How cold is the air coming out from the unit???

[hondasaurus]

Hi

Came back from Florida where we use for the first time the air conditionner. I do have extra insulation wall and bottom and dual pane window.


In the manual it say that air is coming out at 65 F. The air conditionner is cycling in an out but the coldest in the trailler was around 71 F.

I know it depend on the exterior temperature and humidity. It was only operated in the evening and night. The outside temp was about 75 F but very humid,

I have manual control set to the max to have in the morning 71 F.

Is that normal?

What else can be done to improve it?

Thanks for helping out.

[cpaharley2008]

Years ago when I had my first air conditioned house and complained to the landlord that the a/c was not working he told me that the a/c is just designed for a 5 degree differential with the outside for it to make you feel better, it is the long range dehumidifying that makes it feel cooler than the 5 degrees. As long as it feels good, I'm good.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Years ago when I had my first air conditioned house and complained to the landlord that the a/c was not working he told me that the a/c is just designed for a 5 degree differential with the outside for it to make you feel better, it is the long range dehumidifying that makes it feel cooler than the 5 degrees. As long as it feels good, I'm good.

Sorry but your landlord was lying to you so he didn’t have to replace the system. On a recirculating system you should be seeing a differential around 20 degrees to the inside air. If the trailer is 80 the air coming out should be close to 60. If the evaporator coil is not cold enough (below the dew point) you won’t be doing any dehumidifying.

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by hondasaurus

Hi

Came back from Florida where we use for the first time the air conditionner. I do have extra insulation wall and bottom and dual pane window.


In the manual it say that air is coming out at 65 F. The air conditionner is cycling in an out but the coldest in the trailler was around 71 F.

I know it depend on the exterior temperature and humidity. It was only operated in the evening and night. The outside temp was about 75 F but very humid,

I have manual control set to the max to have in the morning 71 F.

Is that normal?

What else can be done to improve it?

Thanks for helping out.

Luc, you should be getting the inside of the trailer cooler than 5° F than the outside temperature. The A/C in my 5.0TA can make my trailer feel like a meat locker and I am in Florida. Not much information about your trailer in your profile. How old is the trailer? Do you have the digital thermostat or is the A/C control on the unit itself? In either case, did you have it set for maximum cooling? Sounds to me like it might not be working correctly.

[steve dunham]

We’ve owned 3 different FG trailers with factory A/C . All seemed to do a pretty good job against the Summer heat in the upper Midwest but all seemed to struggle a bit with the intense sun , heat and humidity of Florida
Maybe I am expecting too much or my idea of cool is unrealistic .
I’ve wondered if the listed BTU ratings for RV air conditioners are based in reality or are they marketing numbers ?

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

We’ve owned 3 different FG trailers with factory A/C . All seemed to do a pretty good job against the Summer heat in the upper Midwest but all seemed to struggle a bit with the intense sun , heat and humidity of Florida
Maybe I am expecting too much or my idea of cool is unrealistic .
I’ve wondered if the listed BTU ratings for RV air conditioners are based in reality or are they marketing numbers ?

I can only take your word for what your personal experiences have been, but I have had four trailers since I moved to Florida in 1985. Two A-Liners, a Scamp 19, and my current Escape. The A/C in both my A-Liners was marginal, primarily because they were low BTU room air conditioners mounted only a short distance above the floor. My Scamp 19 had a 13,500 BTU Coleman which cooled the trailer very well in the peak heat of summer. The Escape, as everyone here knows has an 11,500 BTU Dometic Penguin. It too has handled anything Florida has thrown at it. Perhaps I am somewhat acclimated to the climate here. I typically set the thermostat to 76° or 77° F and as the unit removes humidity, I find that comfortable. I keep my home’s thermostat at 78°. But again, the inside air is not humid so I find it acceptable. But I have and can set the thermostat so low the A/C runs almost constantly, and at some point it starts to feel like a walk in freezer to me. However, if someone is acclimated to much colder weather, I can understand why an RV A/C might seem inadequate to them, as I am just the opposite with cold weather.......can’t seem to get warm enough.

[hondasaurus]

the trailler is 2019 with the thermostat on the unit since there was a mistake in the order.

[alanmalk]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

...
I’ve wondered if the listed BTU ratings for RV air conditioners are based in reality or are they marketing numbers ?

I installed an after-market (Coleman) A/C rated at 13,500 BTUs, primarily for use in that summer oven known as West Texas. Bottom line - far too cold, too fast. The trailer could serve as an arctic research station after 30 minutes. I have to believe the numbers are accurate.
--
Alan


PS - anyone want to swap their small unit for something seriously cold - please contact me.

[Iowa Dave]

I used to use a forklift to haul pallets of pork tenderloin bound for Japan from the area where they were taken off the full loin, packed in 10 pound boxes and then taken to what was called the blast freezer. It was a measured -30f in the freezer with huge fans blowing in several directions with 80mph wind. You really learned to secure your load and set it down gently after dumping about 50 10lb. boxes and having to restack them In the freezer. That was air conditioning at its finest.
In the Escape we rarely use max cool. Both of the Escapes have worked well up to 108F in Kansas. Then it cooled off at night down to 80F.
Iowa Dave

[Defenestrator]

A 4F difference sounds like the compressor's not actually running at all, or the refrigerant's leaked out. The 11500BTU AC in my 19 has never had any trouble maintaining a delta of over 30F between inside and out, and I think even then was running maybe a 40-70% duty cycle. Pretty sure it could manage a 50F difference if it had to. On a cool day I could probably turn the entire inside into a refrigerator if I set the thermostat low enough.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by Defenestrator

Pretty sure it could manage a 50F difference if it had to. On a cool day I could probably turn the entire inside into a refrigerator if I set the thermostat low enough.

Within the limits of the machine of course. My mini-split can operate in cooling mode from 15F-115F outdoors but can be set to 64F indoor as a minimum. Probably to prevent freezing of the evaporator in cool conditions. If it is 64F inside and the unit has a 20F differential you are delivering 44F air.

[rubicon327]

FWIW the minimum setting for the newest Dometic CT thermostat is 55F.

[hondasaurus]

In my case, on the first cycle the compressor run about 5 minutes then cycle off. After that, it cycle in about 1 minutes and out for about 4-5 minutes. The thermostat is on the unit.

I fell the cold when the compressor is on.

From my experience, my first tough is that the temperature lead on the unit is probably influence to easily by the cold air.

I will ask ETI about it.

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

Within the limits of the machine of course. My mini-split can operate in cooling mode from 15F-115F outdoors but can be set to 64F indoor as a minimum. Probably to prevent freezing of the evaporator in cool conditions. If it is 64F inside and the unit has a 20F differential you are delivering 44F air.

I have refrained from saying this because I could not locate the source and the minutia that I encounter sometimes goes in one ear and out the other, but at one point I was researching Coleman vs. Dometic RV air conditioners, I vaguely recall reading that all RV air conditioning manufacturers include circuitry which restricts cooling to the mid-60s F in order to prevent freeze up. It makes sense to me. I had an (old) dehumidifier many years ago in the basement of my house when I lived in NH. I would occasionally note that the coils were covered in a block of ice. When that happened, the only course of action was to turn it off and wait for the ice to melt because in that condition, it would not dehumidify anything. That was a dark, cool basement. One could conclude that an RV A/C would be utilized in much higher temperatures (even exposed to direct sunlight) and would be less susceptible, but cold surfaces and humidity can result in ice formation (as in the frost that slowly grows in our RV’s refrigerators.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by hondasaurus

From my experience, my first tough is that the temperature lead on the unit is probably influence to easily by the cold air.

Can you provide a picture? Unit make/model? With the controls on the unit it does sound like you are prematurely satisfying the thermostat.