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Old 06-22-2006, 07:57 AM   #1
rickfox
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2nd Air Conditioner

Good Afternoon All,

I'm planning on installing a 2nd AC in the bedroom. I did a search on air conditioners but did not come up with anything that discussed the major brands and/or had comments from others (good and/or bad)based upon the brand they selected.

Size and price between the Carrier, Coleman, and Duo Therm seem to be about the same. The low-profile models do seem to cost more, but from my measurements, a full sized AC (approx. 13" high) will still be lower than the vent covers (Max Air - I think) mounted in the center roof area of my 3400RL - see my photo below.

What do you all think?
 
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Old 06-22-2006, 08:33 AM   #2
melnjoy
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We had the Dou Therm low Profile installed at Camping World.
We have been happy with the way that it cools down the rig as we a
stay in Yuma through May and as early as September.
Mel
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Old 06-22-2006, 08:50 AM   #3
rickfox
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When it comes to specs, I have noticed a lot of what seems like small differences between the brands, but I am wondering if anyone has come upon something they feel is "significant".

For example, the Duo Therm apparently has a 3-speed fan while the other only have 2-speed fans. Both the Duo Therm and Coleman only blow out air toward the front and to the rear of the trailer, while the Carrier can also blow (swirl) air straight down. Does any of this matter?

Also, we would like to use this AC (in the bedroom) while sleeping. Has anyone noticed their brand being loud or otherwise annoying when running while trying to sleep?
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Old 06-22-2006, 09:18 AM   #4
prariepoodle
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We had a Coleman installed in our bedroom and out here in the desert right now it is 103 and we only have that one running, we do not have any problem sleeping at night,we run it on low speed. When the temp. gets to 104,105 we have to run both AC's.
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Old 06-22-2006, 10:21 AM   #5
Montana Sky
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Rick,
I have the Dometic Duo-therm Low profile 13.5 btu w/ heatstrip in my bedroom. I love it!! It has high, medium, and low fan speeds as well as high, medium, and low a/c speeds. Also has heatstrip that really keeps the bedroom toasty at night when the temps get down into the low 50's and high 40's. I posted a pic of it awhile back, will see if I can find it. As far as the side to side vents go, I prefer them. I do not like air blowing on me at night and by closing one side of the other you can control where the air blows at night. If you close the vents that blow toward the bathroom/shower and leave the ones open that blow toward the closet doors, you will be able to feel (while laying on the bed) the air as the closet doors deflect it back into the room. I am a medium to lite sleeper and I have been running the heat strip every night from April-May w/o any trouble sleeping. I have also taken a few naps during the afternoon while having the a/c running, as long as I have it on low or medium speed, sleeping is not a problem. High is a little too loud for me. The only problem I have found with the a/c in the bedroom is, my main a/c thermostat is on the wall next to the stairs. If I leave the vents open in the bedroom a/c blowing on high toward that therm. it makes the main a/c shut off too soon. I found by closing them off and leaving the vents that face the closet open, the main a/c will actually shut off at the selected temp and the air in the bedroom circulates just fine as I said, the closet door deflect it back into the room. Hope this makes sense....

As far as height goes, I am 13'3" and that is actually to the top of my fantastic fan vent cover in the kitchen. You can see in my pic it is the highest point on the coach even w/ the 2nd a/c. I bought a volt meter the other day and have been watching that while running the a/c's. I have 120-122 volts w/ just the fridge running. After running the main a/c on high and the bedroom a/c on medium(fridge is still on electric) I still have 118 volts on the meter.

Here is the link to the picture I posted awhile back. Scroll down through the thread and you will see it.
http://www.montanaowners.com/forums/...89&whichpage=2
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Old 06-22-2006, 11:04 AM   #6
Wordsmith
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Montana Sky,

I missed that thread and thus did not see the picture of your unit and second a/c. That looks like a beautiful place you were staying. What was the locale?

My apologies in advance for any hijacking of the thread!
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Old 06-22-2006, 02:17 PM   #7
rak
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Hi Rick,
We have the Carrier low-profile AC and love it. The thing we like is that you can close the vents on one end and the downward air flow and have all the air coming out of the front and it pushes the air to the other end of the camper. With 90 degree heat here in Kansas we only need the 13.5 btu Carrier runing.
I think any brand you go with will do just fine.
Have a great day.
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Old 06-22-2006, 03:35 PM   #8
Montana_1240
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I'm with the others. Almost any brand will work as well as the others.

The big thing will probably be just what sort of "look" do you want from the inside. From the pricing I've seen, it appears as though each brand has its own control/vent panel design that you have to buy separately from the A/C. And each panel has its own features or appearance that just might cinch the deal for one brand over the other.

Let us know what you settle on. I'm getting so close to dropping the big bucks for a second A/C, myself.

Steve
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Old 06-22-2006, 04:41 PM   #9
rickfox
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Thanks for the input guys!

As I previously mentioned (not including the low-profile models), the pricing from PPLMotorhomes.com site (not including shipping or sales tax) is:

Carrier: $508 - smaller roof footprint, 94#, 2 speed motor, front, back, and down airflow, 2 yr. warranty.

Coleman: $509 - wider footprint on roof (not a big deal), 108#, 2 speed motor, front and back airflow, 2 yr. warranty.

Duo Therm: $535 - approximately same footprint on roof as Coleman, 96#, 3 speed motor, front and back airflow, 3 yr. warranty.

I have not yet priced out the low profile units (they do cost more) as my height measurements indicated that the aftermarket vent covers I have installed will still be higher than the full sized units. I do plan on taking the measurements again to confirm I will be less than the 13' 6" height limitation for Texas highways.

Perhaps you are right Gyro. Each of the units have their "own" look - both internally and externally. Since I have not heard any "wish I hadn't done that" stories so far, perhaps looks may in fact win out.
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Old 06-22-2006, 05:04 PM   #10
Montana_1240
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Rick,

With the three speeds, and extra year of warranty on the Duo-Therm, that sure seems to be a good way to go.

I just bought three additional years for my Duo-Therm that came on this Monty. And have been considering, (though not delving too deeply into research,) buying a second one to help cool us down in this infernal heat.

I only just realized that flipping open the vent under the A/C does really help cool us in the living room a lot more. Until today, I hadn't noticed a difference, and had been letting the A/C flow through the ducts, so the bedroom was kept pretty nice, too. Now that I know this helps, I'll probably just endure the slightly louder noise, and maybe not go take long naps in a warmer bedroom.

Now, if only I could get our two Canine-American children to NOT lick my arm if I doze off in a recliner....


Steve
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Old 06-24-2006, 02:52 PM   #11
JohnAprilandMeagan
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Rick, just last weekend I had the carrier low profile installed up in the front. Makes a world of difference as most have already said. I had hieght issues on my rig per the technician so I went with Carrier which is only 7.5 inches high which I was told was the shortest low profile available. Also, don't know if I got taken or not but the tech told me that the way the carrier is built (water runs out back) and because where the AC goes in the front on my rig where the roof actually slopes to the front towards it had to be installed actually turned around 180 degrees effectively putting the front towards the back and the back towards the front. Can't really tell the difference however inside or out as the height is so short (can hardly see it up there unless you really are looking for it pretty far from side of the trailer) and the control panel inside can go either way as air still comes out both sides and straight down (referred to as AC shower). Anyway am real happy with it, cools great, has only two speeds but actually cools better on low (air stays in cooling area longer) and a little loud at night on high. Unit has a self thermostat which seems to work just fine. Good luck with whichever you decide.
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Old 06-24-2006, 03:26 PM   #12
prariepoodle
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Well gang I have really needed my second AC for the past few days it has been cooking out here in the desert, yesterday it got up to 111 degrees and today it got up to 120 and it is suppose to get better than today tomorrow. Our Coleman AC was right at $900.00 installed at camping world in Henderson Nevada.We have had both AC's on High sense about 6:00 AM this morning and we have been cool all day.Right now it is 6:26 PM and the temp. is 108, ahhhhhh!!! we need a cold front.LOL
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Old 06-27-2006, 02:17 PM   #13
Montana Sky
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Wordsmith,
That pic was taken at the place I summer on Lake Roosevelt in eastern Washington. The park is Two Rivers RV Park. Here is a link to the park http://www.tworiverscasinoandresort.com/ This place is what I call heaven on earth. =)
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