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Old 03-12-2015, 03:32 PM   #1
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Leaving air conditioning on while fifth wheel is not in use

We are leaving our fifth wheel 2008 Designer on our gated RV lot in southern Arizona. Of course, it will be VERY hot through May-November. Is this a safe thing to do or are we inviting problems? Fire is first concern. Our Park Office will be checking on interior water buckets and refilling. But if air conditioner was set at 90 degrees, would that be smart or stupid on our part. We are having unit's roof conditioned and aluminum Reflectix placed in all windows. Suggestions? Responses?
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Old 03-12-2015, 03:44 PM   #2
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We are leaving our fifth wheel 2008 Designer on our gated RV lot in southern Arizona. Of course, it will be VERY hot through May-November. Is this a safe thing to do or are we inviting problems? Fire is first concern. Our Park Office will be checking on interior water buckets and refilling. But if air conditioner was set at 90 degrees, would that be smart or stupid on our part. We are having unit's roof conditioned and aluminum Reflectix placed in all windows. Suggestions? Responses?
We leave our AC on in the summer @ 80F - It runs just fine. It can be 110F here, just not every day for 3 months...

We have had no issues, other than the power costs, working this way. Keeps the Candles in semi-solid form.

we also leave the Fridge/freezer running - beer has to be cold when we get there...


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Old 03-12-2015, 04:24 PM   #3
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Just thinking worst case scenario, the AC could overheat or spark an electrical fire and burn the unit down. I'm not sure I see the benefit of keeping the interior cool if nobody is inside. I would buy vent covers for the roof vents and keep the vents open. If you have any windows that can be open without allowing rain to come inside I would open them an inch or so. That will keep interior temps about equal with exterior temps.
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Old 03-12-2015, 04:49 PM   #4
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Think about it. RV units of all types sit in dealers lots for months at a time in all kinds of weather with no adverse effects. I'm with spoon, why use power when it doesn't serve any purpose. I like his ideas for leaving some air flow.
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Old 03-12-2015, 06:19 PM   #5
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We leave ours on at our seasonal site. I have a programable thermostat. We have it set for 85 during the week when we are not there, then it is set to kick down to 70 on friday morning. When we arrive the camper is nice and cool. Never had a problem and i think worrying about a fire is silly. The a/c is meant to be used so use it. They are meant to last 10 + years easily and are cheap to replace when the are worn out.
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Old 03-12-2015, 06:30 PM   #6
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Since you have on-site management you could have them turn it on 24 hrs before you get there.
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Old 03-12-2015, 09:22 PM   #7
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Would you leave your car on if you were leaving a car here in Az ? There are 1,000's of rigs left here in summer and none have the AC on. I see no value to leaving the AC on. An RV is not built to be run like a home AC is...and.. in the warmest part of summer I be it would run 75% of the day/night. Leaving a few pails of water would make sense to add some humidity.

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Old 03-13-2015, 07:24 AM   #8
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Leaving a car running is a lot different than leaving an A/C running.
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Old 03-13-2015, 09:39 AM   #9
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Leaving a car running is a lot different than leaving an A/C running.
Point was, there is no good reason to leave the AC on..cars are fine without it, and so are RV. Many 1,000's are stored with no AC with no issues. Your AC, especially if your parked in the direct sun, will run most of the day.
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Old 03-13-2015, 09:53 AM   #10
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Point was, there is no good reason to leave the AC on..cars are fine without it, and so are RV. Many 1,000's are stored with no AC with no issues. Your AC, especially if your parked in the direct sun, will run most of the day.
The RV itself might be ok - but my stuff inside likely will not at over 110F internal temps -

When an RV sits on a dealer lot, it's empty, totally, after we got ours we moved about 700lbs of **** into it for daily life...I didn't take a complete list, but I can think of a few things that will not survive the full heat of the summer.

Most of the jayco 5'ers we looked at were designed for full time living - that said I do not see any reason the AC's couldn't be run full time. I would turn the thermostat up to 80-85F and leave it unattended without issues.
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Old 03-13-2015, 12:11 PM   #11
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Would you leave your car on if you were leaving a car here in Az ? There are 1,000's of rigs left here in summer and none have the AC on. I see no value to leaving the AC on. An RV is not built to be run like a home AC is...and.. in the warmest part of summer I be it would run 75% of the day/night. Leaving a few pails of water would make sense to add some humidity.

Good Luck...

The reason we leave ours on is because of the time it takes to cool it down in the summer. We would arrive and the camper would be 90 + degrees inside, we would turn the a/c on and go do our shopping and take a boat ride killing time waiting for the camper to cool down. Heck with that i will just leave it on and be nice and cool when i get there. Just my .02
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Old 03-13-2015, 12:17 PM   #12
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The RV itself might be ok - but my stuff inside likely will not at over 110F internal temps -

When an RV sits on a dealer lot, it's empty, totally, after we got ours we moved about 700lbs of **** into it for daily life...I didn't take a complete list, but I can think of a few things that will not survive the full heat of the summer.

Most of the jayco 5'ers we looked at were designed for full time living - that said I do not see any reason the AC's couldn't be run full time. I would turn the thermostat up to 80-85F and leave it unattended without issues.
Im' not sure what you would be leaving in your rig for the 7 months this tread was speaking about that would be effected by heat. Obviously I would not leave food in, but, I would not leave food for 7 months anyway. Most anything else I can think of, already is in heat, ,much higher than what your rig would experience, just getting to the retailers. A Tractor Trailer will reach temperatures of 150 or more, without issues. If I was storing a rig for 7 months, I would leave kitchen utensils, pans etc, appliances, clothes, probably not toiletries just due to the time period. None of these would be an issue with temperature. I would not choose to waste the electricity when there is little upside and your just putting wear on the AC.. And when a rig is in storage, most folks do leave what I mentioned above, in there rig, I know we do. If only for a few weeks we also leave some food items. Just my opinion, were all entitled to our own. Just advising what most folks who live here in AZ do.
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Old 03-13-2015, 12:34 PM   #13
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Heck if it burns down, you get a new one. That's what insurance is for. I like the programmable thermostat idea. It's really no different than leaving a heater on inside during the winter.
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Old 03-13-2015, 02:33 PM   #14
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I think if they can leave whatever they want in it and leave the a/c on if they want to.
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Old 03-13-2015, 02:45 PM   #15
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I think if they can leave whatever they want in it and leave the a/c on if they want to.

Of course they can...but, I see no need to leave AC on for 7 months. I also would see no need to leave heat on for a long period of time either.
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Old 03-13-2015, 03:07 PM   #16
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Take out the personal items that are heat sensitive and leave the AC off. The Air Force stores hundreds of aircraft in the Tucson heat, why can't the TT stand up to the same heat.
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Old 03-16-2015, 05:43 AM   #17
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Im' not sure what you would be leaving in your rig for the 7 months this tread was speaking about that would be effected by heat. Obviously I would not leave food in, but, I would not leave food for 7 months anyway. Most anything else I can think of, already is in heat, ,much higher than what your rig would experience, just getting to the retailers. A Tractor Trailer will reach temperatures of 150 or more, without issues. If I was storing a rig for 7 months, I would leave kitchen utensils, pans etc, appliances, clothes, probably not toiletries just due to the time period. None of these would be an issue with temperature. I would not choose to waste the electricity when there is little upside and your just putting wear on the AC.. And when a rig is in storage, most folks do leave what I mentioned above, in there rig, I know we do. If only for a few weeks we also leave some food items. Just my opinion, were all entitled to our own. Just advising what most folks who live here in AZ do.
I took notes this weekend - with only a few exceptions all of my chemicals that usually stay int he RV - have a 110F limit - a few of them can become unstable, like the spray cans of slide lube and white lithium...

Otherwise, not much else would have an issue with heat in excess of 100F.

I'd say, pack up the chemicals, food, and candles and store them at home, and it should be OK.
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