Do you think you need a/c?

[Ron in BC]

Myron here's just a thought I saw the other day a window 5000 BTU air A/C unit on sale for $99.00 dollars.
Mark

I bought one of those last summer. I can use it in the house to cool the den but I was thinking that it would be easy to make a non-permanent platform for it and mount it in the emergency escape window.

Heading to Alaska this summer so I probably won't try it but I will before I head far South again. No big investment since I already have it.

Ron

 

[markvt]

I bought one of those last summer. I can use it in the house to cool the den but I was thinking that it would be easy to make a non-permanent platform for it and mount it in the emergency escape window.

Heading to Alaska this summer so I probably won't try it but I will before I head far South again. No big investment since I already have it.

Ron

Exactly Ron these new air-conditioners are so lightweight small and cheap how can you go wrong. And I would bet you money these small unit mounted in emergency relief window would be way quieter than the roof top A/C units
Mark

 

[MyronL]

Wow, Mark, I will say this...your idea is so amazing, I may try it. That bathroom was beginning to look too sleek, uncluttered and roomy. I could drill holes in the fiberglass for support brackets, run dedicated power lines through other holes to hide them, tape drain hoses going down to the floor, in the corner. No, wait, I could avoid drilling some holes by making a little hammock for the AC and suspend it from the ceiling vent. And, it would all be easily reversible should I or a future owner not like the look, or if he bumps his head...

 

[markvt]

But Myron just think you would have the only air-conditioning Escape Trailer bathroom out there. Now that would be cool !

 

[Donna D.]

Do I need A/C? No, not now... I need an umbrella! I live in the Pacific NorthWET (okay so not so wet this year). But, I do pay attention to warranty stuff. All RV A/C have a really short warranty period.

I'm more than two years from retirement (woohooo). Right now, I don't need air conditioning in Ten Forward. But, I don't have a crystal ball and don't know what my future will hold.

All I know is that short warranty period, don't need it now... SO, during my build I added the option for the A/C. All the wiring needed for A/C is in place, under the vinyl.

IF and WHEN I decide A/C is what I need... I'm set. Whether ETI adds it or some third-party vendor.

It's not only about your needs now.. but your future. Best of luck in your decision. I've made mine.

 

[tractors1]

Could do one of these and stick the hose out the bath window:

LG Electronics 8,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner and Dehumidifier Function with Remote Control (48 Pints/Day)-LP0814WNR - The Home Depot

 

[Rossue2]

Do I need A/C? No, not now... I need an umbrella! I live in the Pacific NorthWET (okay so not so wet this year). But, I do pay attention to warranty stuff. All RV A/C have a really short warranty period.

I'm more than two years from retirement (woohooo). Right now, I don't need air conditioning in Ten Forward. But, I don't have a crystal ball and don't know what my future will hold.

All I know is that short warranty period, don't need it now... SO, during my build I added the option for the A/C. All the wiring needed for A/C is in place, under the vinyl.

IF and WHEN I decide A/C is what I need... I'm set. Whether ETI adds it or some third-party vendor.

It's not only about your needs now.. but your future. Best of luck in your decision. I've made mine.

Couldn't agree more and made the same decision. Only downside is not being able to get the magic digital thermostat- the one that is paired to the Dometic unit. I tried & tried to just get the thermostat only installed for $150 to no avail; still wondering why.

However, resale value is not a reason to spend $1000 up front for an AC you may likely not need depending on your particulars. It did take myself and Gerri a bit longer to sell our Escapes without AC, however just like in Real Estate- it only takes one buyer. From what I see one can get the Dometic ETI sells installed for the same price ETI charges. You just can't get the magic thermostat done as easily as during build.

 

[Donna D.]

Ten Forward is my second all-molded-towable. Resale value to me means an estate problem for my daughter.

 

[Chapitre]

Just spent 4 months in Florida, for the last 2 months March and April, it would be hard to stay in the trailer without it not just for us but, especially if you travel with pets.

 

[Rossue2]

Your particulars are noted.....having lived in FLA as a kid I know I don't want to be there much past the first week in April- especially more than a block or two from the Atlantic. Around the end of October is cool. It's not the heat as much as the humidity.

 

[Scuba4155]

A lot of my travel this summer will be in the southwest, could not do it without a A/C.

 

[GerriJ]

It did take myself and Gerri a bit longer to sell our Escapes without AC, however just like in Real Estate- it only takes one buyer. From what I see one can get the Dometic ETI sells installed for the same price ETI charges. You just can't get the magic thermostat done as easily as during build.

We eventually had to get the A/C installed to sell the 5.0. Supposedly the new owner paid half the price but after all the dickering I suspect that we paid the whole amount.

Mark

 

[Rossue2]

Hi Mark- just curious; did you get AC this time? Still not missing ours but I don't like hot weather anyway which is why I live where the mean temp is 65 degrees!

 

[GerriJ]

No we didn't. Like Donna we will add it if and when we feel we need it. You can pay now or later, doesn't seem to make much difference.

We have friends who have one of those small portable units that they drag out when the need arises. They it works fine for this climate.

Mark

 

[rbryan4]

Do I need A/C? No, not now... I need an umbrella! I live in the Pacific NorthWET (okay so not so wet this year). But, I do pay attention to warranty stuff. All RV A/C have a really short warranty period.

I'm more than two years from retirement (woohooo). Right now, I don't need air conditioning in Ten Forward. But, I don't have a crystal ball and don't know what my future will hold.

All I know is that short warranty period, don't need it now... SO, during my build I added the option for the A/C. All the wiring needed for A/C is in place, under the vinyl.

IF and WHEN I decide A/C is what I need... I'm set. Whether ETI adds it or some third-party vendor.

It's not only about your needs now.. but your future. Best of luck in your decision. I've made mine.

Not so much worried about the warranty as the climate, but your point is well made Donna. People should do what works for them, and where they camp.

I can tell you this: if you camped here in South Texas there would be a call To ETI for an AC unit in short order.

 

[float5]

We eventually had to get the A/C installed to sell the 5.0. Supposedly the new owner paid half the price but after all the dickering I suspect that we paid the whole amount.

Mark

I never thought of someone installing A/C to sell. That is one basic difference between living in Canada and the U.S.: You don't need A/C up there. Since most units are sold in that area, most probably don't have A/C. But there are more prospective buyers south than north who want A/C when the units go up for resale.

We would not have bought without A/C and insulation and thermal windows even where we are since it gets hot, and we also go to the Southwest. I am sure, too, that our buyers would not have bought without those.

 

[sturski]

I live in the mountains and don't have A/C in my home. The 3 or 4 days a year that it actually hits 90, it cools off quickly when the sun goes down.
I hate the heat, I'm way more worried about snow loading than A/C.

I'm with Donna D, resale will be my daughter's problem.

 

[MyronL]

My humble conclusion: Clearly there is a broad consensus favoring a/c in the trailer.

By my count the plusses start with a/c being absolutely critical for comfort in the hot-hot weather, (no surprise there, considering the number of senior citizens here - you paid your dues, you're untitled to total comfort in your golden years), and, the plusses end with a/c being a key to resale value (no surprise there, considering the obvious wisdom of all (most).

In practical terms nobody seems concerned or bothered much by the noise a/c produces and I chalk that up to "...it really ain't that bad considering the alternative." (See 2nd sentence, paragraph 1.) Also, it probably ain't that bad. Clearly, a night of white noise trumps a night of sweltering. Thinking most don't run air all night anyway, but use it before bedtime to cool off the interior and bring it down to a tolerable sleeping temperature. (That might not work in the Texas hill country.)

Either most of you choose campsites with electricity, or carry a generator, (sorry, solar guys) so the power issue is irrelevant.

For you who camp mostly in northern temperate zones Kar-nack senses a grudgingly reluctant sub-conscious admission that it probably is better to have and not need than to need and not have. That's OK, no justifications necessary. I think that way myself, but-- I do draw the line at hanging a $99dollar unit out my bathroom window. (Don't have one anyway.)

All these observations make perfect sense to me, and, so... I... am... gonna be getting an air conditioner.

 

[rbryan4]

My humble conclusion: Clearly there is a broad consensus favoring a/c in the trailer.

By my count the plusses start with a/c being absolutely critical for comfort in the hot-hot weather, (no surprise there, considering the number of senior citizens here - you paid your dues, you're untitled to total comfort in your golden years), and, the plusses end with a/c being a key to resale value (no surprise there, considering the obvious wisdom of all (most).

In practical terms nobody seems concerned or bothered much by the noise a/c produces and I chalk that up to "...it really ain't that bad considering the alternative." (See 2nd sentence, paragraph 1.) Also, it probably ain't that bad. Clearly, a night of white noise trumps a night of sweltering. Thinking most don't run air all night anyway, but use it before bedtime to cool off the interior and bring it down to a tolerable sleeping temperature. (That might not work in the Texas hill country.)

Either most of you choose campsites with electricity, or carry a generator, (sorry, solar guys) so the power issue is irrelevant.

For you who camp mostly in northern temperate zones Kar-nack senses a grudgingly reluctant sub-conscious admission that it probably is better to have and nMexico, d than to need and not have. That's OK, no justifications necessary. I think that way myself, but-- I do draw the line at hanging a $99dollar unit out my bathroom window. (Don't have one anyway.)

All these observations make perfect sense to me, and, so... I... am... gonna be getting an air conditioner.

Well, it DOES get pretty darn hot in New Mexico, Myron.

 

[Brian B-P]

For you who camp mostly in northern temperate zones Kar-nack senses a grudgingly reluctant sub-conscious admission that it probably is better to have and not need than to need and not have.

Maybe not. There are a lot of things one can carry "just in case it's needed", but most of them don't cost as much or weigh as much as an air conditioner. If it really were never going to be used, I wouldn't want it along... but if I am going to carry one, I would rather have it built-in than have to deal with something I have to set up.

My current trailer doesn't have air conditioning and we haven't needed it; the motorhome does and it has been used and appreciated sometimes. Clearly, there's no one right answer, even for one specific owner.