Front A/C

[Craig A]

In May we stayed in Lake Park, GA for a couple of days and when the sun was out, we couldn't the 344RET below 82 degrees. I had one of the service techs come out and the air coming out of the A/C was 38 degrees, but it couldn't keep up with the solar heating. I've been getting estimates of putting a front 13500 BTU front air in but have several questions:
1) Should the front a/c be wired to the thermostat or manually controlled from the unit?
2) Do I need a low profile?
3) How much should I expect to pay for installation? The two estimates I have are for low profile, manually controlled 13,500 BTU with no heater and are running at $900 (CW) and $1000 (Suncoast RV).

[trukdoc]

Dont know what it costs for the installation but I like having the heat element in the front AC. There has been times we wanted a shower and go to bed due to a long day travelling and the extra heat helps. Not to mention a backup to running low or out of propane.

[pud2]

First to find out if it is wired for second unit if so it is simple to install. Run it manually off the unit t-stat. They are not to hard to install. You should be able to get it cheaper. I would't be without 2nd unit.

[Broome101]

The price you have from CW seems high. The have the Penguin 13,500 BTU low profile unit for around $600.00, plus $90.00 to install. Friend has his done last week in myrtle Beach, SC so I know that is correct since I was with him.

[mustang92]

I had my dealer install the second air conditioner when I took delivery. It is a dometic, 13,500btu. I got the low profile as it only adds a few inches to the overall height of the 3400. Mine is not connected to the thermostat, and I think I like it that way. Both units working keep the trailer cool in hot weather. At night, we generally turn the thermostat up on the main unit and use the bedroom unit primarily. One additional benefit is that with the unit running, it drowns out outside noise such as truck traffic, trains, dogs, etc.
I was going to add the heat strip,for about $120, but my dealer talked me out of it. His reasoning was that a small electric heater in the BR worked better if we thought we wanted extra heat, and was a whole lot cheaper. After doing some winter camping, I think he is right. We seldom use an electric heater anyway.
My unit cost about $700, installed, but that was included in the cost of the Monty when I bought it.

[cmp-shooter]

My estimate was $1100.00 for a 13500 a/c up front, but mine is NOT WIRED for it so it will be more work. This est. was from Diamond RV in Hatfield Massachusetts.

[Hemlockusa]

You should be able to get and put one in for $700.00. If your wired for the front AC, Get the dometic low profile and run it off it's own controls. You and a friend could install it in a Hour or so.. If you were closer I would order it for you and help you install it over a couple of cups of coffee or cans of something.... Hope it works out for you. John

[Craig A]

I ordered one today. Went for a 15,000 CFM low profile unit. Should be in next week and installed before July 20th. Total cost came in less than $1000 and the good part is that since it's a dealer install from where I bought the rig, it will be covered under the 7 year extended warranty. Could have gotten a 13500 CFM unit for $70 less but made more sense to me to go with the heavier unit. With 2 15000 CFM A/Cs I should be able to cool it down quick.

[Bill and Lisa]

We just had one installed and it cost us $940. We were prewired but we did something a little different. First ours is a dometic 13,500 BTU witoout heat strip (our dealer said go with an electric heater instead of the heat strip too). $52 of our cost was for a heavy duty 15A cord. The new low profile units max their draw at 15A (according to the specs). We had the dealer go into the AC panel, take the wires from the breaker for the second a/c and using a junction box, connect it to the extension cord. The cord was mounted in the overhead of the basement and routed through the forward basement wall up to the curb side propane storage area. This allows the cord to be fed through the openings in the bottom without having to leave any access doors open. Since then I decided I wanted the cord to come out on the street side and undid the routing to go under the steps, into the water hose maze and out a hole next to the outdoor shower controls into the convience center. Now that cord will deploy through the convienince center hole along with the water and cable lines and plug directly into the 120V plug that most power posts have. Also cleaned up the duct work for the furnace...flanges just held in at 1 point along the circumferance with lots of gaps and main feed flange bent down significantly on on corner. Also removed the landing gear control switch and remounted in a conduit box in the front storage area. Now have a 2 foot cord that allows us to stand next to the rear of the truck and raise/lower the landing gear. I will take pictures this weekend. Going to mount dual water filters ala Glenn this weekend and maybe a light in the forward compartment.

Bill