Thank you to everyone that took the time to respond. It appears that there's no consensus on the A/C options for the 13 ft travel trailer I want to buy and use mostly in Florida. Here are my thoughts so far. Maybe you could tell me where my thinking is flawed. I also have a couple of questions at the end.
The 8,000 BTU through-wall unit ... My common-sense tells me that it's "standard" for a reason. Because it's meant for "normal" cooling conditions, and not for hot, humid Florida summers. However, it is a small trailer and it's hard to get too far away from its cooling air. My first thought was, "Well, that should be big enough for such a small trailer!" Plus, I won't have to pay extra for it.
The 13,500 BTU roof Dometic Penguin is probably more than enough A/C for me, and I think it's good to "miss big". But, unless I want to get a 2,400+ watt generator - I'm limited to shore power campsites.
The 9,200 BTU Coleman Polar Cub seems like a good compromise between the two, but I'm still not convinced.
Are there any generalizations between the quality of Coleman A/Cs and Dometic A/Cs? Or, is it a non-issue?
Are there any downsides to having a roof-top A/C? It seems like it would be best to minimize the number of "entry ways" for water to get into a trailer. As a homeowner in rainy Florida, we are always encouraged to minimize the number of intrusions into our roofs for things like skylights - because they always seem to end up leaking. Just a thought.
You can go too big on an AC too. If you do then it will cool the area down but then it will **** down and the air will quickly become humid before the AC cycles again. It's better to have an AC that runs more often than not.
Scott, Grace and Wesly
2003 Dodge 3500 4x4, 6 speed Cummins (lightly bombed),
2004 Forest River 25RKS many, many mods.
H0NDA eu2000i
A 13 ft TT is small, I honestly can't see needing more than 8000 btu AC to cool it. I cool my whole 2000 sq ft house with a single 8000 btu window unit.
I read your other thread and looked through the livinlite website hoping for a pic of the through wall AC unit but could not find one. I've never seen a factory installed through wall AC and am really curious about it's installation. If it's a quality installation, and judging from their work I have no reason to believe otherwise, then I'd be inclined to go that route.
Ideally an air conditioner should run non-stop and maintain a level of comfort. Too small and it loses the battle. Conversely, ever go into a grocery store on a hot humid day and noticed how you feel cold but clammy? The a/c is too big.
ScottG wrote: You can go too big on an AC too. If you do then it will cool the area down but then it will **** down and the air will quickly become humid before the AC cycles again. It's better to have an AC that runs more often than not.
I don't find that to be the case. A trailer is not like a house unless you're full timing in it. It's more like a car and the A/C unit you want it to be able to cool it down as fast as possible. In a house you set your unit to the temp. that you want and it pretty much kicks off and on all day and night and every thing stays about the same but your trailer is on the road or you're gone from it for a few days and when you get back to it you don't want to wait hours for the thing to cool down. You want to fire the unit up and have ice-cycles hanging off the cabinets with in a few minutes.
Humidity is best handled by running a dehumidifier. I leave mine set on 35% humidity 24/7 and it runs very little during the summer time.
LG Electronics 45-Pint Energy Star Dehumidifier
2010 Rockwood Signature Ultra Lite 8315BSS
2003 Chevy Silverado 1/2 Ton Extended Cab
I could not imagine using a huge dehumidifier for a 13 foot long travel trailer where every cubic inch is precious. A correctly sized air conditioner will work better anyway. I expect even the 8000 btu A/C would cool that little volume quickly even after sitting in the sun all day. I have a trailer that is 21' 6" overall and the 13,500 btu A/C is overkill in the full summer sun.
* This post was
edited 07/05/12 10:16am by Cedarhill *
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