I ever had was from someone 10 pitches away telling me my waste was leaking grey water. Still did not believe me when I explained it was condensate.

I’ve had two roof mounted domestic. Yes, they cool okay. But crikey they were so noisy.

 

[eddie]

We stock (unusual in this day and age I know) both, and have the Freshlight on our exhibition unit.
The Freshjet is a much newer system, is much more compact and much more reliable. People opt for the Freshlight as they don't wish to loose the ambient light of a roof vent which is understandable, but misguided.

The depth of the air conditioning unit is such that it forms a "tunnel" so you don't really get the benefit unless you "peer" up into the tunnel, or, when the Sun is perpendicular, but then the light still isn't splayed into to van, rather you get a bright sunny spot on the floor.

There have been issues with the Freshlight, which has been around now for some time. Most of the issues were the inevitable condensation you get using a A/C unit in hotter climes, this would "pool" and cause electrical issues. Dometic produced a "fix" which in essence was sticky insulation pads for certain elements which reduced the condensation and did seem to fix the issue.

The Freshjet casing does seen to stay white (we have been fitting them for 4 -5 years now) whereas the Freshlight casing quickly yellows in Sun light, which is annoying and takes long enough to be out of warranty lol If you have a Dometic A/C fitting by what Dometic laughing call a "Premier Partner" We used to be an approved Dometic Motorhome Centre, now we are a "partner) you get a three years parts and labour warranty.

Under bench installed after the event we think is useless and we refuse to do it, as having done it a couple of times we were completely underwhelmed with the performance, which of course isn't surprising considering you have to pump cold air through a hot van to be able to "drop" cold air out of vents at the top of the van.

To be honest I have had two campers where ducted A/C was factory fitted, one Dometic and one Truma, and I was never particularly impressed with either, so now wouldn't order a motorhome if ducted was the only option.

I personally think that the Freshjet 2200 is a far superior beast than the older, dated Freshlight 2200. It is lighter, much cheaper to buy, cheaper to install and equally importantly will fit into any stand 40cm x 40cm vent hole. This means that if you install one, and change the motorhome, you can pop the Freshjet back off, re-install the vent and retain the capital cost. With the Freshlight, the 40cm x 40cm has to be extended to 40cm x 70cm which means removing the A/C unit is near impossible unless you spend hundreds of pounds buying the vent that Dometic have made for this purpose.

Hope that this helps

 

[sallylillian]

Our Autotrail was 2012. The Freshlight was new with the van.

All the paperwork went when we sold the van. I can't remember what we paid for it, model etc.

Our first trip abroad to Germany was in 2012 and it did not performed at all well so on our return to UK we complained to the maker and we had to pay for an engineer to come out and inspect it.

They checked it all out and said it performed to specification.

The engineer at the time said if we made enough fuss they would replace it with the non-light version.

Sandra did not want to lose the roof light so we put up with it.

Thank you very informative. It is now 7 years on so hopefully, as they still sell them, they have resolved any issues. I did check the spec of the Freshlight 2200 to the Freshjet 2200 and they are the same exactly. However the Freshlight benefits from an electromechanical flap which allows the introduction of outside air using the fan to provide ventilation when not in cooling mode. It would be good to get a 2012 spec sheet to compare. Anyone?

 

[RogerThat]

sallylillian and eddievanbitz thank you both - highly informative posts!

I was unaware of the 40x70 requirement for the Freshlight too.

 

[tacr2man]

I have found roof aircons can appear to be very noisy if used near or in buildings , due to reflection of the noise I surmise

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[eddie]

we had one with a roof light - worked very well as good daylight but be careful about the housing - they tabbed us off with a cream instead of white.

Actually they were only ever available in white!

 

[NickandClair]

we had one with a roof light - worked very well as good daylight but be careful about the housing - they tabbed us off with a cream instead of white.

Interesting, I'm on the understanding they are only available in white . Maybe an old piece of stock left out on display for a while????

 

[sallylillian]

Actually they were only ever available in white!

Which white? I have a white Morelo with a white Truma bbq point cover, and a white Dometic fridge vent cover. All different. I had the white fridge cover painted the same white as the van. One man's white is another man's cream.

 

[pandas]

No ve

Which white? I have a white Morelo with a white Truma bbq point cover, and a white Dometic fridge vent cover. All different. I had the white fridge cover painted the same white as the van. One man's white i

Actually they were only ever available in white!

not mine it was cream

 

[sallylillian]

No ve

?Que?

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[pandas]

S

?Que?

sorry posted before ready - mine was cream - not white

 

[Carolyn and Kev]

noisy horrible things

Fit under bench and duct it

Hi there..what is the performance like on these? Looking at one at the moment but dont know enough to be honest?

Kev

 

[EuroTrotters]

Hi there..what is the performance like on these? Looking at one at the moment but dont know enough to be honest?

Kev

Never expect any current rv/motorhome caravan air conditioning unit to turn your unit into a fridge (that’s what most people expect).

What a correctly specified unit will do is;

Reduce the internal temperature by around ten degrees and reduce the humidity.

That’s what you want.

How noisy it is is the issue here.

From my experience along with 35 years in the job

 

[AshFencing]

I went for 2 off of the Freshlights, unfortunately I did not get delivery until late June and although back in the UK early July we have only now completed the import process due to an error on my part with the VCA. So we drove up from southern Germany through France and did not need to use them as the van is well insulated and our Fantastic vents work well up to 30c
The light from the Freshlights is totally different to a Heki, sure its a smaller glass but also its sort of up a tube so you do not get direct sunlight in the way you do with a Heki which helps to keep the heat down. With our Hekis in sun we very often had to pull the blackout blind across, not with the Freshlight.
The Freshlights have a feature not on the Freshjets. A ventilation only mode. This enables blowing fresh air in from outside, and I use this with the Fantastic vents in extraction mode to move air. This provides for a cooler environment and the ability to get the maximum cooling without opening the windows. Connection of one of the Freshlights through the inverter means on aires or security risky sites we can leave the van cooling without concern.

Absolutely perfect by the sound of it. My dealership has just suggested the improved FreshLight as a replacement for the FreshJet I have atm, as I’ve bemoaned the vastly reduced natural light that was lost after having it fitted to where the original Heki rooflight was.
The FreshJet has worked flawlessly in our 7.5m Carthago but the reduction in natural light to the kitchen area of our motorhome was a big loss, even to a caveman type like I.

 

[AshFencing]

Which white? I have a white Morelo with a white Truma bbq point cover, and a white Dometic fridge vent cover. All different. I had the white fridge cover painted the same white as the van. One man's white is another man's cream.

Fair point

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