Which Air Conditioner?

[John-in-Texas]

We're finalizing our E19 Build Sheet and are trying to decide between the Coleman and the Houghton air conditioner. From what I've read I understand that both are quieter than the Dometic. The Coleman, being bigger, runs less -- and its heat strip is effective. Both the Coleman and Houghton have Soft Start. I also understand that the Houghton is both more energy efficient and quieter, but I read that the Houghton siphons humidity back into the cabin when the compressor cycles off. Please share your experience with any of these units and offer your opinions. Thanks.

[alanmalk]

Originally Posted by John-in-Texas

We're finalizing our E19 Build Sheet and are trying to decide between the Coleman and the Houghton air conditioner. From what I've read I understand that both are quieter than the Dometic. The Coleman, being bigger, runs less -- and its heat strip is effective. Both the Coleman and Houghton have Soft Start. I also understand that the Houghton is both more energy efficient and quieter, but I read that the Houghton siphons humidity back into the cabin when the compressor cycles off. Please share your experience with any of these units and offer your opinions. Thanks.

Thinking we were going to west Texas for months, we were persuaded to get the larger Coleman (previous generation). In use, we go through a freeze-thaw cycle and have to wear ear plugs and sweaters when it runs. Would trade down to a Houghton in a heart beat...

[John-in-Texas]

Thanks. I'm asking because NE Texas is in a high humidity area. Is your Coleman the 13,500 BTU model or larger? What year? I'm wondering your thermostat makes any difference?

[alanmalk]

Originally Posted by John-in-Texas

Thanks. I'm asking because NE Texas is in a high humidity area. Is your Coleman the 13,500 BTU model or larger? What year? I'm wondering your thermostat makes any difference?

13,500 BTUs
2019??
Running with its own internal thermostat.


And the little bit of my knowledge regarding high humidity is that the machine should run a bit more "On" than "Off" to remove humidity. In the case of mine, it would cycle too quickly.

[brroberts]

We have the Coleman Mach 1 NDQ 13,500 BTU with heat strip and soft start. For our use it’s great. The heat strip works well contrary to what I thought when deciding. We have used the heat strip down into the teens F with good results. The Coleman on low and the Houghton 9500 on high have almost identical output and dB levels. We hardly ever run A/C, but a couple of times have been glad to have a high setting to get things cooled. I have cycled the AC a few times at 1000’ elevation on my 2002 Honda EU 2000 generator without problems. I don’t know at what elevation it might have issues.

If a factory option for a Houghton existed at our time, I would have looked at it. Since it wasn’t, I don’t know what I might have chosen. Had the Dometic been the only option, I would have retrofit the Coleman or Houghton.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by John-in-Texas

I also understand that the Houghton is both more energy efficient and quieter, but I read that the Houghton siphons humidity back into the cabin when the compressor cycles off.

First I’ve heard of this. Do you recall where you read this?

[Chamberman]

We have the older 11K Dometic in our 2019 E19. Yes, its loud and shouting to speak over it are a necessity. I hate it! Last year we were at Lake Whitney SP over July 4th week. 100+ deg days parked in full sun and the trailer was holding 72F and the 11k BTU AC was cycling off occasionally. I just ran it that low as a test, I would normally have it set for 75 - 76F.


There's no way I'd put a 13.5K BTU AC on a 19 it'll short cycle and high humidity will be the result. Even if the Houghton cycles the compressor off occasionally, leaving the fan running, as long as the BTU's are sized appropriately for the trailer the compressor will run long enough that it keeps the trailer dehumidified and cool. I plan to eventually install the 9.5k BTU Houghton on our E19 and I have no doubt the trailer will be quite comfortable here in N. Texas in the summer.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by Chamberman

We have the older 11K Dometic in our 2019 E19. Yes, its loud and shouting to speak over it are a necessity. I hate it! Last year we were at Lake Whitney SP over July 4th week. 100+ deg days parked in full sun and the trailer was holding 72F and the 11k BTU AC was cycling off occasionally. I just ran it that low as a test, I would normally have it set for 75 - 76F.
There's no way I'd put a 13.5K BTU AC on a 19 it'll short cycle and high humidity will be the result. Even if the Houghton cycles the compressor off occasionally, leaving the fan running, as long as the BTU's are sized appropriately for the trailer the compressor will run long enough that it keeps the trailer dehumidified and cool. I plan to eventually install the 9.5k BTU Houghton on our E19 and I have no doubt the trailer will be quite comfortable here in N. Texas in the summer.

Yup. I've been scolded by some that believe a larger A/C is the only way to go in the Texas heat. My 9,000 BTU mini-split has cooled the 19 just fine on very hot and humid days. I also installed one on a 21 that has crisscrossed the country in all kinds of weather and has worked wonderfully. These have an inverter compressor so oversizing is not a concern. If you go with a traditional, constant speed compressor rooftop unit proper sizing is critical. A Houghton 9,500 BTU is a perfect size. As you stated oversizing is the worst thing you can do and it will result in short cycling with cold and clammy conditions in the trailer if the unit does not run long enough to ring out the moisture.

[John-in-Texas]

Thanks to all for your ideas on the right AC for our E19. Your comments about over-sizing an AC were eye-opening to this AC non-techie. I guess bigger isn't always better.
My original fears with the Houghton were that humidity would return to the cabin when the compressor cycled off. Perhaps that was because the AC was running on high and turned itself off before humidity could have been removed. Maybe running the Houghton on low for longer is the way to go.
And the 13,500 BTU Coleman would not have been a solution, because it would short-cycle even more than the Houghton.
Please let me know if I'm not on the right track. Thanks.
John-in-Texas

I thought I was wrong ONCE, but that was a mistake.

[SageRpod]

We had the Dometic in a previous camper and have the Coleman in our 5.0. Honestly we have only used the Coleman once but can tell you that it is significantly quieter than the Dometic and cools the Escape more quickly than the Dometic cooled the Rpod. However, if you ever wanted to know what it’s like camp with a 737 with engines running right next to you, the Dometic would be the one to get.

[MVA]

Originally Posted by John-in-Texas

We're finalizing our E19 Build Sheet and are trying to decide between the Coleman and the Houghton air conditioner. From what I've read I understand that both are quieter than the Dometic. The Coleman, being bigger, runs less -- and its heat strip is effective. Both the Coleman and Houghton have Soft Start. I also understand that the Houghton is both more energy efficient and quieter, but I read that the Houghton siphons humidity back into the cabin when the compressor cycles off. Please share your experience with any of these units and offer your opinions. Thanks.

I was planning to change-out our Dometic A/C for a Houghton unit this summer to reduce noise, but was given pause due to reports of increased humidity resulting from the design of the Houghton unit. I have no first-hand knowledge of this potential issue; only comment made on multiple forums on-line. Perhaps others who have installed a Houghton unit can comment if the reports of increased humidity is a result of operator error, or A/C design.

[Chamberman]

Originally Posted by MVA

I was planning to change-out our Dometic A/C for a Houghton unit this summer to reduce noise, but was given pause due to reports of increased humidity resulting from the design of the Houghton unit. I have no first-hand knowledge of this potential issue; only comment made on multiple forums on-line. Perhaps others who have installed a Houghton unit can comment if the reports of increased humidity is a result of operator error, or A/C design.

I would be very interested in this as well. I plan to eventually change out our Dometic for the Houghton 9.5k. There's not a lot of ways that an AC can increase humidity aside from a leak of external air being drawn in somehow. My guess is that the units weren't dehumidifying to a satisfactory level and this is being seen as adding humidity. This can be caused by a few factors. Oversized BTU's is one of them. Houghton makes a 9.5k, 13.5k & 15k BTU AC. So knowing what BTU unit and what trailer it was installed in would help.

If the unit is cooling the air too quickly then proper dehumidification will not occur. How do you know if you're dehumidifying your trailer? After several minutes of run time you should begin to see water dripping down externally when the AC is running. This is humidity that was removed from the air in your trailer. If the AC compressor turns off before excess water begins to be shed externally then all you're doing is loading the coils with moisture and then when the compressor shuts off that moisture is released back into the trailer either when the fan is operating without the compressor or at startup when the fan runs short term before the compressor turns on.

Short cycling is bad because it'll release a large portion of the moisture that the AC collected back into the interior air during the shutdown and startup periods.

[MVA]

Originally Posted by Chamberman

I would be very interested in this as well. I plan to eventually change out our Dometic for the Houghton 9.5k. There's not a lot of ways that an AC can increase humidity aside from a leak of external air being drawn in somehow. My guess is that the units weren't dehumidifying to a satisfactory level and this is being seen as adding humidity. This can be caused by a few factors. Oversized BTU's is one of them. Houghton makes a 9.5k, 13.5k & 15k BTU AC. So knowing what BTU unit and what trailer it was installed in would help.

If the unit is cooling the air too quickly then proper dehumidification will not occur. How do you know if you're dehumidifying your trailer? After several minutes of run time you should begin to see water dripping down externally when the AC is running. This is humidity that was removed from the air in your trailer. If the AC compressor turns off before excess water begins to be shed externally then all you're doing is loading the coils with moisture and then when the compressor shuts off that moisture is released back into the trailer either when the fan is operating without the compressor or at startup when the fan runs short term before the compressor turns on.

Short cycling is bad because it'll release a large portion of the moisture that the AC collected back into the interior air during the shutdown and startup periods.

Your comment in the second paragraph "loading the coils with moisture" is what is speculated on other forums. Since the Houghton AC unit keeps the recirculation fan running, people have commented that the moisture on the coils is drawn back into the trailer rather than draining outside. I don't know if this is an issue that is widely seen or due to oversized unit.

[John-in-Texas]

I appreciate everyone's ideas on the Houghton and humidity. Each person that comments adds more to my understanding. Putting it all together, it seems that the Houghton is right-sized for the E19 and that I should run it on the lowest setting that will do the job. To minimize humidity running longer on a low setting is better than running on high for a shorter period. I wonder if the Auto setting would manage all this. Thanks again for everyone's input.
John-in-Texas

[Rockhead]

With our 9500 the humidity has never increased during* the off cycle. It keeps very comfortable. We don’t like humidity

[marant]

We ordered our 2022 21C without any AC because Escape did not offer the Houghton. Installed it ourselves with the help of a mobile tech. We are very happy with it. It is the 9500, which is perfect for the 21C. Cools quickly, very quiet, and have not noticed any humidity problems, either where we live in the Austin area, or NM, AZ or CO. If you turn it on in the morning so it gets ahead of the heat it maintains a 20 degree difference easily.

Would go with the Houghton again in a heartbeat.

[WillyB]

We have been happy with the 13,500 Coleman. But we rarely use the AC except for when I use the Escape as my office here at home. On low it is just fine.

We have used the heat strip multiple times and it has worked great.

[splitting_lanes]

Originally Posted by John-in-Texas

I appreciate everyone's ideas on the Houghton and humidity. Each person that comments adds more to my understanding. Putting it all together, it seems that the Houghton is right-sized for the E19 and that I should run it on the lowest setting that will do the job. To minimize humidity running longer on a low setting is better than running on high for a shorter period. I wonder if the Auto setting would manage all this. Thanks again for everyone's input.
John-in-Texas

We have a Coleman in our 5.0. It works well. I would have gone with a smaller Houghton if it was an option when we bought ours.

I’ve done building control systems, and have a zoned heat pump that both heats and cools our house. It is undersized for what the contractors that installed it wanted to do, but it works marvelously, it’s both quiet and efficient.

I wholeheartedly support your choice, lol.