air condition solutions

[jc1984]

I have been searching for a long time for a solution to my "ideas", I built my camper to accommodate a climate right unit. When I was at the point of my wife really wanting an ac in the camper, the site says out of stock indefinitely. I tried modifying a window unit, not good enough in texas 100 + degree heat. I don't want to cut into my camper to install one, Im trying to keep everything minimal as possible. I have been thinking about somehow hanging the unit off the side of my camper, building a box to cover the window enough that the unit can be against the window and cool the camper through the screen. If anyone has ideas or solutions or fixes I would greatly appreciate it. As of right now I put a portable ac unit in there with the vent rigged up to blow out the window, but that thing is huge and if it tilts over, water spills out. And its just not practical.

[Modstock]

I went through 3 ac units in my teardrop. They don't like the rough ride of a trailer. Freon lines broke in all 3 from the bouncing and vibration.

If you can haul it in the vehicle during transport would probably help.

Sent from my SM-A115AP using Tapatalk

[Mark Gunter]

Wow that’s some bad news … I have a unit mounted in my standy, I hope it fares better. That would really suck.

[lfhoward]

I have no experience with AC in my trailer-- just want to say that up front. Recently I've seen a couple of different units on YouTube that look pretty good. One is a rooftop unit that fits in the 14" x 14" ceiling fan hole, called a Velit AC. The Velit is 12 volt and much more efficient than rooftop AC units you would find on RV's. The other is a portable AC unit by EcoFlow. It can be plugged into your trailer's battery, portable solar panels, or its own battery pack and be viable off grid. Both seem to be promoted fairly heavily on the overland & off-road based YouTube channels I watch, so I bet you can find them with a quick google. Both solutions are expensive, but then again so was the ClimateRight, so maybe they won't break your bank.

[bdosborn]

I put a 5000 btuh A/C on drawer sliders behind a baggage door. Works great but it might be kind of tough to install after the trailer is built.



Bruce

[Tom&Shelly]

I have no experience with AC in my trailer-- just want to say that up front. Recently I've seen a couple of different units on YouTube that look pretty good. One is a rooftop unit that fits in the 14" x 14" ceiling fan hole, called a Velit AC. The Velit is 12 volt and much more efficient than rooftop AC units you would find on RV's. The other is a portable AC unit by EcoFlow. It can be plugged into your trailer's battery, portable solar panels, or its own battery pack and be viable off grid. Both seem to be promoted fairly heavily on the overland & off-road based YouTube channels I watch, so I bet you can find them with a quick google. Both solutions are expensive, but then again so was the ClimateRight, so maybe they won't break your bank.

I'm skeptical about the ability of a 12 volt air conditioner to do the job without a large 12 volt infrastructure: Large battery capacity, large solar panels to charge back up, and so forth. Calculations a few years ago were not optimistic. With lithium batteries it may be possible, and EcoFlow claims it is (not sure about Velit), barely. Just beware and consider the consequences of a cloudy day or two. Of course Bruce can probably do it with his rig, but look at the electrical system in his rig!

Possibly though, the Ecoflow and Velit systems are built for the vibrations of travel, in which case running them with shore power and a converter may make sense. I have no experience with them and can't say.

We were able to get a ClimateRight a few years ago and are happy with it. (120 vac, shore power only.) If it breaks, our options are to fix it or convert a wall unit, but it sounds like wall units may not handle travel as well.

Speaking to the limit of my knowledge.

Tom

[friz]

I'm keeping an eye on ac tech for e-cars. Bound to have some efficiency developments there. So far, consumption seems to be about 600w for Chinese units with 12v compressors. Have only wanted AC a couple times when camping over the last 6 yrs.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

[Mark Gunter]

I have no experience with AC in my trailer-- just want to say that up front. Recently I've seen a couple of different units on YouTube that look pretty good. One is a rooftop unit that fits in the 14" x 14" ceiling fan hole, called a Velit AC. The Velit is 12 volt and much more efficient than rooftop AC units you would find on RV's. The other is a portable AC unit by EcoFlow. It can be plugged into your trailer's battery, portable solar panels, or its own battery pack and be viable off grid. Both seem to be promoted fairly heavily on the overland & off-road based YouTube channels I watch, so I bet you can find them with a quick google. Both solutions are expensive, but then again so was the ClimateRight, so maybe they won't break your bank.

I'm skeptical about the ability of a 12 volt air conditioner to do the job without a large 12 volt infrastructure: Large battery capacity, large solar panels to charge back up, and so forth. Calculations a few years ago were not optimistic. With lithium batteries it may be possible, and EcoFlow claims it is (not sure about Velit), barely. Just beware and consider the consequences of a cloudy day or two. Of course Bruce can probably do it with his rig, but look at the electrical system in his rig!

Possibly though, the Ecoflow and Velit systems are built for the vibrations of travel, in which case running them with shore power and a converter may make sense. I have no experience with them and can't say.

We were able to get a ClimateRight a few years ago and are happy with it. (120 vac, shore power only.) If it breaks, our options are to fix it or convert a wall unit, but it sounds like wall units may not handle travel as well.

Speaking to the limit of my knowledge.

Tom

I’m with you on the skepticism, Tom, the technology hasn’t advanced to a comfortable place yet IMHO for most van dwellers in regards to 12v A/C units. After seeing the post above, I did some research on the Velit, it seems to stack up well and the stats make it appear to be a good deal comparatively, but the electrical system needed to really make it useful would be way beyond my reach. At present, I’ll be running only 300 watts solar with 200ah battery storage and can’t afford more power. If I were able to run 600ah or more of lithium with 800 - 1000 or more solar it might be worth a shot, but that’s far beyond my budget and would still be a bit of a crap shoot IMO.

I paid a couple hundred for a window unit and mounted it permanently in a box in the front of my standy.



Time will tell, I hope it works out.

[bdosborn]

This looks interesting, it popped up on one of my Vanlifer YouTube channels. It's still way more expensive than I think it should be but it's a lot less than the Dometic RTX 2000 that is on my list of A/C options for the van. It probably wouldn't work east of Colorado but it would be an easy/peasy install and a manageable load on the battery. It goes through 5-10 gallons of water a day, depending on how hot it is.

https://fresair.com/product/fresair-s6-van-conversion-kit/



Bruce

[Tom&Shelly]

There are also some Youtubes, and maybe some things on tnttt, about making swamp coolers for RV's. They should use less power than "real AC"*, and so are a viable option for battery systems. I've thought about making one someday to use in desert camps with no shore power, but we're still spending the Summers in the humid East. They are also fairly simple devices. Folks with them in their homes often maintain them themselves. Much easier to repair than a real AC system as there is no freon involved, and so that may solve the problem of breakage due to bumping around attached to a teardrop.

I doubt they would work in Texas though: Probably too humid in most of the state. Works fine in the desert, where the water can evaporate into the air. Simple matter of thermodynamics.

Of course, we have a friend who never took thermodynamics. She swears by a portable swamp cooler she uses in her apartment with no access to the outside air. We tried to explain that as the air in the apartment gets more humid, the unit will work less well, until it doesn't work at all. But, since she doesn't understand thermodynamics, it works fine for her!

Tom

* As we call it in New Mexico, where most of our homes use swamp coolers.

[bdosborn]

Simple matter of thermodynamics.

My least favorite class of all times. I called it thermogoshdammits.
Bruce

[troubleScottie]

There is a great build on this site: viewtopic.php?f=30&t=44561

It requires 120VAC to make it happen.

There are possible mechanisms to improve (reduce) the power surge issue when the compressor starts.

A generator might be a good addition if you are missing shore power. Having used EcoFlow units, I can get power to run a hairdryer (1500 W) with the unit. Not sure if that is enough. Using two units in parallel might give you a reasonable amount of time. Still might not work all night. A lot would depend on the settings.

Especially in humid areas, reducing the humidity does increase the comfort level.

[philpom]

I would be afraid that a swamp cooler would make the inside damp over time and entice mold/mildew. I am going with an external A/C carried in the back of the truck when needed and vented in to the camper with 6" duct and inline fans. When not needed I just won't bring it.

[rjgimp]

I follow a farcebook group called RV AC on Solar. Seems most who are successful at pulling it off are using a high seer minisplit. Lots of interesting ideas there.

[bdosborn]

I would be afraid that a swamp cooler would make the inside damp over time and entice mold/mildew. I am going with an external A/C carried in the back of the truck when needed and vented in to the camper with 6" duct and inline fans. When not needed I just won't bring it.

The link I posted for the swamp cooler above is an indirect unit, meaning it doesn't pump moist air into the interior. I'm with you, there's no way I would use a direct unit in such a small space as a camper. That being said here's the DC A/C unit I have my eye on for the van. It's pretty new to the market so I'm waiting to see what the feedback is on the forums before I commit. I have a big enough battery in the van that I could run it without shore power overnight:
https://velitcamping.com/products/velit-2000r-rooftop-air-conditioner-12v-24v
Bruce