Best reason to chose portable A/C instead of roof mount A/C

[jwhite]

I bought this new from compact appliance thinking that a 12000btu would be overkill because I live in south GA and it gets hot so more is better,I may have got a bad one but from what I have read now after the fact that these do not work as well as they say they do.
It has a single hose and when I tried it the first time I had it under the sink and it was giving off some heat so I wraped the hose with insulation and that cut down on some of the heat,I then read that it needs to be 20 inches out into the room and that helped.
My trailer is grey in color and has 1 inch of insulation through out the entire trailer,the AC will get down to 60 degrees at night but by the middle of the day it's back into the 80's.
I have a honda 2000 and have read that the coleman cub will work with that size AC and is enough for a 7x16 and size trailer.
I don't want to have to buy a larger generator to run a larger like AC 1350 or 15000 btu?

[Nitroxjunkie71]

I wondered how those things worked. I have some friends in IL that have one and are changing over to an outdoor portable so maybe they are having the same problem. I too hate the heat and am camping in both Indiana and Michigan and the tides seem to be a changing here recentely but can understand you concerns. I have all my walls insulated but the ceiling is not with the numbers I have given. The outdoor model works well and if you go through your existing windows like I have you may be just as happy with NO cutting...

[oldjr]

With a single hose ac all the air that is going out the hose has to be replaced. In a house this will work to cool a room, but in a small trailer all the hot humid outside air comes around the doors and heats up the small space you are trying to cool. I learned this the hard way. A dual hose portable or 5000 btu window unit will cool my 6x12 in no time. Also paint the roof white!

[atthedl]

I am new to form ,Lot's of cool ideas.Will share some of mine soon.

[ho-do]

We first tried one of the portable units and quickly realized it was a mistake. The amount of cooling was offset by the heating from the "exhaust" hose and motor inside the unit. We now use a window unit, 5,500 btu to cool our 8x20 CTC. It works really well except on really hot days (95-100F) when it manages to keep the interior down to only 80F (in direct sunlight. In shade it still keeps it cool).

[pizzacorner]

I to have wasted money on the portable units which are not cheap. I have a 6x12 with foam board insulation in walls and roof, Hy-tech Bus Kote on the exterior roof and Hy-tech Barrier Coat on backside of interior wall and roof paneling. I rubber coated exterior floor and bedliner coated interior floor with 1/2 in rubber mats that cover 100% of interior floor(roll out rug at night). I use it for racing and park it out in the middle of fields all the time and use it no less then 20 overnight trips a year for the last 3 years. I remember at 88 degrees I could only lower it to 80 degrees with a portable($300+). With the Coleman Mach that I bought used for $50+$75repair+$55 lower unit I just used it in 93degree weather and lowered it to 65 degrees and was able to back it to low fan speed and turn therm. up and maintain with ease.

[8ball_99]

portable Units just dont work as well as a window or roof top unit of the same size or even smaller. Main reason is even with the two hose units the hot condensor coil itself is Inside the space your trying to cool. With the other units just like your homes split unit most of the heat is outside in the condensor.
Not saying they won't work at all. Or aren't good for an emergency.. But I've never seen one that worked very well. I've also never heard to many people that thought they performed very well. Most people on here have Very small trailers so they might be an option for some. If you have much of a heat load I wouldn't expect much.

BTW as for the emergency deal. I have a large window unit in my shop. shop os around 400 square foot. Its been borrowed a couple of times by friends and family when their AC went on the fritz. Works great and was only around 200 bucks

[David_L6]

portable Units just dont work as well as a window or roof top unit of the same size or even smaller. Main reason is even with the two hose units the hot condensor coil itself is Inside the space your trying to cool. With the other units just like your homes split unit most of the heat is outside in the condensor.

I agree with that statement completely. The condenser being inside does lessen portables efficiency. A 5000 BTU window unit would probably do just as well as a 10,000 BTU portable.

Another drawback to a portable is the floor space it takes up inside of the trailer. I'm going to have build a shelf in my 6 X 10 trailer to set the portable on so that I can get the front of an ATV under the shelf and further forward in the trailer. That way I can get a dirt bike caddy cornered behind the ATV. Crowded (VERY crowded) but it will all fit.

What I like about the portables (other than they are portable) is that I didn't have to cut holes in the sides of my trailers or add bracing to the roof. Just drilled / cut a couple of holes in the floors. There's also the "stealth" factor with everything hidden inside of the trailers.

[pmspirito]

I am building "TheTrailerShowroom 7x14"

I have a 9K portable that I bought a few years ago during Florida's hurricane season. It worked well, actually surprisingly well, in the house powered by a portable generator. So well, during the storms that I thought is could do well in my 7x14.

Total flop.

Now I am looking at a 12k thru the wall unit with heat for $549.00 at WalMart, or a 12k without heat for $295.00. $250.00 more for the heat.

What does anyone think. Heat or no heat. $250.00 extra.

[Shadow Catcher]

I prefer discreet appliances and each of the items for Compass Rose can be left at home. This includes the AC unit, heater used when we are on shore power (ceramic), heater when we are boondocking (diesel/kerosene) Satellite receiver and antenna... This caries over at home, separate printer and scanner... parts you don't need get left home and when it comes time and it dies you only replace what is necessary. You can buy a very nice heater for $250.

[jwhite]

I originally bought a 12000 btu portable and what a waste of money,I recently bought a 8000 btu window unit at lowes that was 30% off so for 150.00 I have a AC that will now freeze the trailer in less than a hour.
I haven't had the chance to try it in the summer yet but I think I have what I need now.

I built my rear wall on wheels to open and close, and with the AC as high as I could get it it blows the cold air down from the top where the portable you had to be sitting right in front of it to get any cooling.?

I bought a small ceramic heater at walmart cheap and it works fine for me,also I don't like cold weather so I won't use it that much,but I have to have a really good working AC.

[Wolfscout]

On our recent beach trip.. our friends portable single hose worked just fine. taking their advice, we wrapped the exhaust hose with towels.
I liked it enough to purchase it and plan wrap duct insulation around it so there's even less heat exchanged into the trailer.
Sometimes it's just a matter of ingenuity and what one's willing to put up with.

[jwhite]

I tried everything I went to lowes and bought a roll of insulation and wraped the hose and bought foil tape and wraped that and then used duct tape to wrap that and it did cut down on the heat coming off the back but it wasn't enough so I bought a small fan to blow on the intake thinking it just wasn't getting enough air?
After you wrap the hose it is not flexable so you have to leave it in 1 spot which they reccomend 24 inches out in the room or you have to set up the AC and take it down to travel = total waste of time and money.
When I was at lowes talking to the sale person he said they had alot of portable Ac's returned.?

[b.bodemer]

Window a/c a good solution for me too:


http://cttraveltrailer.blogspot.com/201 ... alled.html

Barb

[LShrew]

I vote for window air also. How can you go wrong. $99 for a 6K.