I'm having to replace an old rooftop A/C and would appreciate some advice as to which brand (non-ducted) is the quietest and hopefully the most reliable. My old A/C is a Coleman, 1992 vintage.
Very true. However, I get conflicting information from repair shops, and since the new ones are somewhat different, I want some real world opinions that are not clouded by "what's in stock". I've only had this RV for a short time and it seems that my purchase decisions recently leave me wanting for good information from users. Thanks very much for your reply.
'One of my 1994 vintage Pengouin A/C's was replaced with the much newer Duo-Therm version, both are Dometic products. It had been installed a year before my purchase of our 'new' to us motorhome. It is now 3 years old. It's a 13,500 btu unit and performs well. In late June my 2nd roof air finally died, it was 18 years old, no telling what the annual maintinence was like.
I have since replaced that one, which as an 11,000 btu unit, with a 2nd 13,500 btu unit. Much better! We are currently on the Texas gulf coast and having the extra cooling is a plus! Both A/C's run fairly quiet for non-ducted roof-airs.
I am a big believer in getting a large enough A/C for the size of the space to be cooled. It's much better to run at less than 'all out' to prevent the condenser coils from iceing up. Higher fan speed and a lower cool setting accomplishes that for us.
Cost wise, Dometic was quite a bit higher than the new Chinese imports that are now available, but we are full-timers, and I wasn't comfortable with the inherent risk associated with the Chinese version. That might be an acceptable risk if you were only using your RV a few weeks out of the year, but not for me.
I did notice that my newest A/C was a bit on the 'tight' side. Manufacturing tollerances being what they are, there is a range of clearances used during assembly. If you get a tight one, it may take several days of continued use to really break in. Less use and it may be a bit noisy until everything seats and it smoothes out.
You don't say what size or class rv you have. It may be worthwhile in terms of money and the sanity of noise level to go with a cabinet air using a standard window unit.
ButtonsBogey wrote: Very true. However, I get conflicting information from repair shops, and since the new ones are somewhat different, I want some real world opinions that are not clouded by "what's in stock". I've only had this RV for a short time and it seems that my purchase decisions recently leave me wanting for good information from users. Thanks very much for your reply.
I would look for an AC unit where the fan cycles on/off. My infernal unit cycles the compressor off, once the unit reach 62* ambient interior temperature, then starts throwing seemingly warm air into the unit, then the compressor cycles on again in less than 2-3 minutes. It is loud and shakes you awake in the wee hours of the morning. Really aggravating. Get a thermostatic controlled unit where the fan cycles OFF when temperature reached.
“I want to die in my sleep like my Grandfather... Not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car.”
Offline
.JPG)
