Engine A/C vs. House A/C

jmccen58 wrote:
........ did anyone improve their overall MPG by running generator and house A/C and leaving dash A/C off?

It's the other way around in a class C, the dash A/C is more powerful and far more efficient than a generator & rooftop A/C is.

I only ran both when nearing the camp site.

When driving into the sun, the sun heats the wind shield which radiates heat back into the coach.
By turning the defroster on and set to cold it cools the wind shield and stops the heat at the wind shield.

The dash AC in our 24' C (E-350), is more than capable of cooling the entire coach so I've never even considered running the genny to get more cooling from the roof AC(just another benefit of having a 24' coach). The V-10 has plenty of power and we never hesitate to run the AC and I can discern no appreciable difference in mileage with it on or off.

At .5 a gallon per hour for the genny you would be reducing your mpg by about 8% assuming you are getting 10 mpg at 60 mph(we do). Given those numbers it hardly seems worth it unless your dash air cannot keep up. Either way it is really no big deal and being cool and comfortable is the only way I want to travel.

:C

I feel the difference between 8 and 8.2 MPG is insignificant s II make myself comfy

We had a 460 with carburetor and the A/C compressor was a two-cylinder York, which is very horsepower-intensive. On a setup like that it would make sense to run "house" air instead of "dash" air. We tried that, but the heat from windshield and engine compartment didn't make "house air" very satisfying.
A V10 uses a very efficient axial or possibly scroll compressor. Also, unlike 460, is pretty much immune from overheating. So: I do what makes me feel good. Either, Neither or Both. The fact the chassis gets 7-mpg is the factor, not the A/C on/off question

Keep in mind it's only about .5 gal per hour so it really isn't a factor.

sch911 wrote:
Run both when it's hot out. When you own a MH you shouldn't be worried about MPG's IMHO.

I know......everybody go ahead, pile on. :R

Run both when it's hot out. When you own a MH you shouldn't be worried about MPG's IMHO.