Addind 2nd Air Con Unit

[jaybird-MOC]

Our new 2014 38' Montana Mountaineer is wired for a second air conditioning unit. For the next 3yrs we plan to stay within Washington State so the need to add isn't quite the need as we expect when we head out for extended trips around the US.Is the 2nd unit a must, and if so, what kind of cost are we looking at?? Tacoma RV said they can bang it out in an hour or so, but their labor cost is in around $130ish. I'm certainly not capable of doing it myself. Should it be the same size as the unit that came with our Mountainer?? Any advise???

 

[DQDick]

If you plan to go anywhere that the temps could be in the 90's or the humidity high you will need the second unit. A lot of our members have the smaller unit in the front and are very happy with it. Many of us who spend much of our time in hot places have two full size units both to deal more easily with the heat and so that if one of our units goes down we still have a full size unit to cool the rig. There is little difference in cost but the full unit will increase the height of your rig by several inches.

 

[mhs4771]

We had the small 34' Montana 2955 and the main 15K and second 13.5K did a good job. Our SOB is 40' and needs both 15K ACs to keep up with 90 degree plus temps.

 

[1retired06]

We installed a second unit during purchase, exact same unit as what came with the rig. Cost was $599 installed.

 

[FL-Joe]

We recently had the second front air installed at Camping World. I don't have the paperwork in front of me but the price was reasonable as was the install. We went with a new model that was a lower profile than the rest. We are currently located in central Illinois and have had over a week with temps in the 90's. It is nice to be able to easily control the temperatures inside, which we could not have done with just the rear single air. To us it was well worth the investment.

 

[Clemson1881]

You can get the low profile Dometic WITH built in electronics in the 15K and/or heat pump version. You do not have to go with the taller unit to get 15k. The Dometic Penquin models will hook right up with your existing controls.

 

[jackel1959]

We had a second a/c installed aftermarket (13.5) for a about 1K. Our rig is 38' long and the second a/c certainly makes a
difference. We opted for the Penguin low profile on the front. We just came back from a trip in Oregon where the temps were in the 90's -100's and we could maintain the interior temps at 70-72 with no problem.

Jack

 

[SEnfinger]

We had ours added when we bought the camper around $600 installed. For sure you will need it. We added the heating element in ours as well which we love on chilly mornings.