Why is there such prejudice against fitted aircon

[Steve and Denise]

You have what suits you why have a big van why tow a car why have a satellite why have a tiny camper van have what fits with how you want to camp/travel,
I do anyway my wife has just run me a bath! Must go

 

[Carpmart]

I would be even more hated. Fire up the on board generator to fire up the aircon. The plus of this approach is you can’t hear the aircon over the gennie noise.

 

[Russell's Dad]

I inherited Truma Compact Plus when bought my van ( 2nd hand and already fitted). I wouldn't have chosen aircon, but a few weeks in a French heatwave had me searching out EHU ( free, where possible) so we could cool down before bedtime It's nice to have the choice.

 

[Lenny HB]

Nothing against it just don't see the point of it in a Motorhome. When it's hot you soon acclimatise in a few days.
Love it when it's 30° plus and it never gets hot enough for aircon in the UK.
We rarely use sites or EHU.

 

[VXman]

I'd like Aircon, mainly for hot nights.

Why haven't we got it -

Expense - it's not cheap.
Noise - lived in hong kong for 3 years and got fed up with that noise all night.
Power -we do a lot of off grid.
Light - don't want to lose the sun/air hatch in the bedroom (or the lounge)

For the few occasions we need it we can cope with running a fan all night.

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[Wissel]

Going to fit a Dometic FreshWell 3000 AirCon unit in our next van and can't wait.

Heard all the stories about noise and couldn't get figures on this unit, so went on the Dometic stand at the NEC, switched this one to full and the others off. Was almost silent without being built into a cupboard with soundproofing (which it will be).

We have a bit of a power plant going into this van, so no issues at all running it off-grid.

And welcome

 

[funflair]

Going to fit a Dometic FreshWell 3000 AirCon unit in our next van and can't wait.

Heard all the stories about noise and couldn't get figures on this unit, so went on the Dometic stand at the NEC, switched this one to full and the others off. Was almost silent without being built into a cupboard with soundproofing (which it will be).

We have a bit of a power plant going into this van, so no issues at all running it off-grid.

And welcome

I think you will be surprised at how little power it actually takes, bearing in mind the sun will be shining and you will have a roof full of solar no doubt you could be close to break even.

 

[Ridgeway]

I also think that smaller cramped Euro sites make the noise of AC slightly more sensitive. Also it will always be someone without AC complaining about the noise of someone else’s AC unit…..

Curious to see how our underfloor AC will perform in Spain in a few weeks, won’t be as effective but at least should be quieter

 

[Ditcha]

We run our Truma Aventa compact when off grid, using just vent on low fan it uses 4amps climbing to 9amps on full fan if you use the compressor for cooling it uses about 45amps which in sperts is manageable once the batteries are full with solar it's free

 

[Ditcha]

I also think that smaller cramped Euro sites make the noise of AC slightly more sensitive. Also it will always be someone without AC complaining about the noise of someone else’s AC unit…..

Curious to see how our underfloor AC will perform in Spain in a few weeks, won’t be as effective but at least should be quieter

I found our underfloor noiser on the outside than our roof unit on our previous van had many a complaint but took no notice

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[DT]

Big fan of EHU and my next purchase be it caravan or another Motorhome will have AC fitted.

 

[Orion]

We run our Truma Aventa compact when off grid, using just vent on low fan it uses 4amps climbing to 9amps on full fan if you use the compressor for cooling it uses about 45amps which in sperts is manageable once the batteries are full with solar it's free

Thanks for that information, it’s exactly what I needed.

 

[Russell's Dad]

We run our Truma Aventa compact when off grid, using just vent on low fan it uses 4amps climbing to 9amps on full fan if you use the compressor for cooling it uses about 45amps which in sperts is manageable once the batteries are full with solar it's free

On vent it's pretty quiet too, just a whirring noise and no compressor cutting on and off. We use this setting overnight. Blast the A/C before bed time then put it on vent. Slide the control so it's blowing to the back and, in my van, it blows a nice breeze over the bed and the neighbours are happy with the peace. Win.

 

[Ditcha]

On vent it's pretty quiet too, just a whirring noise and no compressor cutting on and off. We use this setting overnight. Blast the A/C before bed time then put it on vent. Slide the control so it's blowing to the back and, in my van, it blows a nice breeze over the bed and the neighbours are happy with the peace. Win.

There's also night mode but haven't tried this yet supposedly much quieter

 

[Russell's Dad]

There's also night mode but haven't tried this yet supposedly much quieter

I tried it and I'm not sure there's much difference. The fan is quieter, but the compressor is still a bit noisy. I may have to go somewhere hot soon to fully test this!!!!

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[Ernesto]

Blimey…no prejudice against aircon based on this thread …!

Looking forward to the summer break in the van…the sounds of the countryside… the peace and quiet, out in nature …… accompanied by the low level constant thrum of air conditioner compressors

On a more serious note, I suppose with south of France and Europe experiencing (seemingly every year now) temperatures of 40 deg, it’s going to become more common. On the plus side, it opens up the less visited (and cooler) bits for future holidays

 

[busbuddy]

Until you hear a Penguin Aircon unit, as fitted to many American RVs, at full chat youll know you ain't heard noisy.
Mine had one in the bedroom and one in the lounge. Luckily there wasn't enough amps on hookup to run both together.
Designed to run on American 50 amp hookup

My old damon's generator used to drown out the aircon....but the generator used to be muffled by the sound of the windy guns we were using in the pits

 

[funflair]

We have the latest Dometic Freshjet 3000 with inverter drive variable speed compressor, it is very quiet

 

[Carolyn and Kev]

No aircon hater here, I just wish I had space on the roof and cash in my pocket to fit it

Tut tut tut! .. you must have more money than the bank of England
The old sonic would have the space bud!


Kev

 

[Lissimore27]

Has anyone installed the Truma compact in a 6.4 metre van- it’s less power than the plus or aventa but consequently uses less power so potentially better for running off inverter / battery - if anyone has - have you found its cooling is adequate ? I’m planning to fit one to a Malibu 640 Fiat based van

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[Bessy765]

We have as have many others worked hard all our lives. We have had numerous vans over the years but as time goes by and this one will probably our last, not from a morbid point of view but given our ages etc we thought why not. For us it is our first A Class and an awful lot of money but it’s our money and our lives so why not. We have since kitted it how how we want it, so sat system 2 TV’s 700 watts of solar 200 amps of lithium a Victron 12/2000/80 inverter charger and 2 underslung lpg tanks. And the icing on the cake a hab aircon a Freshjet 2200 that with our set up can run for fairly long period without needing hook up. So far on our travels cooked meals for another Van who had run out of gas not knowing calor is not available outside the UK. Charged someone batteries from our inverter to run their cap machine overnight when the battery went U/S cooled a distressed baby when it got too hot and they were broken down. All willingly given so let the drips and criticisers keep their own council if we want it and can afford it so what.

 

[WESTY66]

Tut tut tut! .. you must have more money than the bank of England
The old sonic would have the space bud!


Kev

Yes it would

 

[urban_biker]

Has anyone used a split aircon that you hang on the MH window? Are they noisy? And do they work ok?

Something like this; although there are other makes.

Part of me likes the idea of taking it only when I need it. And leaving it at home in the winter.

 

[The Wino]

Has anyone used a split aircon that you hang on the MH window? Are they noisy? And do they work ok?

Something like this; although there are other makes.

Part of me likes the idea of taking it only when I need it. And leaving it at home in the winter.

Never tried one. As it's a split unit it makes sense a lot more than the fans with blotting paper in things but would 450w be enough energy to significantly cool? That being said I suppose fridges don't use a lot of power!. Thinking about it wouldn't a compressor fridge sealed in place with the fins on the back in effect outside and the door open be a very similar thing!

 

[urban_biker]

Never tried one. As it's a split unit it makes sense a lot more than the fans with blotting paper in things but would 450w be enough energy to significantly cool? That being said I suppose fridges don't use a lot of power!. Thinking about it wouldn't a compressor fridge sealed in place with the fins on the back in effect outside and the door open be a very similar thing!

Yes - any aircon unit is pretty much like a fridge in reverse with added fans. thats the same way that the roof mounted ones work so it "should" be effective but would be interested in hearing from someone who has used one.

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[WESTY66]

Has anyone used a split aircon that you hang on the MH window? Are they noisy? And do they work ok?

Something like this; although there are other makes.

Part of me likes the idea of taking it only when I need it. And leaving it at home in the winter.

Im not sure, but I think Swifter had a system like this?

 

[TheMachMan]

There was a guy with his AC running on a quie campsite we were on in the Ardeche a few days ago and it was intrusive. It was a modern van, so it was probably is a quiet model but it’s all relative. Against a quiet natural surroundings it was too loud. Eventually someone asked him to quiet it down so he turned it off!

 

[Reevsie]

Zircon does use a lot of power, We use ours of a night and set it to 20 degrees. Then in the daytime we get the power back as it is sunny. I have 640 amp lithium and 720 watts of solar. I used the airline set at 20 degrees. Set it to come on at 11pm and switch off at 7am. Used 128 amps of power over the night as it comes one and off during the night and is set to night mode so it is quiet. Don't use. it much in the UK, but when we do use it it is worth every penny.

 

[Swifter]

Im not sure, but I think Swifter had a system like this?

Yes we have the cool my camper air conditioner unit . It’s very good if you regularly use EHU and would work well on foreign sites with low amps . We haven’t really used it much this year as off grid most of the time now .

 

[eddie]

Going to fit a Dometic FreshWell 3000 AirCon unit in our next van and can't wait.

Heard all the stories about noise and couldn't get figures on this unit, so went on the Dometic stand at the NEC, switched this one to full and the others off. Was almost silent without being built into a cupboard with soundproofing (which it will be).

We have a bit of a power plant going into this van, so no issues at all running it off-grid.

And welcome

I wouldn't they are shit

I regularly used to refuse to fit them when we were exhibiting at the NEC much to Dometics annoyance, but when I challenged the Dometic technical staff they'd murmur and agree with my arguments

Truma at Dussledorf (may have been Paris) had a huge walk through igloo'esk tunnel to walk through artificial snow and penguins, walked through and was remarkably unimpressed, so when a stand staff member asked me what I thought, I told him

His answer made us both laught 'It's inside a hall and it's hot in here'

Not like the South of France then!

Edit: the reason for refusal was we 'did' fit some and we had unhappy customers and I bought a van with that as standard, and it just wasn't effective even when flat out

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