Ac rec for used 2020 e19

[BigPapa]

Good afternoon my friends. Just brought home a used E19. Wife is in the part of our life where heat is really bothersome.

I see some complicated ac modifications in this subforum, but does anyone have recommendations for an ac? My vent is wired for it. Also should i get it professionally installed or is it pretty easy?

Thanks tons,
Matt

[Rockhead]

Check out the recpro houghton acs. We replaced the dometic ac for a 9500 ac on our 21. It keeps our 21 72/74 degrees here in Texas. They now offer the 9500 with a heat pump if you want to go that route. Simple to install. It uses a remote thermostat which is nice. They are super quiet. One can’t go wrong with one of these

[bicyclist]

It's not difficult if you have a way to get it up to roof level. One way is to use a material lift, which can be rented.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/rental/S...2412/316821727

[BigPapa]

So i can prob do it myself? I didnt realize it was so heavy.

Any idea what the advantage of heat pump is?

Thanks tons,
Matt

[bicyclist]

I suppose it depends on your skillset. If you have a 12 ga power wire run to the location, it's mostly a matter of setting the thing in place, fastening it down, sealing it up and connecting the power. I'd suggest downloading the installation instructions for whatever unit you have in mind so you can decide whether you want to tackle the job.

Regarding the heat pump question, if you're referring to the Houghton units, I have no knowledge.

[Rockhead]

On the heat pump it’s just a mater of preference.. we use a small oil heater most of the time in our 21. We place it in front of the bathroom door and it keep the bed area as well as the bathroom warm at night. Momma likes that she doesn’t get freeze shock when nature calls. Happy wife happy life. After we get up, making coffee warms the trailer up quite nicely. It’s not as heavy as you think. The most time consuming part is removing the existing vent and sealiant. Afternoon that enlist some family or friends for an AC install party. Or in our case we used a winch to remove the old unit and install the new unit. We keep or 21 in an enclosed barn. You might call a few mobile Rv mechanics to see how much they would charge you. 2 to 3 hundred dollars is what I’ve heard they charge as it doesn’t take that long . Just have the opening prepped before they get there if you go that route.

[brroberts]

We have a heat strip, not a heat pump, but I really like having heat included in the AC. I don’t have to find or use space to mount a heater, and I don’t have to carry an electric heater of some kind. Some folks prefer the quieter heat of a separate heater on the floor. Many people claim heat strips in the AC aren’t effective, but we can keep our 19 warm into at least the mid teens F with it.

[DanandDaphne]

I would think that the smaller recpro houghton 13.5 would be all you need for any Escape trailer it's capacity is for 2,200 cubic feet you can get one of these for $980 on Amazon. Just an estimate but there's no way our 5.0 has 1000 cubic feet of interior space, actually with the cabinets and loft its quit a bit less. It would depend on where and when you camp whether you need the larger recpro houghton 15, but It would need to be hotter than where we'll be camping.

We are thinking about changing out the Dometic that came with our 5.0 for one of these because the Dometic is so ridiculously loud. it doesn't look like there is a heat pump option for the 13.5 but we use a small ceramic space heater for heat when we have an electrical hookup.

[yeungfeng]

Here's a link that will provide you with some perspective. https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...all-21313.html

I had a 3400 installed on our E19 (it has a heat pump) after looking at all the posts on this site about AC. I would recommend scouring this site for AC information, there's plenty.

I was going to install the unit, but, she who must be obeyed, thought differently. It was $600-800 to install. Unit weighs about 100 lbs. Installer said the worst part was removing the old vent with all the caulking.

RecPro shipped the unit on a pallet. I missed the delivery and had to go pick it up at the shippers ware house. They loaded it with a fork lift. That worked out perfectly. I just drove to the installer and they took care of the rest.

Good Luck!

[brroberts]

Some disagree, but unless you plan on spending all summer in the low desert, the 9500 should easily cool your 19. We have the Coleman 13.5, and while we were out in the mid 80’sF this spring it’s on cycle time was pretty short.

[BigPapa]

The recpro site says if rood thicker than 3ish inches i need the thick roof one. Any ideas how thick our trailers are?

[sofmerc]

Don't need thick roof kit for escape trailers

[CharlesinGA]

The 9500 has an installed weight of 68 lbs (which probably includes a couple of pounds for the inside part) so its not something easy to heft up there. The material lift is a good idea. I have an electric scissor lift and last A/C I removed and installed was doing a roof job on a Thor and a friend and myself took it off by setting it on plywood spanning the handrails of the lift. That was a heavier unit than this.

Based on several of the comments in this thread I will probably buy the 9500 heat pump model and install it in my Bigfoot.

Charles

[texastom]

We did a ton of research and ended up with the Houghton. It is very quiet! Ours was installed by ETI, but research indicated it was not too difficult to install other than the noted challenge getting it on the roof.