RP180 - How to add AC - R-pod Owners Forum

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Spacecadet View Drop Down

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Joined: 14 Oct 2018
Location: Western Canada
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Topic: RP180 - How to add AC
Posted: 15 Oct 2018 at 6:34pm

Just replaced my tent trailer with a new-to-us 2016 RP180, what is interesting is that the previous owner did not order the unit with AC, rather, he had the dealership installed a big Fantasticfan in the AC spot. Living in Canada where even the hottest days can be tolerable, I can understanding why he ordered it that way. But I do want AC as I do plan on travelling south occasionally.

Researching my alternatives, here is my question, instead of ripping out the existing fan to put a rooftop AC unit in, has anyone used a small portable AC unit, say a 8000 BTU, and rig the hose to vent through one of the windows? It may be a dumb question but it seems like an idea to keep the perfectly good Fantasticfan in place.

mcarter

podders Helping podders - pHp

Joined: 07 Apr 2016
Location: Greenbrier, TN
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Posts: 3419

Posted: 15 Oct 2018 at 6:37pm

Jato has, he can comment. Smart guy.

Mike Carter
2015 178
" I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability."

offgrid

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Joined: 23 Jul 2018
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Posts: 5290

Posted: 16 Oct 2018 at 4:40am

Spacecadet, one problem with the portable units is finding space for it. I'm curious too what Jato's experience has been.

Also, there are two types of portables, single and dual hose. The single hose units draw air in from the room to cool the condenser and then exhaust the hot air through the hose, so they put the room under negative pressure and pull in hot outside air which then uses more cooling capacity. One of these units might be rated at 8000 BTU/hr but not really be able to put it to good use. The dual hose units pull in outside air to cool the condenser through one hose and then exhaust it through a separate hose which is much more efficient, more like a regular A/C unit.

8000 BTU/hr is going to probably be a bare minimum for comfort if you're heading south in the summer, and the pull down will be marginal on a hot day. RV's aren't really that well insulated. I was getting about 60% duty cycle holding about 75F inside temp using the 13500 roof air (eg, about 8100 BTU/hr) when I tested it this summer here in NC. Outside temp was in the mid to upper 80's F at about 80% humidity, so fairly hot but not really hot, at least for around here.

If you wind up just wanting to put in a standard Dometic roof air conditioner I might have a deal for you. I have a 2015 179 that I'm planning to remove my Dometic unit from so I can replace it with a high efficiency mini split A/C.

I'm doing this along with adding a large battery pack and solar system in order to pursue the holy grail of boondocking RV'ers, solar powered air conditioning. My Dometic already has a $300 easystart soft start system installed so it can start and run on a 2kw generator.

I will be installing a fantastic fan where the Dometic a/c unit is so maybe we can work out a swap of some type. Send me a PM if that's of interest to you.

1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold

Spacecadet View Drop Down

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Joined: 14 Oct 2018
Location: Western Canada
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Posts: 6

Posted: 16 Oct 2018 at 8:51am

MCarter, thank you, I found the old Jato thread on AC and read the whole thing, seems like Jato made it work.

Offgrid, I know space in any RPod is at a premium. My ideas with the 180 floor plan, it may be possible to utilize the counter space behind the cooktop to put a small unit there and vent it through the kitchen window. I am a little concerned about putting a 60lb machine on the slide out counter. Also, the footprint has to be small and the hose has to be short. The other option is to sacrifice one of the dinette seats and vent it through the dinette window.

The reason for the 8000btu is because I am running a 2kw Champion generator right now which should run a 8000 fine. I have read somewhere that 13500 is overkill for a RPod but may be that is not true. You are right, it all depends on the weather outside.

If I use the built in circuits inside the RPod, I assume the fuses etc. can handle the AC's load? My biggest concern is actually electrical, other than the circuit dedicated for ACs, can the rest of the circuits/fuses handle an AC?

PS: Living in Western Canada, I just looked at the driving distance to NC to do a swap with Offgrid, :-), it would be Odyssey.

offgrid

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Posted: 16 Oct 2018 at 9:12am

I don't know enough about the 180 floorplan to comment on your idea on that, but I don't think an extra 60 lbs is going to be much of an issue for the slide.

I agree that 13.5k BTU/hr is more than needed as well, but 8K is going to be a bit low. It depends on where you're headed and when, and if you want to be able to pull in somewhere with a hot trailer and cool it down quickly. It's rare that a residential A/C ever has to do that so they can be sized smaller than an RV A/C. I'm sure FR has settled on the 13.5K unit so they wouldn't get those kind of complaints.

I would test the 8K unit on your 2KW genny before permanently installing just to be sure. It's not running current that matters, its startup current. No way to really know without trying it. I would operate the A/C awhile on the genny and then shut it off and restart it, hot starts draw more current because of the back pressure buildup in the refrigerant lines.

The fuses are all for the 12V dc side, the A/C will be on a circuit breaker. I assume that you will be plugging it into one of the ac outlets? If so, those are on a 15A breaker so as long as your portable A/C draws less than that you'll be fine. A short startup surge generally doesn't trip a breaker, they have a time delay built in. Don't expect to be able to run a hair dryer or a coffee pot at the same time though :).

1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold

Spacecadet View Drop Down

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Joined: 14 Oct 2018
Location: Western Canada
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Posted: 16 Oct 2018 at 9:34am

LOL, hair dryer implies I have hair... Oh, the MRS, yeah she does have hair.

Yes, the initial thought is to plug it into one of the AC outlets and connect the Pod to either shore power or the gennie. We generally camp on Crown land (equivalent to the US BLM land) but we do use the serviced RV parks when we are near a major city. We generally stay north during the summer months and venture south in the fall. The hottest we may camp in is probably Vegas in October, it can still get pretty dang hot there right now. Historically, we park our camper and stay in hotels when we are in Vegas, that may change now that we have a proper trailer.

2015 Toyota Tacoma 4X4
2016 RPod 180 HRE

GlueGuy

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Location: N. California
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Posts: 2627

Posted: 16 Oct 2018 at 9:47am

Although perhaps not your first concern, those free-standing floor units with the hoses running out the window are super inefficient. Even so, they are probably a lot more quiet than the roof-mounted RV air conditioners. I've sometimes thought it would be worthwhile to figure out a way to mount a small window-style AC unit somewhere. Those are almost universally quiet, and they're pretty efficient too.

bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost

offgrid

Senior Member

Joined: 23 Jul 2018
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5290

Posted: 16 Oct 2018 at 10:45am

Windowshakers are still pretty inefficient. Good ones are around an EER of 10-11 or so. The rooftop Dometic has an EER of about 7 though so anything is an improvement over that. The better dual hose portables are around 8-10. The single hose ones are really bad.

There is room above the bedroom window in the 179 for the indoor unit of a small minisplit A/C, with the condenser mounted just in front of there on the tongue. Batteries would need to go elsewhere.

The new inverter based variable speed minisplits are super efficient (EER's around 14-16 and SEER's around 22-25). They're right up there with the most efficient central A/C units. That's half the energy consumption of the Dometic roof air. And the minisplits are ultra quiet both inside and outside. That's what the rest of the world uses for A/C outside of North America.

1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold

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Spacecadet Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 14 Oct 2018 Location: Western Canada Online Status: Offline Posts: 6	Topic: RP180 - How to add AC Posted: 15 Oct 2018 at 6:34pm
	Just replaced my tent trailer with a new-to-us 2016 RP180, what is interesting is that the previous owner did not order the unit with AC, rather, he had the dealership installed a big Fantasticfan in the AC spot. Living in Canada where even the hottest days can be tolerable, I can understanding why he ordered it that way. But I do want AC as I do plan on travelling south occasionally. Researching my alternatives, here is my question, instead of ripping out the existing fan to put a rooftop AC unit in, has anyone used a small portable AC unit, say a 8000 BTU, and rig the hose to vent through one of the windows? It may be a dumb question but it seems like an idea to keep the perfectly good Fantasticfan in place.

mcarter Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 07 Apr 2016 Location: Greenbrier, TN Online Status: Offline Posts: 3419	Posted: 15 Oct 2018 at 6:37pm
	Jato has, he can comment. Smart guy.
	Mike Carter 2015 178 " I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability."

offgrid Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290	Posted: 16 Oct 2018 at 4:40am
	Spacecadet, one problem with the portable units is finding space for it. I'm curious too what Jato's experience has been. Also, there are two types of portables, single and dual hose. The single hose units draw air in from the room to cool the condenser and then exhaust the hot air through the hose, so they put the room under negative pressure and pull in hot outside air which then uses more cooling capacity. One of these units might be rated at 8000 BTU/hr but not really be able to put it to good use. The dual hose units pull in outside air to cool the condenser through one hose and then exhaust it through a separate hose which is much more efficient, more like a regular A/C unit. 8000 BTU/hr is going to probably be a bare minimum for comfort if you're heading south in the summer, and the pull down will be marginal on a hot day. RV's aren't really that well insulated. I was getting about 60% duty cycle holding about 75F inside temp using the 13500 roof air (eg, about 8100 BTU/hr) when I tested it this summer here in NC. Outside temp was in the mid to upper 80's F at about 80% humidity, so fairly hot but not really hot, at least for around here. If you wind up just wanting to put in a standard Dometic roof air conditioner I might have a deal for you. I have a 2015 179 that I'm planning to remove my Dometic unit from so I can replace it with a high efficiency mini split A/C. I'm doing this along with adding a large battery pack and solar system in order to pursue the holy grail of boondocking RV'ers, solar powered air conditioning. My Dometic already has a $300 easystart soft start system installed so it can start and run on a 2kw generator. I will be installing a fantastic fan where the Dometic a/c unit is so maybe we can work out a swap of some type. Send me a PM if that's of interest to you.
	1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold

Spacecadet Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 14 Oct 2018 Location: Western Canada Online Status: Offline Posts: 6	Posted: 16 Oct 2018 at 8:51am
	MCarter, thank you, I found the old Jato thread on AC and read the whole thing, seems like Jato made it work. Offgrid, I know space in any RPod is at a premium. My ideas with the 180 floor plan, it may be possible to utilize the counter space behind the cooktop to put a small unit there and vent it through the kitchen window. I am a little concerned about putting a 60lb machine on the slide out counter. Also, the footprint has to be small and the hose has to be short. The other option is to sacrifice one of the dinette seats and vent it through the dinette window. The reason for the 8000btu is because I am running a 2kw Champion generator right now which should run a 8000 fine. I have read somewhere that 13500 is overkill for a RPod but may be that is not true. You are right, it all depends on the weather outside. If I use the built in circuits inside the RPod, I assume the fuses etc. can handle the AC's load? My biggest concern is actually electrical, other than the circuit dedicated for ACs, can the rest of the circuits/fuses handle an AC? PS: Living in Western Canada, I just looked at the driving distance to NC to do a swap with Offgrid, :-), it would be Odyssey.

offgrid Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290	Posted: 16 Oct 2018 at 9:12am
	I don't know enough about the 180 floorplan to comment on your idea on that, but I don't think an extra 60 lbs is going to be much of an issue for the slide. I agree that 13.5k BTU/hr is more than needed as well, but 8K is going to be a bit low. It depends on where you're headed and when, and if you want to be able to pull in somewhere with a hot trailer and cool it down quickly. It's rare that a residential A/C ever has to do that so they can be sized smaller than an RV A/C. I'm sure FR has settled on the 13.5K unit so they wouldn't get those kind of complaints. I would test the 8K unit on your 2KW genny before permanently installing just to be sure. It's not running current that matters, its startup current. No way to really know without trying it. I would operate the A/C awhile on the genny and then shut it off and restart it, hot starts draw more current because of the back pressure buildup in the refrigerant lines. The fuses are all for the 12V dc side, the A/C will be on a circuit breaker. I assume that you will be plugging it into one of the ac outlets? If so, those are on a 15A breaker so as long as your portable A/C draws less than that you'll be fine. A short startup surge generally doesn't trip a breaker, they have a time delay built in. Don't expect to be able to run a hair dryer or a coffee pot at the same time though :).
	1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold

Spacecadet Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 14 Oct 2018 Location: Western Canada Online Status: Offline Posts: 6	Posted: 16 Oct 2018 at 9:34am
	LOL, hair dryer implies I have hair... Oh, the MRS, yeah she does have hair. Yes, the initial thought is to plug it into one of the AC outlets and connect the Pod to either shore power or the gennie. We generally camp on Crown land (equivalent to the US BLM land) but we do use the serviced RV parks when we are near a major city. We generally stay north during the summer months and venture south in the fall. The hottest we may camp in is probably Vegas in October, it can still get pretty dang hot there right now. Historically, we park our camper and stay in hotels when we are in Vegas, that may change now that we have a proper trailer.
	2015 Toyota Tacoma 4X4 2016 RPod 180 HRE

GlueGuy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 15 May 2017 Location: N. California Online Status: Offline Posts: 2627	Posted: 16 Oct 2018 at 9:47am
	Although perhaps not your first concern, those free-standing floor units with the hoses running out the window are super inefficient. Even so, they are probably a lot more quiet than the roof-mounted RV air conditioners. I've sometimes thought it would be worthwhile to figure out a way to mount a small window-style AC unit somewhere. Those are almost universally quiet, and they're pretty efficient too.
	bp 2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost

offgrid Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290	Posted: 16 Oct 2018 at 10:45am
	Windowshakers are still pretty inefficient. Good ones are around an EER of 10-11 or so. The rooftop Dometic has an EER of about 7 though so anything is an improvement over that. The better dual hose portables are around 8-10. The single hose ones are really bad. There is room above the bedroom window in the 179 for the indoor unit of a small minisplit A/C, with the condenser mounted just in front of there on the tongue. Batteries would need to go elsewhere. The new inverter based variable speed minisplits are super efficient (EER's around 14-16 and SEER's around 22-25). They're right up there with the most efficient central A/C units. That's half the energy consumption of the Dometic roof air. And the minisplits are ultra quiet both inside and outside. That's what the rest of the world uses for A/C outside of North America.
	1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold