Mount a small AC window unit into upper front trailer wall?

[ARIZONA GUIDE]

All I can say is you must realy want AC in your trailer.No stoping you when you set your mind to somthing I would guess. Good job on the Mods.

[Bagwell]

My first post here although I have been reading a lot.

I think the best setup for a cargo trailer would be to set a window unit on the tongue of the trailer and put a mask of some kind over the front of the discharge and return to allow removable hoses to attach and detach and to blow into the trailer and to suck air from the trailer. Two points to watch for are to keep the normally inside the window part of the window unit to stay dry in rain and to be covered and weather proof and to not use so much hose with too many bends in it as to allow for proper flow of supply air into the trailer.

Just my thoughts.


Vaughn

[drcurran]

I've been following this thread for some time. If and when I ever get around to converting my CT I want AC. I have a small house type window unit (probably 5000 BTU) and my original idea was to mount it through the front of the CT. After reading, realized that is a bad idea unless I want an indoor "water feature". I don't want a lot of "set up" time when I stop, so I was thinking, a cargo door at floor level, and the AC unit mounted on a sliding tray. Open the cargo door, and slid out the tray with AC unit in place. Proper air and bug sealing around the AC unit. To test my idea without a hole in the CT I put the AC unit out the entry way door, and built a temporaryy plywood wall around the unit. With the inside temp at about 100 (full sun) I turned on the AC and in 10 min. the temp was down to 80 degrees. I waited about another 30 min. and the temp did not drop much more, maybe 1 or 2 degrees. My question is do you think with a roof vent slightly open to allow some of the very hot air to escape would the AC be much more efficent. My CT BTW is a 6 X 12 and 6' 3" standing room. Thanks for any input.

[Bagwell]

I think depending on how hot it was outside at the time and the probability that you had no insulation on the walls or top yet that the window a/c was doing what it could and was still continuing to cool the area at not too bad a rate. I would think getting the hot pocket of air off the roof would help, but ultimately insulation is the big factor.

[FireLion]

....and, maybe a small fan, at floor level, pointed up, to circulate the air?
(I suppose that a ceiling fan is not an option???)

[digimark]

I'm using a 5K BTU Zenith A/C unit, and while it wasn't 100 deg F outside, it kept the trailer cold enough that my wife complained. But we have the entire CT insulated with R7 sheathing -- that had to make a difference.

More on the door-mount AC thing -- I made a knocked-together frame to sit the A/C unit in when not installed. Here's a picture...



It works well, but I need to add some support to it -- if I were to lean on the top of the AC, it would crack something.

[mikeschn]

If I had it to do over again, I'd mount it in the side, like I did on my t@b, just higher up on the side wall...

Here's a pic...



More pics here...

http://www.mikenchell.com/TAB_Photo_Album/index2.html

Mike...