Need yalls opinion on AC

[Parafirediesel]

Hey all new to the forum and currently shopping for a Jayco TT. We really like the Flight SLX 264BH, as it's no frills and light but has tons of room. That being said coming in at 29 ft it has one ducted 15K ac unit. Living in Texas I have concerns if this will be enough. My dealer swears it will freeze you out but I thought I'd ask the true seasoned campers on here. We are coming from a 98 Jayco Popup that had a 13.5 unit. Summer time it would be warm but not terrible inside. Just wanted to get the general consensus. Thanks in advance and happy trails.

[Magnolia Tom]

Originally Posted by Parafirediesel

Hey all new to the forum and currently shopping for a Jayco TT. We really like the Flight SLX 264BH, as it's no frills and light but has tons of room. That being said coming in at 29 ft it has one ducted 15K ac unit. Living in Texas I have concerns if this will be enough. My dealer swears it will freeze you out but I thought I'd ask the true seasoned campers on here. We are coming from a 98 Jayco Popup that had a 13.5 unit. Summer time it would be warm but not terrible inside. Just wanted to get the general consensus. Thanks in advance and happy trails.

Get the second AC. One is not enough for Texas summer heat.

[oldmanAZ]

Welcome to the forum.

IMO, it depends on where you camp etc: If it's hot and humid and you're in the direct sun and you have kids going in and out a lot, then no, one 15k ac will not be enough. Our 13.5k unit has been adequate for the camping we've done. But, we've been at high elevations and/or in the shade and we've made coverings to keep the direct sun out of the windows and ceiling vents & skylight.

I'm sure you'll hear from many others.

[cekkk]

Our campers box is about 32 feet and has two slides. We camped frequently in 90+ temps. Our lone 15 k unit struggled. Sure wish we had a second unit for the bedroom. But, just 30 amp service.

And listen to your salesman. You can pretty much assume he's, well, you know.

[Parafirediesel]

Originally Posted by Magnolia Tom

Get the second AC. One is not enough for Texas summer heat.

Thanks. These units cannot have a 2nd unit. Thanks for the input

[Riverman]

My 245rls will be 80 inside when it's 90 outside and sitting in the sun.

One A/C on an RV is rarely enough in the south.

[nurseruthie]

I did months of research and talked with numerous owners before we purchased our camper. The vast majority of experienced campers said we’d definitely want a second AC in our White Hawk 29RE, since we do a lot of summer camping and camp also in Florida and the Deep South. I’m from Texas originally and highly recommend having a second AC for that large of a camper. We ended up driving all the way to Iowa to purchase our camper, in order to buy one that was manufacturer prepped for a second AC and had the 50amp service. Best of luck to you with your shopping! We are in our late 40’s and this was our first camper purchase. We wish we’d taken the plunge much sooner.

[KillerIsMe]

Maybe weigh your circumstances - how much can you spend, what your truck can safely do, your parking space - everything you can think of. I'm assuming you have kids because of the bunk model and I can tell you from my experience with roughly the same size trailer and one 15K AC it gets tight and hot in there, and some nights are a bit rough sleeping. I'm in the northeast and I would imagine Texas is hotter. If I knew when we bought what I know now I would have gone with a more expansive trailer with a 2nd AC (we're trading ours in on an Eagle HT - more comfort room and more air conditioning).

[Riverman]

The way to go is with a mini-split A/C in an RV... great cooling, low power draw and super high efficiency.

Some day the RV builders will figure it out, what I already know now.

[ggilbert]

I had a second unit added to my 264BH. It is already framed for a second AC over the Queen bed.

I had it wired independently of the campers 30 amp wiring. They installed a breaker box under my sink in the kitchen and put a 20 amp plug on the camper beside the 30 amp cord.

this way if i am at a 30 amp site there is usually a 15 or 20 amp plug beside the 30 and i can use it for the second ac. and if there is only a 50 amp i have a adapter that takes it down to a 30 rv on one side and 20 amp plug on the other.

[ggilbert]

Also The dealer checked out the factory unit and found that Jayco did a poor job connecting the ducts and we where loosing a lot of cooling in the roof. they fixed that too.

[K2tiger]

Originally Posted by ggilbert

Also The dealer checked out the factory unit and found that Jayco did a poor job connecting the ducts and we where loosing a lot of cooling in the roof. they fixed that too.

This!!

[Parafirediesel]

Originally Posted by ggilbert

I had a second unit added to my 264BH. It is already framed for a second AC over the Queen bed.

I had it wired independently of the campers 30 amp wiring. They installed a breaker box under my sink in the kitchen and put a 20 amp plug on the camper beside the 30 amp cord.

this way if i am at a 30 amp site there is usually a 15 or 20 amp plug beside the 30 and i can use it for the second ac. and if there is only a 50 amp i have a adapter that takes it down to a 30 rv on one side and 20 amp plug on the other.

Attachment 47091
Attachment 47092
Attachment 47093
Attachment 47094

Did your dealer do that? Curious as to how they knew the spot and framing. What year is yours? Knowing the framework is there is def comforting as I can do all that work myself if needed. Thanks for the pics and info. Guessing you didn't feel the 15k was enough either. Thanks again!!

[ggilbert]

We are planning on some hot weather trips in July and I don’t want it to take 3 or 4 hours to cool down after driving all day before going to bed. 1 unit was fine for our first season, but we didn’t go far from home. Some family that has a class c 30 ft camper said when they went to Disney in July it was hard to cool their camper down to 78-80 degrees so they added a second AC.

My camper is a 2018 model. If you send jayco your vin number and what wall or part of the camper you need plans for they will send you the pdf blue print for your exact camper. They come in handy when hanging things that you want mounted in a stud.

I had Ricky’s RV in TN install mine because they had previously installed a second AC in a relatives RV. They did a professional job not a speck of dust or dirt left in the camper. All wires hidden in the wall. Professional installation.
https://www.rickysrv.com/

For sure take the inside cover off of your current ac and check the duct work connections. I have read that is a common problem and Ricky’s found ours loose and corrected the problem.

While you are into modding you’re camper you may want to look at adding a third cabinet door over the dinette too. Some of the best money I spent on the camper.

my roof prints
Roof Assy.pdf

[spoon059]

OP, I doubt it will "freeze you out" in Texas heat, but I think that you could probably be pretty happy with it if you had reasonable expectations and took some preventative steps. You don't have slides, so you have a smaller area to cool off.

#1 is to realize that it won't keep your camper at 68 degrees in the the blazing sun when its 110 degrees outside. Try to get a spot in the shade, that will certainly help.

#2 is to realize that the windows are horrible for insulation. Either consider some exterior shades over your windows (something like this is reasonable price for DIY https://ezsnapdirect.com/products/rv-shades/ ) or get some sun shades or Reflectix to place inside your windows to reduce solar heat gain.

#3 It appears as though you don't have any full walls in that floorplan, so I would be inclined to open the AC dumps rather than use the ducting, at least during the day. The ducts go through the ceiling and make the already inadequate insulation up there even thinner. You'll waste a lot of cold air as it gets heated by the sun hitting your roof. With your dumps open, that cold air goes straight into your main cabin and spreads out from there.

#4 carry some fans to help you feel cooler. During the hot 100 degree days in the summer, our AC would cool the camper to upper 70's or 80 degrees. It is certainly cooler than outside, but its still warmer than I prefer in the summer. Having a desk fan blowing that 80 degree "cooled" air certainly made it feel more refreshing.

#5 Remember that you are camping. Any AC is a luxury. Try to camp somewhere with a lake, or a pool, or even a stream. We have small kids, so we have them take a break mid day to get out of the sun, cool down, eat lunch, etc.

#6 If its too darn hot to be outside, don't go camping right then! We try not to go camping when its miserable outside, or else we make sure we'll be on the water. Most of our summer trips are centered around the beach or lakes, so we always have a refreshing place to cool off.


Good luck, enjoy camping!!!

[Parafirediesel]

Originally Posted by spoon059

OP, I doubt it will "freeze you out" in Texas heat, but I think that you could probably be pretty happy with it if you had reasonable expectations and took some preventative steps. You don't have slides, so you have a smaller area to cool off.

#1 is to realize that it won't keep your camper at 68 degrees in the the blazing sun when its 110 degrees outside. Try to get a spot in the shade, that will certainly help.

#2 is to realize that the windows are horrible for insulation. Either consider some exterior shades over your windows (something like this is reasonable price for DIY https://ezsnapdirect.com/products/rv-shades/ ) or get some sun shades or Reflectix to place inside your windows to reduce solar heat gain.

#3 It appears as though you don't have any full walls in that floorplan, so I would be inclined to open the AC dumps rather than use the ducting, at least during the day. The ducts go through the ceiling and make the already inadequate insulation up there even thinner. You'll waste a lot of cold air as it gets heated by the sun hitting your roof. With your dumps open, that cold air goes straight into your main cabin and spreads out from there.

#4 carry some fans to help you feel cooler. During the hot 100 degree days in the summer, our AC would cool the camper to upper 70's or 80 degrees. It is certainly cooler than outside, but its still warmer than I prefer in the summer. Having a desk fan blowing that 80 degree "cooled" air certainly made it feel more refreshing.

#5 Remember that you are camping. Any AC is a luxury. Try to camp somewhere with a lake, or a pool, or even a stream. We have small kids, so we have them take a break mid day to get out of the sun, cool down, eat lunch, etc.

#6 If its too darn hot to be outside, don't go camping right then! We try not to go camping when its miserable outside, or else we make sure we'll be on the water. Most of our summer trips are centered around the beach or lakes, so we always have a refreshing place to cool off.


Good luck, enjoy camping!!!

We went during July and August to Temple texas and camped for a week...in our popup...which when extended out was about 23-24ft. During the heat of the day I still could feel cool inside and with a fan even take a nap. I'm not expecting 68 in 110. I just dont want 90 when it's 100 out. The issue I'm running into is unless you go 30+ and slides most of these dealers dont even offer 2nd ACS. I really want to stick with 30amp as we love not having to worry about finding 50amp spots. Do you guys/gals think the 224BH would do okay with a 15k unit? I believe its 26.6 from tip of hitch to bumper. Thanks again for all the info.

[Riverman]

Many think a 15k A/C is way more cooling, but actually it's only 10% more than a 13.5k. I guess 10% more would help a little bit on a hot day.

[KillerIsMe]

Originally Posted by Parafirediesel

We went during July and August to Temple texas and camped for a week...in our popup...which when extended out was about 23-24ft. During the heat of the day I still could feel cool inside and with a fan even take a nap. I'm not expecting 68 in 110. I just dont want 90 when it's 100 out. The issue I'm running into is unless you go 30+ and slides most of these dealers dont even offer 2nd ACS. I really want to stick with 30amp as we love not having to worry about finding 50amp spots. Do you guys/gals think the 224BH would do okay with a 15k unit? I believe its 26.6 from tip of hitch to bumper. Thanks again for all the info.

You can still park on a 30 amp site with 50 amp service. You just can't use the 50 amp plug.

[lefoster]

I live/camp in Texas and my TT has one A/C. When necessary, I use additional fans to keep air moving and direct to other areas and that has been enough. Might try something simple first.