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Old 07-09-2020, 05:59 AM   #1
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How to keep your RV cool

Preparing to camp in this heat wave, I am regreating that I didn't order the second A/C unit and have concerns about the A/C keeping up. I am installing a aluminum backed bubble wrap to the windows for an additional R4.5 and pushing foam into my roof vent. Aside from the obvious door monitoring for children who want to go in and out 19 times per hour, what tricks or mods have you found to keep your camper cool?
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Old 07-09-2020, 06:19 AM   #2
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Hi
Other things you can do to help...

Replace furnace vents with ones that close
Block furnace cold air return. Cold air falls... Right into furnace duct and cold air return into the basement and down under the trailer floor.
Start A/C earlier in day with thermostat set to a lower temp.
Try to get a site with good shade.. Especially for the fridge side.
Run the ceiling fan
Run the bathroom exhaust fan constantly
Use your awnings

If your trailer offered the second A/C option this is when you need it unfortunately
We ran down this road already. No kids just old folks. Ended up adding the second A/C
I even added more insulation in the front bubble and under the trailer... Still needed the second unit.
The extra insulation made a noticeable difference but not quite enough.
If you could add more insulation in the walls and ceiling would definitely change things

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Old 07-09-2020, 06:24 AM   #3
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New to this, just spent a week in SC, 90-95 most days. The AC was my biggest challenge with it shutting it self off a lot. Wish I got the second AC too.
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Old 07-09-2020, 07:55 AM   #4
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Making sure your filters and outside coils are clean will make a big difference. I just cleaned the coils up on the roof last night. Very dusty, lots of bugs, some cotton looking stuff (cotton trees???) general debris build up along the edges. I usually clean my coils every few years. The inside foam filters I clean every 7 days or so of use, but that really depends on the environment. I have been in dusty/pollen infested areas, that I cleaned them every two days. Never run without the inside filters installed. It is a real pain to clean the inside coils and very expensive to have done.

Also spend a few minutes pulling the inside diffusers, and check for gaps. Use real (metal) duct tape to seal the ducts as needed. Don't need to cool the attic space.

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last time I cleaned this coil was 2 years ago. I did not take a post cleaning picture, but it was shinny when I was done.
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Old 07-09-2020, 08:41 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by Sun N Fun View Post
Preparing to camp in this heat wave, I am regreating that I didn't order the second A/C unit and have concerns about the A/C keeping up.
A little bit of different idea, and I saw someone else does this, is to buy one of the residential portable room air conditioners to use on those really hot days. You can stick the vent hose out one of the windows, and either get the power from your rig, or run an extension cord out to the 120 volt, 20 amp outlet on the pedestal.

This might help on those rare days that you need two A/Cs to cool the rig down.
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Old 07-09-2020, 10:30 AM   #6
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We have 2 airs and at times it is not enough to really be cool. We carry a tower fan that pushes a decent amount of air. That helped quite a bit. Air movement makes you feel cooler for any given temperature.

Other ideas:

Sit on a block of ice.
Go naked.
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Old 07-09-2020, 11:29 AM   #7
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Curious what you folks like to keep you thermostat set at? We haven't had ours in real hot temps yet, but in the mid 90's we have it set at 79/80 and it's perfect for us. The same we have our house set at in the hot Nevada summers.
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Old 07-09-2020, 11:51 AM   #8
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Go to the mountains or park under a shade.

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Old 07-09-2020, 12:32 PM   #9
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Curious what you folks like to keep you thermostat set at? We haven't had ours in real hot temps yet, but in the mid 90's we have it set at 79/80 and it's perfect for us. The same we have our house set at in the hot Nevada summers.
That's a tough question for many to answer, because it doesn't hinge on temp, but humidity. The humidity level will determine the settings. In the desert of NV, with low humidity percentage in the teens, you set the temps higher. In the Northeast, where Summer humidity is in the 70%s - 80%s, at least, it's tougher to cool things down.
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Old 07-09-2020, 01:33 PM   #10
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Watch this video. I have a 15k AC that wasn't getting the job done, thought I was going to have to add a second AC. Did the repairs shown in the video and bingo, a happy camper running on one AC.


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Old 07-09-2020, 01:48 PM   #11
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That's a tough question for many to answer, because it doesn't hinge on temp, but humidity. The humidity level will determine the settings. In the desert of NV, with low humidity percentage in the teens, you set the temps higher. In the Northeast, where Summer humidity is in the 70%s - 80%s, at least, it's tougher to cool things down.
The reason I asked is I know people here that keep their house AC at 68 even in the dry air while ours is at 80. I hear our neighbors AC running twice as much as ours is. It seems some people have less tolerance for the heat than others. Personally I have a bad intolerance for cold. I want the house at 80 while the wife wants it at 72 in winter.
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Old 07-09-2020, 01:50 PM   #12
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We have 2 airs and at times it is not enough to really be cool. We carry a tower fan that pushes a decent amount of air. That helped quite a bit. Air movement makes you feel cooler for any given temperature.

Other ideas:

Sit on a block of ice. Hmmm, well, lol.
Go naked.
^^This^^ We have two also and will be going to Las Vegas in September, hmmm.
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Old 07-09-2020, 01:54 PM   #13
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Watch this video. I have a 15k AC that wasn't getting the job done, thought I was going to have to add a second AC. Did the repairs shown in the video and bingo, a happy camper running on one AC.



This is what I did, I went through all of my vent and tape them all up it's better.
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Old 07-09-2020, 01:58 PM   #14
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This is what I did, it did help I took out that one in the bedroom and I had to move that divider over and I use the alumina tape to tape it back in place.

Now while I was doing all of my vent in my living and bathroom area I found some scrape inside the duct and there were gaps in between that black ring, so if you do all of them which I did it will be a little better.
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Old 07-09-2020, 01:58 PM   #15
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Thanks for Replies

Thanks for all the great feedback, that's why I love this forum so much. There is always so many people here eager to share their experience and help one another out. We typically set our thermostat for cooling around 74 and observe a second thermostat which never agrees with the rv thermostat. We live in the Mountains of WV but it's been pretty hot and humid lately. Today's heat index is 98. I have closed off the heat vents in the floor. Additionally, we closed off the louvered vent under the kitchen island which accesses the utilities in the basement, also the panel under the sink. Again, thanks for the quick responses and fantastic ideas. 73 WV8PFW
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Old 07-09-2020, 02:36 PM   #16
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A little bit of different idea, and I saw someone else does this, is to buy one of the residential portable room air conditioners to use on those really hot days. You can stick the vent hose out one of the windows, and either get the power from your rig, or run an extension cord out to the 120 volt, 20 amp outlet on the pedestal.

This might help on those rare days that you need two A/Cs to cool the rig down.

That's what I did.
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Old 07-09-2020, 03:59 PM   #17
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That's what I did.

How well does it cool?
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Old 07-09-2020, 04:24 PM   #18
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How well does it cool?

ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.


It's better than the single unit. But we're still thinking about buying a 13.5K for the rear and replacing the Fantastic Fan.


So I'm thinking better than nothing but not as good as a dual unit setup.


I'm leaning to the Coleman Mach 3 Power Saver with a Soft Start.
Doing the research now.
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Old 07-10-2020, 12:47 PM   #19
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That's what I did.
This is a great ideal.
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Old 07-10-2020, 03:13 PM   #20
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I did the same as big1 but I also wrapped my air handler on the roof with reflectix. I used spay adhesive and completely covered the box. Definately helped my AC work more efficiently and did make a difference with inside Temps.
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