Adding second A/C to travel trailer - which one?

[TexasA&M]

Howdy everyone -

I have been thinking of adding a second A/C to my TT for a while now, and am getting ready to pull the trigger.

Some background - I have a 2011 Jayco 32BHDS with a 15k ducted A/C unit on top. I want to add a second unit to help combat the Texas sun and heat. My current unit does fairy well, but has trouble when there is no shade and the temps are 100+. My trailer is only set up for 30amp service, so I will be wiring this second A/C to a totally separate circuit that will be plugged in directly to the pedestal. Because of this, I am looking for units that pull as few amps as possible. The new unit will be installed in the front bedroom and will not be ducted.

Here are the two that I am considering -

9200 Coleman Polar Cub

Coleman Mach I Power Saver

At first, I was only looking at the Polar Cub because of it's lower power rating (and 9.2k btu would be a nice compliment in the front bedroom), but after looking through the PPL website last week, I found the Mach I. The Mach I only pulls 9.3a (for 12k btu) and the Polar Cub pulls 11.5a (for 9.2k btu). Pricing is only $10 difference, and the weight is virtually the same.

At this point, I'm thinking that the Mach I is the better choice. Higher cooling power, with less power consumption. Does anyone know of any downside? I guess the Polar Cub is specifically designed for someone that needs a low profile unit.

Thoughts?

[3'senough]

I am currently looking at adding a second AC to my BR vent where one was an option. In doing so I was just going with the same as was offered at the factory 13,500.

Some things to consider are where you want to mount this is the roof structure strong enough to support unit while traveling?

You've looked at the amps as noted above but will your panel and cord handle that amount of draw? Or are you going to wire seperately?

[norty1]

There may be many times when you do not have enough power at the pedestal to run both units.

Forewarned.

[nylyon]

Just out of curiosity, is the camper wired already for a second A/C? I wonder if it would be worth the extra expense to convert to 50A service especially if you're already wired for the second A/C, might get a lot more bang for the buck.

[TexasA&M]

Some of your questions were answered in my initial post -

Originally Posted by TexasA&M

My trailer is only set up for 30amp service, so I will be wiring this second A/C to a totally separate circuit that will be plugged in directly to the pedestal.

To answer some of the others -

Trailer is not wired for a second unit. If it was, I'd definitely consider upgrading to 50a.

I haven't looked at a regular 13.5k unit because I assumed that they are/were more expensive. After checking just now, that is not the case. They do, however, pull more power than these two, and I'm looking for something that will run on a standard 15a 110V outlet without issue. This is one of my main goals.

All of the parks that we normally go have 50a power at the pedestal. I can plug my trailer into the 50a plug with an adapter, and then either use the 30a (with adapter) for the second a/c, or just use the 110 outlet. If the park only has 30a service, I will just run a single A/C (just like any trailer that has 50a with two A/Cs from the factory).

The roof supports my weight just fine while I am on top taking the cover on/off. There shouldn't be an issue to support the a/c.

[lx22f/c]

I have a 314bhds and last summer was our first time ownig it. It to got warm in the back room so this year i added solar sunscreens to the outsise of all the windows, i know we havent seen the hot times of the summer here in se txas but it has already made a huge difference where i keep it at the lake. I also added a digital 7 day thermostat that took away the temp swing that we exprienced with the old thermostat. You may explor those options first. The sunscreen i bought at home depot and used snaps to attach them to the alminum window frames. Hope this helps

[TexasA&M]

I actually just installed a digital thermostat the last trip we took, and it worked great. I am very interested in the sunscreen that you are talking about... I can't quite picture it though.

Is this just standard screen material? Did you screw the snaps to the window frame and then put the other side in the screen?

[lx22f/c]

The screens are the sunscreen that you would use on your house it blocks 90 ercent of the heat. I measured the largest window to know what wigth to get. I then cut the screens to fith the outside of the frames and rounded the corners. I then attached the snaps to the screen using stainles snaps that i ordered online from a sailmaking company i used 8 snaps per window to make it uniform all the way around. I attached the snaps to the screen at the corners first and them taped the screen on the camper and matked where the male end of the snap would go, then drilled a pilot hole and shot a little silcone in the hole and that ws it. I found after getting the corners done i marked the remainig holes with a ice pick and then added the middle snaps. I also found i wish i would have mase the screens a little bigger and then trimmed them once on the trailer. Even though the screens are very thick if you put a iece of tape around the window you can use a sharp pair of scissors to trim real easy. Let me know if i can help

[cekkk]

I too find our ac works hard in the 90s. So when the five day forecast in Gold Canyon has three digits in it, I pack up and head back home, 9000' above msl. BTW, it's been snowing most of the day. Currently 99 in GC at 5 p.m. Friday.