Upgrade Dometic Air Conditioners

[scott802]

Hello All,
I'm at the point where I'd like to upgrade my old Dometic Penguin AC unit (start with the bedroom) on my 2019 Montana 3121RL. Been doing quite a bit of research on the Dometic Blizzard units as well as the Furrion Chill Cubes.
Does anyone have any experience with upgrades like this? The tech has improved so much in almost 7 years, with variable speed compressors and efficiency. The bedroom unit I have is barely cooling not to mention low airflow out of the ducts.

Has anyone upgraded and basically moved to a direct dump unit, and blocked off the ducts? Any experience with the Furrion chill cubes? From what I see they won't even retrofit those to the old style duct system I have.

Any threads or advice from anyone would be appreciated.

Thanks all.

Scott

 

[RMcNeal]

My 2019 came with the Blizzard units. Initially, I had a lot of trouble from the Dometic capacitive touch thermostats. Ended up replacing those with MicroAir and that fixed those problems.
Also found that many of my ducts were not taped up properly and much of the air was actually leaking into the attic space. I went around and put short PVC pipes in the ducts to keep the duct work from flattening, cut any of the plastic vents that were protruding into the duct too far, and then re-taped all the vent openings and return air vents. That made a world of difference.

 

[Bourbon County]

That's sage advice from RMcNeal, unless you find and address your air flow issues, a new unit will disappoint also. In a ducted system, the air delivery is more important than the unit itself. If you haven't done so, do some maintenance on the unit. Clean the coils and if you're going to climb onto the roof, go ahead and replace the capacitor.

As far as I know, there are presently only 2 variable speed units on the market. The Furrion Chill Cube you mentioned and the Turbro Greenland. The Furrion is an LG variable speed mini-split in a Furrion enclosure. It is offered in a non-ducted model and just since earlier this year a ducted model. The Turbro is only offered in non-ducted. The Turbro is a heat pump version, the Furrion is not. Neither of these are offered in a low profile, Furrion has plans to offer one in the future. If you are going to replace the front unit, might be a good idea to do some measuring and see what it will do to your overall height.

 

[suny07]

Hi,

Just another thought which I also did not had in mind.
Maybe a Mini Split AC would be something for you.
We just got one installed in January into the bedroom and it’s the coolest thing ever. Super quiet and mega efficient.

You can mount the outdoor unit under the door where they previously installed the fold out ladders or in a storage compartment what we did.

 

[scott802]

My 2019 came with the Blizzard units. Initially, I had a lot of trouble from the Dometic capacitive touch thermostats. Ended up replacing those with MicroAir and that fixed those problems.
Also found that many of my ducts were not taped up properly and much of the air was actually leaking into the attic space. I went around and put short PVC pipes in the ducts to keep the duct work from flattening, cut any of the plastic vents that were protruding into the duct too far, and then re-taped all the vent openings and return air vents. That made a world of difference.

thanks! Yes I have the MicroAir which solved the touch issues but still have airflow problems not to mention now the bedroom unit is barely cooling.

 

[scott802]

Hi,

Just another thought which I also did not had in mind.
Maybe a Mini Split AC would be something for you.
We just got one installed in January into the bedroom and it’s the coolest thing ever. Super quiet and mega efficient.

You can mount the outdoor unit under the door where they previously installed the fold out ladders or in a storage compartment what we did.

View attachment 1313814

 

[scott802]

wow that is one heck of a unit? Who's the manufacturer etc?

Scott

 

[suny07]

wow that is one heck of a unit? Who's the manufacturer etc?

Scott

Its a Senville 12000BTU and has more power than needed

12000 BTU Mini Split Air Conditioner - Heat Pump - SENL/12CD/110V

The Senville SENL-12CD-16 12000 BTU Mini Split Air Conditioner and Heat Pump offers efficient climate control with energy-saving features and remote control capabilities. Perfect for homes and businesses.

senville.com