inverter air con

[jon_d]

I have put the inside unit under the bed.

It doesn't have to be high.

head and hole2 small.jpg

head and hole1 small.jpg

[dapope]

I need two units I think... under the bed is full of engine !
Difficult to get enough cool air up to the front, and again, theres no room for the outside unit

[T1 Terry]

I have a swagman. 36 feet, two roof mounts. The only place the outside unit can fit is up in front of the drivers side front wheel. From there back to the first unit is approx 8m of run, it could be fed up inside, but will lower the ceiling height on the inside or will need to exit on top of the roof to go into the ceiling cassette from there, to the rear unit is approx 7m, so up to 13m to the outside unit. Getting it all tidied up will be a major excercise, not to mention waterproof. there is nowhere inside to logically mount indoor units.
Hopefully you see my dilemma!

Brian (Homeless) mounted his outdoor unit on the back at window height so well above the engine bay door, friends in a really big 40ft Denning mounted their unit above the rear window but recessed partly into the roof cavity, the pipe work for the dual units ran in conduit along the wall/roof joint up the right hand side and blended in so well it was not immediately noticeable it was there unless pointed out. Running the pipe work across the roof in conduit is another option.

[dapope]

On the back is not an option, its full of window, and again requires major structural change, probably reengineering as well as looking unsightly. Given that I cannot even get an installer to have a look in WA, they can get stuffed. A 3.1kw unit should easily do the main area. The old one manages in up to 45 deg heat. The newer inverter type, while not as efficient probably as a house unit, will still be less power hungry than the 20yr old unit it replaces.
Any indoor unit mounted above the drivers head for example, will create a cold spot, as well as a hazard every time I move, not to mention the recabinetry required. Not my forte. Same with pulling out cupboards..

[Jon and Kay]

I mounted mine up front hung from the ceiling on two shelf bracets about 100mm below ceiling and 100mm in front of cabinetry. Sits between the two front seats, doesn't get in the way at all. Can still access cabinets behind it. Run the waste water line separate to the aircon pressure pipes. The run from i9ndoor to outdoor unit is 5 metres. I mounted my units, got them connected electrically, then went to the aircon man to connect. Total cost for 3.5kw system, cables, pipes and install was under $1k.

[bagmaker]

could you run the lines underneath, Martin?
Is there room up front underneath for the compressor unit (outside) on a swagman?

[Jon and Kay]

Martin has room for the compressor unit up front behind the mudguard as he has already stated. From there he could run the head unit almost anywhere, just longer pipes required. A 2.5kw unit would have been ample for my 40 footer, but the larger volume compressor unit was slightly lower so I selected it. There is a huge difference in air movement between the split system and overhead aircon, with the split system moving much more air.

[bagmaker]

The longer pipe run is not really an issue to the unit, just needs a little more insulation and gas. Takes some route planning for sure but I believe in time would be a much better system than anything Dometic come up with (ducking for cover as Collyn fires up his typing fingers!! )
As stated its all about the sizes of the heat exchangers.
I would suggest that he peruses the industrial refridgeration fellows in Perth and befriends a late year apprentice from one of the larger ones. The knowledge they earn from Martins installation would set them up for a lot of future business.......
Glad we can nut all this out before he wakes up

[Jon and Kay]

The problem that Martin is encountering is that he needs two different trades. An airconditioning tradesman is not qualified to instal in an RV. He usually just bolts some brackets to an outside wall and mounts the compressor unit, then screws a plate to the plaster wall inside and mounts the head unit, drills a hole to plumb the unit. Simple, and any house damage is easily fixed. It is different in an RV, where he cannot easily ascertain the location of bearers in the ceiling without doing irreparable damage.

Having mounted the unit himself, Martin will find aircon tradesmen are quite happy to come along and plumb the unit, especially if the holes are already through the floor/wall and he can just do the plumbing.

[T1 Terry]

If you are happy to pay the added expense for the reduced hassle then go with the Dometic unit Martin, then you can give us an honest appraisal better the old and new, does it cool better and does it use less battery/solar energy to run it. You will already know the performance of the old unit so the comparison should be fairly straight forward, how does it look inside compared to the old unit, how easy was it to install.... that sort of thing, then others can make their own decision from there.
We will never know how good or otherwise one of these new units is until someone tells us, Martin is willing to do the conversion so this is the perfect opportunity to find out.

What I'd love to have the time to do is convert the original roof top rattler to an inverter compressor and water heater exchanger condenser, then pipe that back to the vehicle radiator/cooling system. Water can transfer 3 times the heat energy of air so the condenser unit on the roof is gone, the natural heat loss through the vehicle cooling system would reduce the fan run frequency and that system is already there anyway. The unit could even include a heat exchanger coil in the household hot water cyl, a heat pump water heater using the heat you want out of the house area.
This idea lends itself to fixed house stuff, store the heat during the day and via reverse cycle pump the heat back inside over night, ok for those places where the nights are real cold but the days are hot.