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A few years ago, we moved our home base out into the desert of Southern Utah. Suddenly, air conditioning became much more important! I even sold my beloved truck from college because I thought the air conditioning wouldn’t keep up. We think about our RV in the same way… Air conditioning can make it or break it! And even if you live somewhere less “convection oven-y”, I’d bet having a solid RV air conditioner is important to you as well. But an RV air conditioner is not exactly like a home AC unit, so we put together this video to cover some of the basics.
Since we were trying to keep this as an entry level video, there are even parts I left out! Like: Did you know that RV air conditioners aren’t (usually) designed to be topped up with refrigerant? They just plan on you replacing the whole unit if it develops a leak, and so they generally don’t have ports for refilling. Seriously! We also didn’t get into topics like mini split AC systems on RVs. (Yes, I know they’re more efficient and quieter. But I also know they’ll make your RV look like something from the Beverly Hillbillies, and I just can’t get over that.) But even though we left a few things out, we do manage to cover all the basics in the video. You’ll get info on:
- Powering your RV Air Conditioner
- RV Capacity Ratings – BTUs/hour and Watts
- Moving Heat and Heat Pumps
- Heating Strips for RV Air Conditioners
- Air Conditioner sizing
- RV Air Conditioner Brands
- Efficiency Ratings
- Noise
- Ducted vs Non-Ducted RV Air Conditioners
- Air Conditioner Controls
The RVs you’ll see
Winnebago sponsored this video, so we illustrate the examples throughout with models from Winnebago’s current (and past) lineup. Including
- Winnebago eRV2
- Winnebago EKKO – Our own personal RV
- Winnebago View 24T
- Winnebago Travato
- Winnebago Revel
- Winnebago Voyage
- Winnebago Tour
- Winnebago Minnie Towable
So there you have it! The basics of RV air conditioners in 20 minutes. What do you think? Did I leave something important out? Is there something else you’d like to know? If so, sound off in the comments below, and I’ll do my best to get you an answer. Cheers!
Hi James – You should check out the Dreiha Atmos 4.4 A/C unit. I know some have been put on EKKO’s already and more than 150 have replaced the noisy Dometic on Leisure travel Vans. They are about 10dB quieter than what you have and they take a lot less power too. 15K BTU with 13.5K heat pump. They work ducted or non-ducted. Worth checking out. SDG in Elkhart, IN distributes them and will install them. There are also certified installers in California, Texas and Florida. I have one in my LTV and can run it on my 2000W inverter for an easy two hours on 200Ah of Dragonfly Lithium batteries. They are quiet. You can stand under it on high fan and carry on a conversation easily. Price is reasonable.
Yes – I’ve heard of them.
It’s been on my mind to contact them to see what they’re about, but now that it’s getting cooler outside, it will probably wait until spring.
Maybe…
I just wanted you to know about the Atmos because it is so quiet. I have no relationship with SDG except they installed mine.
We haven’t used the propane furnace in our LTV since we got the Atmos. The heat pump works well and it works down to 23 deg F. We don’t camp colder than that anyway. Being an engineering type, I like to test things, so I measured the temperature in heat mode at about 70F ambient, and it was 116 F.
I enjoy your videos. You have a great way of explaining things…
I’ve heard it’s quiet, yes.
Good to hear about the performance as a heat pump. Heat pumps in general have gotten much better in the last few years. They work down to lower temperatures than before.
Can you comment on the pros and cons of the air conditioner in the ekko being up front versus over the bed in the pop top. Trying to decide which one to pursue.
Well, we have no pop-top, so our air conditioner is way in the back. And after all these years, we’ve come to like it back there.
When I’m working from the road, I work up front in the dinette. The AC being way in the back is nice, because it keeps it a bit quieter up front.
And I guess we’ve both gotten used to the “white noise” of the AC running at night.
The second biggest problem with most American RV A/C’s is that they are fundamentally a 1990’s window A/C stuck on top of your RV. They are horribly inefficient and technologically out of date. The biggest problem is that until the last few years they were all pretty much manufactured by a few companies which were often part of larger conglomerates. IOW, there was no competition so no incentive to improve.
But, there is a lot more competition now and the availability of quieter, more efficient, more intelligently engineered A/C’s are arriving. Price point is still a significant issue but it’s possible to find units that are superior without hanging a mini-split off the back.
True, there are some more efficient units available now. And they are better.
But I’m not aware that any of them are as quiet and efficient as a mini split. Are there some you’re thinking of that you could share a link for?
There’s nothing I know of as good as a mini-split. But for anything smaller than a fair sized Class-A it’s impractical, and the price is prohibitive. The first real improvement I saw was with the Houghton that I put on my 2019 Travato KL. It separated the compressor and blower far better and changed the way the compressor was cooled, making the whole thing quieter and somewhat more efficient. I understand they have gotten better and the price has come down over what I paid for the Houghton.
What is the most efficient non-ducted rooftop air conditioner that you know?
The Rec Pro low profile air conditioning units (with or without heat pump capability) are about the most efficient ones I have seen. Like this one.
They used to be called “Houghton”, so if you hear folks refer to those, it’s the same thing.
They are also very quiet.
I’ve never used one of them myself, but the only negative I hear about these is that they sometimes have difficulty circulating the air all the way to the front of a van.
I know Winnebago sponsored the video but I’m a little surprised you didn’t mention RecPro. Haven’t you recommended the RecPro in the past? What are your current thoughts with it?
We actually haven’t used the RecPro air conditioners.
James – fantastic job of explaining cooling/heating technology for RVs!
Glad you liked it!
I would have liked you to emphasize that an RV AC recirculates the air and doesn’t draw it in from outside. I’ve had numerous discussions about that on various FB groups, because many even experienced RVers think otherwise.
Because the air is recirculated, that often leads to freezing, when the temperature is turned too cold and the blower speed is low or on “auto”. For some reason, many people think they’ll get more comfortable cooling that way, not realizing that they are causing potential freezing problems.
I did mention the recirculation/no-fresh-intake during the video.
I didn’t focus on freezing up, because… well… we live in the desert.
Hi James. I am curious, since air conditioners produce condensation where does it go with a rooftop ac unit? My home ac has a drain pipe to outside. My car ac just drains to the ground. I would think that with a rooftop ac on a rV that it would be important to insure the drain line is clear but I have no idea how it is done or where it is located. Thoughts?
Fantastic question, and I’m sorry I left this out of the video.
A rooftop RV air conditioner will drain out the bottom of the AC unit… onto your roof.
So depending on which way your RV is leveled, it will drain off one way or another.
(This is also a reason why it’s important that the AC unit is properly gasketed on the roof!)