Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Is it more preferable to mount a air conditioner low or high? I am thinking low as hot air rises and a roof vent could pull the cold air up.

Tomcat98

Mount it high. Warm air rises and will go out the vent. Cool air falls and and will cool the overall space better.

personal preference rules here - forget the warm air rises and cold air sinks theory - the space in TTT and teardrops are so small that it really doesn't matter. Ask yourself - do i want it blowing on my feet or face and mount accordingly. I know that there will be a guru to give you thermal efficiency math supporting that heat rises and cold air sinks - But I've never raised my head more than two feet in my camper and noticed a difference! BTW - with the A/C blowing it will add a slight air pressure to the cabin thus pushing air out of vent - which will eventually be cold air.

Tomcat98 wrote:Is it more preferable to mount a air conditioner low or high? I am thinking low as hot air rises and a roof vent could pull the cold air up.

Tomcat98

What kind of A/C are we talking about here? Obviously not a roof mount. If you're mounting a window unit, I'd mount it high.

I'm using portables in our trailers. In the 7 X 16 it's on the floor. The outlet on that A/C is on the top and angled upwards so I think it will be OK. I'll probably install a fan behind it to get some air movement throughout the trailer.



In the 6 X 10 I'm going to build a small shelf and set the A/C on it. I plan on having the A/C as high as I can get it to clear the front of an ATV (front of the ATV will actually be slightly under the shelf). For this trailer I bought a different portable. The outlet on it is at the top but on the front. Here's a link (with pictures) to the A/C I have for the 6X 10.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6896808031

This is how I see it; living in the South, cooling is more important than heating. All the houses I lived in there had the a/c vents in the ceiling.

Now that we live in Colorado, heating is more important than cooling, the vents are in the floors. With the heat we've been having lately, I've noticed that it doesn't cool as well in this configuration.

It is going to be a window AC. I am going to duct is anyway so I can just run the duct to the top of the wall and let the cool air move down.

Tomcat98

How are you going to mount it?

Old thread, I know, but this is my first year camping in a converted cargo trailer, and I have a little input, for whatever it might or might not be worth.... Fans are our best friend in our trailer. I see now why the large 5'ers have ceiling fans. I thought they were a marketing ploy, but if we had the headroom, I'd have a ceiling fan. Just like our house, moving and mixing air seems to be the key. Just a small, high velocity 120v fan does the trick when we are on shore power, and Wal-tard has a battery/120v fan for about $15 (in my area) It's called the "O2-Cool" and will run on D batts, or wall power. It's a 12v motor, so a quick chop of the transformer cord, and some bullet connectors with a 12v cigarette lighter plug installed turns it into a plug-in 12v fan. It moves a decent amount of air, and, you can sleep with it on. I bought a second oscillating 12v fan, that was right next to it on the shelf, and it sounds like a garbage disposal eating a fork. We have used fans with both the ac and heat, and I guarantee it makes a big difference. For whatever heating and cooling system you use, spend 30 bux on one 120v high velocity fan, and a 12v of your choice (I recommend the O2-cool, dumb name included). No scientific data here, but it seems logical that it should lower the strain on heating/cooling units as well, and help lessen short cycling of cooling systems, especially. Cool feels cooler and warm feels warmer. Just my .02. Best regards, Kyle

Nothing beats experience thanks for sharing
I too have a o2-cool fan and have used it on batteries couple times when on the road and no 120 worked very well.
again thanks for posting.
pete

I split the difference and went window height. I figured since my home window units work well so would the trailer cargo door idea.

From experience my Scotty had an ac on a slider under the dinette seating. The trailer was comfortable but I then needed a small fan to blow the cold air higher.

My current set up worked really well on vacation!!!!! This is how it looked a few months agao when I tested it.
http://cttraveltrailer.blogspot.com/201 ... alled.html

In the spring and fall I can store the ac in the garage. When stored it gives me plenty of counter space back too.
barb

Tomcat98 wrote:Is it more preferable to mount a air conditioner low or high?

Don't forget to post pictures when you mount your air conditioner.



Bruce

Barb, That's really a Nice AC install !!!

Thanks GPW...............

For traveling I put a carraige bolt through the slider into the cabinet top. Then I used a non slip mat between the slider top and a/c. Finally I secured it for travel using two kayak straps. The travel set up worked perfect and when in camp it slid out to keep us cool at night!!!!

Barb