How To Select The Correct Air Conditioner

Not everyone needs the best Air Conditioner, but it is important to get one that has the features you need. Some items will be pointed out that would be considered as a disadvantage in certain situations. I have no inclination toward any particular brand but some models have definite advantages. Some points on spare parts price and availability will also be explained.

Why do I need an RV air conditioner? Will a household air conditioner do the same job?

Household split systems or window mounted air conditioners are cheaper than the specialist RV air conditioners. If you are installing them into an onsite caravan, a mobile home or an RV that rarely moves then you should also check out the household versions available from other retailers.

You should only look at specialist RV air conditioners if you will be traveling. They are designed to keep water out when travelling and the mountings and fittings are designed for constant vibration that occurs when traveling.

What does the 360mm or 400mm opening mean?

Roof top air conditioners are made to fit either a 360mm square opening in your roof, or a 400mm square opening. The 400mm typically originate in Europe while the 360mm are based on the 14" American style roof vent.

Whilst a newly built caravan or RV can be made to suit either size, the extra work to modify an existing hole could be a deciding factor in your purchase. Why make things more difficult unless you need to. Thickness of your ceiling is also a consideration, but many allow for quite a range in thickness. This should be included in the specifications.

Which is best, a roof top Air Conditioner or built-in style?

Because there are a number of each style on the market, there is clearly no overall winner.

The first preference should be to have a roof top air conditioner because cold air likes to drop, so it is preferable to start up high.
It does not take up any of your valuable internal space. With almost all recreational vehicle layouts you can get the most central location.

If you have a Pop-Top, Camper Trailer or Camper van with an single skin roof you should seriously look at the built-in models.

What's the difference between Reverse Cycle and those with heating elements?

A number of air conditioners use heat exchange to cool, while they use a simple heat element just like a fan heater for heating. This is less efficient for heating, however it works at any outside temperature.

Reverse cycle uses heat exchange when cooling or heating. Cooling moves the heat from inside to outside. Heating moves the outside heat to the inside. But this heating method does cause problems when the exchange fins ice up.

This is an important consideration, often intentionally overlooked by sales people, when describing the benefits of their brand.

You should check how outside temperatures will effect the heating function of your proposed air conditioner if you intend using your RV in very cold climates. Some air conditioners give disappointing results for heating when outside temperatures drop toward Zero.

An air conditioner that gets over this problem will make a point of specifying this in their features section.

How cold or hot will they make my RV?

You can expect the manufacturers to quote the maximum size RV their air conditioners will work with. They will always assume you have insulation in your walls and ceilings.

Pop-Tops and Camper Trailers will loose much more heat through the vinyl section and non insulated walls or ceilings and will not stay as cool. This does not mean you cannot use an Air Conditioner on these RV's, but the effect will be less, or a more powerful unit should be used.

Even a drop of a few degrees can make the difference you need.

What does BTU or kW mean?

A kilowatt (kW) is a measure of cooling output or heating output.
BTU stands for British Thermal Unit. It is a different unit but measures the same thing.

1 kW = 3412 BTU

The following shows the relative cooling and heat capacity in kW.

Does the profile affect wind resistance?

Not really. The roof top versions seem to all provide about the same frontal area that needs to go through the air, however some are short and wide and others are higher and wider.

The following shows the relative height of each roof top unit in mm.

The height may be important if you need to get in a garage doorway, but it will have little effect on air flow. It will also affect clearance parking under trees.

The height could be considered a very important cosmetic consideration, especially on smaller RV's. The cost to produce a low profile unit is higher than a standard height unit due to the need to specially make more compact components. This may change over time.

You may think that a higher unit will alter the centre of gravity. Since the Air conditioners are already located in the centre of the roof, and the heavier components are toward the base, there is very little difference in the centre of gravity, certainly much less than the eye perceives. But again this does effect the cosmetics of your whole RV.

Amperage. Is it important?

Yes and No. If you are staying at caravan parks where your fees already include your power, then apart from your conscience at using extra power for one model against another then amperage is not the most important consideration.

However, if you often use your air conditioner from a generator, then this may be VERY important. The amperage should reflect the generator size but this is not strictly correct. An Air Conditioner will require more than the rated amps to get started, and for continuous use, the generator should be able to provide more kW than the Air Conditioner requires. Where we have this information it is stated in the description.

Does Caravans Plus have a model recommendation?

Firstly, if we don't think the air conditioner offers good features or reasonable value for money then we do not sell it. However just because we do not sell an air conditioner does not mean we would not recommend it.

There may be new models we have not yet evaluated or there may be alternate suppliers that we do not deal with.

If we receive a number of bad reports of inherent problems with a particular model we stop selling them. Waeco 12V CA-1000 was removed following poor customer feedback. We welcome customer feedback for this.

If there is insufficient brand after sales support in the form of service agents, we will stop selling the product or at the very least mention this in the product description. Carrier Air V was removed after supply problems..

In short, then if we list it, it is either a new product, or it is an established model with a good reputation.

Do we provide Brand recommendations?

As an independent reseller of multiple brands we are happy to provide an overview of our experience.

Dometic/Truma: They are a large international company with a reputation for quality RV products. They offer good warranty support and hold a good supply of spare parts within Australia. They have a very comprehensive service agent network. Service agents are listed on www.dometic.com.au.
However, we believe the cost of spare parts, when needed, to be more than they should be.

Air Command: They are an Australian company that only make air conditioners. Their products are very good quality and they are innovators. There is no problem getting spare parts or finding service agents. Spare parts are reasonably priced. They list all spare parts and service agents at www.aircommand.com.au

Coleman: These are imported by Coast to Coast RV from USA and are a proven product with very few problems. We believe the TSR to be less than beautiful, however they are reliable and common spare parts are readily available and at a reasonable price. There are probably less service agents than Air Command and Dometic but Coast To Coast (www.coastrv.com.au) keeps an up-to-date list, and we find them quick to provide technical advice and fast warranty service.

What is best value for money?

If a number of Air Conditioners meet your requirements, and you require a recommendation, we would be happy to provide a recommendation at that point in time. Use our technical email address Click here and list the features you need.

Suppliers change their prices or offer discounts from time to time, so this can effect the value for money of one or more brands. Specials that we offer are genuine and would usually represent a recommendation provided the features meet your needs.

As time goes by we will be requesting feedback from real customers of real products to give greater information to you to help make your final decision.