It seems as though all of the so-called Four-Seasons 5th Wheel manufacturers focus on the cold weather. I would like to know how any of them would fare in an extremely hot environment, like Phoenix, AZ during the summer (120 degrees)If you've got some experience with living full time in your Fifth Wheel in the Phoenix and Mesa, AZ area, I would sure like to hear from you about what rig you have and how you coped with the extreme heat.Thanks very much!

I have to ask, why would you want to live there in the summer??? That's why you have wheels on the thing. Go a little ways east or north to gain elevation.Look at Northwoods, they have better insulation in the roof.If you're staying there because you own land there, then get a roof put up over it.I just can't imagine staying there in the summer. I left last April because it was getting too hot for me.Bill

Except for a heated basement to prevent pipes freezing in the winter, anything that helps to keep cold out also helps to keep hot out and chilled air in. So, a "4 season" RV that has extra insulation, dual pane windows, and other cold weather options will be beneficial in hot weather as well.

First off - insulation works the same in cold weather and hot weather - just like your house. More is better.I stayed one winter in Phoenix. It was touching 100 degrees during the day as I was heading out on 1 May. One observation I have is that I saw many folks with an open air car-port type of covering over their trailers and mobile homes. Just 4 poles and a hard covering. The idea is to just keep the sun off the rig and from directly heating up that big tin can. That is the first thing I would do. I talked to a couple folks who stayed year round in the RV park I stayed at. They put insulation in the windows and bought a couple of household window AC units. They told me the household ones are much more efficient then the dedicated RV units.

Thanks for the tips. I've pretty much exhausted my search about tips and tricks to reduce the heat. What I'd really like to know is what brand 5th Wheel you have that's made your living in the valley a reasonable venture.Reason being, we want to buy a 5th Wheel and make Mesa, AZ our full time home until we retire and can snowbird. We've still got a few years left to work.

Full time 5th Wheel living in Phoenix in the summer

Me_Again
Explorer III
Sep 09, 2016
larry barnhart wrote:
Wow that makes a good story but not the deal. best part of 93 is you go from 7400 feet down to Vegas. Going down 15 to 215 and stop at the pony express rv resort to go around Salt Lake city . Doing the new boulder bridge route.

chevman

Well from Yakima, I would do Farewell Bend SP, then Heyburn Riverside RV Park(City Park), then your SLC park. Chris
larry_barnhart
Explorer
Sep 09, 2016
Wow that makes a good story but not the deal. best part of 93 is you go from 7400 feet down to Vegas. Going down 15 to 215 and stop at the pony express rv resort to go around Salt Lake city . Doing the new boulder bridge route.

chevman
Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Sep 09, 2016
larry barnhart wrote:
Me Again wrote:
larry barnhart wrote:
We have been in Casa Grande for 15 winters starting in early oct and a couple time in very late sept. Never had any reason to use the AC after maybe 9:30PM. One Ac only. Hope this doesn't change as we hit the road the 1st of Oct.
chevman

Larry, do you go down 93? We are leaving the 2nd of Oct and thinking about the inland route this year. Chris

We have towed on 93 many times and always coming home in april. but we are going a different route this time . 93 is a great smooth drive a few miles south of twin falls.
chevman

Let's make this clear, are you going a different route because of the route Chris has publicly said he would travel???
laknox
Nomad
Sep 08, 2016
Old-Biscuit wrote:
Are you relocating to Phoenix Area due to work..........retirement 5-7 yrs away?

You have another RV to travel in.....so rent an apartment until you retire.

Full Timing in an RV is NOT necessarily cheaper than an APT
especially in Phoenix in the summer

x2!

Lyle
3rd Generation Arizonan
larry_barnhart
Explorer
Sep 08, 2016
Me Again wrote:
larry barnhart wrote:
We have been in Casa Grande for 15 winters starting in early oct and a couple time in very late sept. Never had any reason to use the AC after maybe 9:30PM. One Ac only. Hope this doesn't change as we hit the road the 1st of Oct.
chevman

Larry, do you go down 93? We are leaving the 2nd of Oct and thinking about the inland route this year. Chris

We have towed on 93 many times and always coming home in april. but we are going a different route this time . 93 is a great smooth drive a few miles south of twin falls.
chevman
Me_Again
Explorer III
Sep 07, 2016
larry barnhart wrote:
We have been in Casa Grande for 15 winters starting in early oct and a couple time in very late sept. Never had any reason to use the AC after maybe 9:30PM. One Ac only. Hope this doesn't change as we hit the road the 1st of Oct.
chevman

Larry, do you go down 93? We are leaving the 2nd of Oct and thinking about the inland route this year. Chris
Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Sep 07, 2016
sparky60 wrote:
Cummins12V98 wrote:
Recently spent two weeks in Desert Hot Springs, CA with temps up to 122. Had zero issues keeping the RV in the low 70's with 3 AC units. RV in sig.

Once again, it sounds like a Mobile Suites is the way to go. Did you run all three AC's at the same time?

All three on 50a.
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Sep 07, 2016
Are you relocating to Phoenix Area due to work..........retirement 5-7 yrs away?

You have another RV to travel in.....so rent an apartment until you retire.

Full Timing in an RV is NOT necessarily cheaper than an APT
especially in Phoenix in the summer
sparky60
Explorer
Sep 07, 2016
jshupe wrote:
Op, you should be fine if you pair your included dual ACs with a 12K mini-split. Or throw in a larger mini-split and you can turn one of your factory units off. I ran the calculations for our rig (in my sig) a while back and figured that we'd need around 42K BTU to keep it comfortable in the AZ summers. That means I'll be adding a 12K BTU mini-split at some point in our rig's life to the 2x 15K RV units we already have.

This is an example of one having been retrofitted.

Dometic doesn't advertise SEER ratings, but I read they're somewhere around 9. By comparison, home AC units might be around 13-16, and mini-split units can be 18 to OVER 30! Higher is better.

I've never heard of a mini-split until your post. After researching further, I'm surprised these things aren't installed on more RV's. IN fact, if one of the big RV manufacturers would put these in their units as a nice clean factory install, I've got to believe that would make a huge splash in the industry! They seem like a terrific way to cool things down! Thanks so much for the great info - exactly what I'm looking for!
Us_out_West
Explorer
Sep 07, 2016
sparky60 wrote:
UsOutWest - The 5th Wheel will be our home. We may travel some, and for that we have a 2015 Coachmen Freelander Class c Motorhome.

Quoting a couple of posts;

sparky wrote:
We've still got a few years left to work.
I always associated 'few' with 3.

Now from your other thread on the same subject;

sparky wrote:
We want to buy a 5th Wheel and make Mesa, AZ our full time home until we retire and can snowbird (in about 5-7 years).

Well I have to say again I would buy a park model now and the 5th wheel when you are really going to retire...I assume in 5-7 years.

You'll be a lot more comfortable all the way around.

In any event safe travels when you do.