Portable Airconditioning unit 2500btu

[Basicfish]

Living down here in the Houston, Texas where camping in the summer AC
is a must have. With our 90% humidty and 100+ degree days where the low is 92. I am always looking at AC options, this outfit sells a 2550btu and a 7000btu outside rated portiable units. At a cost of $500+ it is no the cheepest option out there but by the time I factor the 3 days modding a window shaker, it is not all bad. Big draw for me is the 2500 btu it is about the right size for the trailer I am building.
I am not pumping them , I have not seen them mentioned yet.

http://www.climaterightair.com/

[michaelwpayton]

Yeah... I really like that one. The Climate Right, along with one referred to as "pet cool," have been discussed in a few threads. Pet Cool is now distributed by/under a different name http://www.thermassure3.com/

[Shadow Catcher]

Or you can do what I did and hack an AC viewtopic.php?f=30&t=44561 Knowing what I do now I could do it got about $250 and it would be easily replaceable.

[bdosborn]

Wait till the end of summer and the little window shakers usually go on sale. You can usually get one for less than $100, I got mine for $70 three years ago.

Bruce

[starleen2]

Greeting BasicFish. As a fellow Texan - the heat gets almost unbearable in the summer. I looked at those units and - while they will work - an alternative is the cheaper window units. I have powered mine off of an 1850watt coleman generator in a pinch. They also weigh less that the units pictured and will cool a cargo or teardrop efficiently. The only thing you have to consider is how you are going to mount them. Shadowcatcher's method of a divided plenum is easy top make and the least invasive method of getting air in and out. There are many others as well. I can usually pick up an AC unit for about $99 new. I'm Not so sure you're gonna need the heating function as much unless you go up North for camping

[aggie79]

I have the Petcool installed in my teardrop.

Three weeks ago, we camped in Cleburne State Park. The daytime highs were in the high 90s to low 100s. At night, the temps cooled down to the mid-80s.

This was the first big test of our Petcool. It is mounted in the tongue box. The supply air is ducted through the front wall of the teardrop into the cabin. The return air grill is in the galley wall and is ducted under the teardrop back up to the tongue box. Because of the long run of the return air, I installed a small blower in the galley to assist the return air back to the unit.

With the blower on the return air running, and the Petcool on "max", the Petcool was able to maintain a temperature of 78-80 degrees during the day with the teardrop in full sun. At night, with the return air blower off, the Petcool brought the temperature down to around 65 degrees and I had to "back off" the thermostat to keep it at - a more comfortable to us - 70-72 degrees even with keeping the roof vent cracked so to allow fresh air into the teardrop.

The humidity was quite high that weekend. I used one of those round galvanized oil change pans under the Petcool to catch the condensate and had to empty it about twice a day. Although the Petcool's compressor was running most of the time, the constant running allowed it to remove the humidity from the conditioned air.

A shaker unit will provide you with more than enough cooling for your teardrop. If, however, you mount it through a sidewall or bulkhead, one issue you may be faced with, especially from being in the Houston area, is that the compressor may "short cycle" and thus not remove as much humidity from the air. If you do not install the unit in the teardrop, but duct it, you may have to provide some type of booster fan to keep the loss of air volume from ducting causing the coils to freeze up. Many on this forum have worked around these issues and have successful installations of shaker units in a teardrop.

[NathanL]

For the price of a new petcool you could buy a window unit and pay a sheet metal shop to build an enclosure with ducting to mount it where you want it and still come out ahead. At least with labor prices around here you can. If you live in a high labor part of the country you might not be able to.

[bobhenry]

Short cycling and freeze up can be eliminated by drawing off only the cold air and ducting it into the cabin. By allowing ambient outside air to be drawn into the return air side the problems are eliminated. The cold air delivery has proven enough to cool the 5x10 barn camper with my 5000 btu little Fridgidair air conditioner. As to sheet metal fabrication I say fooee ! I am a carpenter first. Here is my answer to the problem.








There is a intake vent under the gambrel eve of the barn for the cold air to enter. There is no reason a similar duct could not be built to deliver the air thru a window.

The unit sets on a wooden grate and having the unit in the shade of the trailer helps with the effeciency as well. By not recycling the same air back thru and thru again we get fresh cooled outside air continuiously. Ah but yes I do have to go outside to adjust the controls.
( I have never had to I just add a blanket if too cool )

[pmowers]

bobhenry,
I love it. Great idea for the ducting, that way it is only used when you need it. Do you have a heating unit to replace the a/c?

I was sitting in traffic this weekend and there was a semi-tractor just ahead of me. On the back wall of the cab was mounted a fan shround covering what looked like an evaporator coil. I assume the cooling coil was inside the cab. I have seen air conditioner mods on the web, maybe even this site where they separated a coil from the a/c unit. Has anyone considered putting the cooling portion and a fan in the trailer, and mounting the compressor and evaporator outside, separately? Similar to what is also done in cars, where the cooling coil is installed in the heater ducts. I would expect that you would need just a small hole for the lines to pass through. Kinda like a miniature central air unit on a house.

[pmowers]

Short cycling and freeze up can be eliminated by drawing off only the cold air and ducting it into the cabin. By allowing ambient outside air to be drawn into the return air side the problems are eliminated. The cold air delivery has proven enough to cool the 5x10 barn camper with my 5000 btu little Fridgidair air conditioner.

bobhenry,

What if you used a return duct like Shadow Catcher's setup, but put an adjustable vent on the return side, so that you could adjust the air mix, with some ambient air being allowed into the plenum, but the majority of the return air being recycled ? One might be able to eliminate the bilge fan adapter some have used.

[bobhenry]

It would work , but I am cooling 250 cubic feet with 2 person occupancy with just the cold air delivery and have been to 3 gatherings that were in the triple didgits and the barn was a very plesant retreat.

[bobhenry]

bobhenry,
I love it. Great idea for the ducting, that way it is only used when you need it. Do you have a heating unit to replace the a/c? Just use a small ceramic heater and an extra fan to break up the stratafied hot air at the roof much like a ceiling fan.
I was sitting in traffic this weekend and there was a semi-tractor just ahead of me. On the back wall of the cab was mounted a fan shround covering what looked like an evaporator coil. I assume the cooling coil was inside the cab. I have seen air conditioner mods on the web, maybe even this site where they separated a coil from the a/c unit. Has anyone considered putting the cooling portion and a fan in the trailer, and mounting the compressor and evaporator outside, separately? Similar to what is also done in cars, where the cooling coil is installed in the heater ducts. I would expect that you would need just a small hole for the lines to pass through. Kinda like a miniature central air unit on a house.

Saw a beautiful setup last fall The fella had canabilized a stand up commercial freezer and had the compresser in a compartment in his extended left fender The lines ran under the trailer to the fan and cooling coils in the other extended fender and was delivered from there into the cabin.

[aggie79]

Bob - I like your AC setup.

Even though our Petcool - for which I paid $295 delivered - has an electric resistance heater, we use a small ceramic heater in the side tent that is attached to the teardrop. It keeps the side tent warm - for those middle of the night porta potty calls - and heats the teardrop too. We leave the window open where the side tent is attached. The heat comes in the window and goes up through the cracked-open roof vent.