So I am in the middle of my build at the moment and have been pondering the a/c and heating equipment. As for my build, I am wanting to build a boon docking camper (for the most part) and I have been contemplating heating and cooling options. I understand a 12v system isn’t likely to run an ac unit very well or at all depending on the type of unit. At the moment, I’m thinking of a window unit mounted to the tongue of the camper, and build a manifold that would mount to the output side of it, and plumb some ports into the camper. I understand I would need to have a 110v hookup for this option, which on hot days, this would probably be the option anyway. I have watched a few YouTube videoes of the Dometic 12v top mount ac unit, but seems to be a decent draw on the electrical system.
As far as the heat, it seems One can’t go wrong with the propex heater, but I’d like to see or hear some other options out there that have worked. I’m just trying to see what others may have had good luck with out there.
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Ideas on A/C and heat
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Ideas on A/C and heat
by Indiana Rambler » Mon Jan 03, 2022 10:56 am
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Re: Ideas on A/C and heat
by Tom&Shelly » Mon Jan 03, 2022 11:43 am
I believe you are right about needing shore power (110 vac) for air conditioning. Several folks on this forum (years ago) did the calculation. If you are camping in the dry southwest, there are several options for building swamp coolers out there that allegedly would work on a reasonable amount of battery power.
When we realized we would be traveling through the hot and humid mid-west in the summertime, we decided to either modify a home AC unit, as described by Shadow Catcher https://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=44561#p835690, or buy a Cimaterite. The time vs money trade dictated the latter for us, as we were busy building the teardrop at the time. (If I did it now, I'd go the other way. I'd look for a good deal for an AC unit, at the end of the season, or thrift store find.) Not sure if Cimaterite is still in business; they evidently weren't great about honoring their warranty. I used that as an excuse to open it up and see how it works, ready to make modifications as we saw fit. In the event, they had a wired remote option that we used, but I modified how the wiring came out of the box.
We didn't buy it for the heater, but the Cimaterite has one, just an electric heater for use with shore power. We've used it in Fall, at temps down to a little below freezing, and it works great for us. But if we had built our teardrop for Winter camping, and wanted the flexibility of camping away from shore power, we'd have probably gone with the Propex heater, or something similar.
Tom
When we realized we would be traveling through the hot and humid mid-west in the summertime, we decided to either modify a home AC unit, as described by Shadow Catcher https://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=44561#p835690, or buy a Cimaterite. The time vs money trade dictated the latter for us, as we were busy building the teardrop at the time. (If I did it now, I'd go the other way. I'd look for a good deal for an AC unit, at the end of the season, or thrift store find.) Not sure if Cimaterite is still in business; they evidently weren't great about honoring their warranty. I used that as an excuse to open it up and see how it works, ready to make modifications as we saw fit. In the event, they had a wired remote option that we used, but I modified how the wiring came out of the box.
We didn't buy it for the heater, but the Cimaterite has one, just an electric heater for use with shore power. We've used it in Fall, at temps down to a little below freezing, and it works great for us. But if we had built our teardrop for Winter camping, and wanted the flexibility of camping away from shore power, we'd have probably gone with the Propex heater, or something similar.
Tom
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