My Teton in 122F Desert Heat - What I Did To Stay Cool
2003 Teton Experience 36'
We live in an RV resort in the desert and temps are hitting 122F on several days. We moved into the Teton in March and noticved even then the roof air was weak. By May, we had a new Dometic 15k unit installed. By June I had to buy a stand alone portable 13.5k unit. Two weeks later I bought a third 13.5k portable just for the bedroom. With all (3) units blowing, our best 5PM inside temp in the living room was 97F. Way too hot.
That's when I realized what we had was an insulation problem. I first tackled the three slide outs. I put 2-1/2" rigid foam on the roofs and undersides of all slides. That got me about 5 degrees. Then I had solar screens made for all the exposed windows. That got me another 4 degrees. Then I tackled the Big&Tall storage box and insulated the roof with 6" FG. A few more degrees. Then I found massive warm air currents coming up behind the kitchen and bath cabinets. I stuffed those with more 6" FG onto the ext. walls. Things were now tolerable and on the 122F day two days ago, we had about 85F inside.
Last, I had to tackle the pocket door. A big warm air current was blowing out of the "gaps" between the door and the pocket wall. It's har do to figure where that much hot air is coming from, but as an experiment I just opened the door and then taped the two seams shut. Warm air stopped.
We can hold 84F now unless it gets over 110F. So, my next job is the roof. I plan to roll out high-reflective ashphalt backed roofing on as much square footage as possible on the roof. And, if the wife will let me, block off the shower bubble dome.
Ultimately, I want to hold 80F on the worst days. Has anyone else fought the desert sun?
We live in an RV resort in the desert and temps are hitting 122F on several days. We moved into the Teton in March and noticved even then the roof air was weak. By May, we had a new Dometic 15k unit installed. By June I had to buy a stand alone portable 13.5k unit. Two weeks later I bought a third 13.5k portable just for the bedroom. With all (3) units blowing, our best 5PM inside temp in the living room was 97F. Way too hot.
That's when I realized what we had was an insulation problem. I first tackled the three slide outs. I put 2-1/2" rigid foam on the roofs and undersides of all slides. That got me about 5 degrees. Then I had solar screens made for all the exposed windows. That got me another 4 degrees. Then I tackled the Big&Tall storage box and insulated the roof with 6" FG. A few more degrees. Then I found massive warm air currents coming up behind the kitchen and bath cabinets. I stuffed those with more 6" FG onto the ext. walls. Things were now tolerable and on the 122F day two days ago, we had about 85F inside.
Last, I had to tackle the pocket door. A big warm air current was blowing out of the "gaps" between the door and the pocket wall. It's har do to figure where that much hot air is coming from, but as an experiment I just opened the door and then taped the two seams shut. Warm air stopped.
We can hold 84F now unless it gets over 110F. So, my next job is the roof. I plan to roll out high-reflective ashphalt backed roofing on as much square footage as possible on the roof. And, if the wife will let me, block off the shower bubble dome.
Ultimately, I want to hold 80F on the worst days. Has anyone else fought the desert sun?
