With this portable air conditioner, one box sits inside the caravan/motorhome and the second box hangs on the window frame outside: Image – Amazon.co.uk. Campervan Air Conditioners: Staying Cool for Vanlife | Van life air conditioning: The challenge of cooling your... Read More. Overall, it’s a great unit for van lifers who aren’t staying in areas that get really hot. So I had a search to see if I could find any applicable videos. Air-conditioning in a camper van sounds like a great idea and there are many solutions available on the market. Begin by turning off the air conditioner and unplugging your RV from all power sources. For air conditioning a caravan, the most efficient air conditioners are reverse cycle units. Honeywell 10000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner. Nobody wants to lay around in a sticky hot, sweaty mess, and you shouldn’t have to! Therefore, in the winter, spring or autumn you won’t be carrying around that weight (20kg). Therefore, the portable air conditioner limits your use of the cooker etc. This Dometic AC unit is the most ideal way to keep your conversion van cool. A big downside to this ac unit is it takes up a ton of space in your van. Furthermore, as Dan shows in the video above its iNet compatible. The reasons they were concerned with swapping the roof light with an air conditioner was the loss of natural light during the day. Larger RVs (over 8 m) may need more than one air conditioning unit to cool the entire vehicle. Secondly, Graham brings up the point about condensation. The obvious benefit of opting for a built-in air conditioner for your caravan or motorhome is the minimal impact if any on the use/function of the living space. Whether you own a class A motorhome or a fifth wheel or a small pop up camper, air conditioner are very important while camping. Main purpose of this article was to address the question “does air conditioning work with pop up camper or not”. And sure, van life has some trade-offs to living in a house, but being comfortable shouldn’t be one of them! The vehicle's length should influence the choice of your air conditioner, more powerful RV air conditioners are needed for larger RVs with more internal space. Similar to the window ac unit, this unit isn’t traditionally used in a camper van. To create, curate, and share the most comprehensive and inspiring van life adventures. In fact, these models don’t even work with the piping, but instead, blow air out the bottom of the air conditioner itself. An affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk and other sites. A window ac unit in your van isn’t the most attractive looking option or the most stealthy option either, but if you’re on a budget it’s a good solution. Watts: runs between 1,000 and 1,500. A rotating control dial adjusts the fan speed on the Turbo Vent: Image – Amazon.co.uk. On more than a few occasions when I've gone to meet our guests after arriving here at Horton Common I've come across them trying to fit an AL-KO wheel lock to their caravan and I've heard various... How To Go Off-Grid In A Caravan/Motorhome - You Need To Plan Ahead. In terms of pure cooling capacity/performance and efficiency, the most expensive built-in air conditioners from Truma and Dometic come out on top, as you would and should expect. In the video below Graham provides a good detailed account on the pros and cons of using this portable air conditioning unit. While here at Horton Common I provide 16A per pitch, that’s not the case on all sites and its especially not true on the continent. If you are traveling in an area that is primarily hot, paint your van white, or at least the roof. DISCLAIMER: The content of the blog on this website is for entertainment and general information purposes only, and should not be followed as professional advice. You will, therefore, have more payload capacity for other personal items. Mr. Heater Indoor-Safe Portable Propane Radiant Heater – A radiant heater is well worth the money if you will be traveling to really cold destinations. 28 Jul 2020. 1. Horton Common features five hard standing fully serviced pitches for caravans and motorhomes. You’ll be surprised with its supercharged motor and fan that delivers an excellent cooling capacity. 12V Adapter Plug Socket with Eyelet Terminal. Put a thick curtain or blanket behind the front seats in your van. Therefore, if the cost is a consideration, as it is for most people, they may just simply not be a viable option. BTU: 5,000 Therefore the Truma representative discuses with Dan the option of the Saphir air conditioning unit which can installed under the seating area, with ventilation pipes running along/within the caravan cupboards/lockers. The above video does a good job of providing a brief overview of the different cooling options for a caravan/motorhome. However, as you may have predicted, these built-in solutions are quite expensive. The maintenance and repair procedures for all these RV air conditioner devices are identical. Below is a video from the YouTuber Dan Trudgian and an interview he conducted with a Truma representative on air conditioners. As seen in the video above, this portable air conditioner has two boxes linked together by what can really only be described as an umbilical cord. For a true air conditioner with a condenser/heat exchanger, the heat from inside the caravan/motorhome has to be exchanged to the outside environment. So the last thing I want to discuss in this post is about the topic of power consumption with regards to portable and built-in air conditioning units for caravans and motorhomes. Where a portable air conditioner is in the hundreds of pounds a permanent built-in air conditioner is easily into the thousands of pounds. Our air con units can be fitted Roof top and bench type (under bunk) with the options to run from 240v mains or 12volt DC inverter kits keeping your caravan, motorhome or campervan cool with our air conditioning systems. For instance, on a small single axle caravan, the impact could be significant. A light-colored van won’t absorb as much heat. When it comes to professional/built-in air conditioners for caravans or motorhomes to two main brands involved are Dometic and Truma. Though, if you have the resources available and you can afford built-in air conditioning it does create a very comfortable living/sleeping environment in the hot summer months. Dometic has managed to achieve better cooling performance in a smaller unit and accommodated a roof light. Well depending on the specific model you could be looking at a total install cost of between £1,500 to £3,000. With a weight of just over 5kg, you could add multiple turbo vents if you had multiple roof lights without a significant impact on payload. Cold air will get into your van through the front because of the windshield and windows. If you already have a Truma caravan heating system and latest control panel the air conditioner can be integrated into that same control panel. It has some great features such as a rain sensor that will automatically close the vent when it gets wet, reversible air flow, a thermostat, and a remote. It just so happens that the Caravan Vlogger aka Graham owns such a unit which he takes on trips to the south of France. Cost: $$ BTU: 5,000 Watts: 460 when running. Therefore, this is an option Dan didn’t decide to take. Through the principle of a condensing heat exchanger humidity from the warm air will condense on cool surfaces. Well, there is obviously no large boxes hanging on the outside of your van or your kitchen worktop in the case of a portable air conditioner. On the other hand, if you have a smaller camper, there’s no reason to worry about controlling temperatures in multiple rooms and non-ducted air conditioner should work fine. So the last option you could consider which maybe your best option depending on your budget and circumstances is a built-in/roof-mounted air conditioner. Guchen is an independent manufacturer fully devoted to design, produce, install and service of complete air conditioning system and components for 24V/12V DC air conditioner at the top quality, bring to the market customized services & project planning for automotive manufacturers, truck manufacturers, … If you’re traveling to incredibly hot places regularly, a portable ac unit for your van is an absolute lifesaver. However, there are several compromises and obstacles to consider, beyond simply the cost. Small Portable – Portable air-conditioners are self-contained units that are used to cool a single room, with the advantage of being movable. Check out a few ideas below that work with your budget and space accommodation. The main issue they were wrestling within their mind was the loss of the roof light. Motorhome rooftop air conditioners are not different from the ones used for other RV campers like pop-up campers, travel trailers or the ones in the sidewalls like Aliner has in their a-frame campers. Therefore, the first question you really need to ask your self is, do you really need air conditioning? First, it will be conditional on an annual professional caravan service or motorhome habitation check. It is primarily dependent on how much you are willing to spend and where you’re traveling to. Replacing your existing roof light with a turbo vent may be the best option for you and your wallet. I discuss this same issue in my posts on kettles and microwaves. Hi, I’m Chris, along with my father Robert we operate and maintain Horton Common Caravan Site. There are now internal air conditioning units which can fit under the seating area or fixed bed. (Or even worse, send you back to a house that doesn’t even move!) Otherwise, you may just want to try increasing the ventilation in your caravan or motorhome with a Turbo Vent and see how you get on. However, there are potential issues with the roof-mount units as well which I’ll discuss below. However, both portable and built-in air conditioning setups produce fan noise. This means feeling the highs and the lows of the temperature, which can be difficult to get accustomed to at first. Many caravans and motorhomes have truma hot air heating. You may not be able to run some air conditioners along with certain kettles, microwaves etc at the same time without tripping the supply. However, in that scenario, you have fridge vents to transfer the heat into the outside environment. You do also have to consider the impacts on payload and other issues such as weight distribution and caravan noseweights. Posted on December 4, 2011 by Rach. What is also interesting to note is that the Dometic Freshlight has the same cooling performance as the Truma Aventa Compact Plus. However, with the interior box, you will need to remember to empty the condensate container. However, the Freshlight (950W) consumes less power than the Compact Plus (1012W). Dan had another hole cut into the roof of his caravan and a Truma Aventa Compact roof-mounted air conditioner installed. Additional gas struts, canopy lifters or changing the gearing in a winch must be considered if attempting this. Therefore, instead of going for a portable or built-in air conditioner, you may want to consider a turbo vent. Since it’s on the roof, it doesn’t take up space in your van, and it doesn’t take up precious window viewing space like the option below. The only portable air conditioning unit specifically for caravans and motorhomes that I’m currently aware of is produced by a company called Eurom. Within the video above Dan learns that due to the construction of his particular Bailey caravan a roof-mounted Truma air conditioner is not possible by replacing his existing roof light. If you have a 3-way fridge in your caravan or motorhome, it works on the same principle. Located in the Staffordshire Moorlands Horton Common benefits from expansive views over the Peak District National Park. Hence, why there are two boxes, one which sits inside and one which hangs on the outside of the vehicle. I hope you found it useful and I also hope at some point in the near future you will consider coming to visit us here at Horton Common. Since they’re just fans, they don’t generate cold air like some of the other options, but with the reverse airflow, they can blow the hot air out of your van quickly. 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