Replacing rear 13,500btu with 15,000btu A/C?
We are going to replace both A/C's on our motor home within the next month. It currently has a 15,000btu in the main area and a 13,500btu in the bedroom. We are considering going ahead and putting a 1...
Forum Discussion
OP,
When we were ordering our rig (way back in 2004), we have the option to upgrade the rear AC to the same 15k BTU unit as the front for not much more additional expense. I opted to pay for that upgrade for the following reason. I figured that IF we were out somewhere and the front AC failed, if the units were identical, they should be easy to swap "in the field", allowing us to keep 15k of cooling up front where it's needed most. Since the front AC gets used quite a bit more than the rear, I thought this would be a reasonable idea. In practice to even out wear between the two, where we're out during the day, we've often left the rear AC running during the day for the dogs, and set the thermostat higher on the front AC as a backup if the rear AC failed. With the ducted system, it seems to work.
Well, here we are 14 years later, going on our 15th season, both AC's still work fine. About 5 years ago I had a bad relay in the front AC, but thanks to Doug and these forums, he told me EXACTLY what part needed to be replaced. (That man has probably saved the collective membership here on RV.net tens of thousands of $$$ over the years!!! Thank you, Doug.) I did what he suggested, and it's been working fine. Even purchased a few extra relays in case the same happened again. You guessed it, they've been fine. Proof positive that if you HAVE a spare (or spare part) you won't need it! LOL
So, that apparently worked for us. Our units both have heat strips, which I prefer to heat pumps since they work in colder temps than the heat pumps do. Maybe not as efficient, but a better choice IMO if you camp in colder weather.
In a thread currently running about expected lifetime of a rooftop AC unit, it seems like newer models don't last as long. But many of those seemed to be the heat pump models. If you're using those for heating, then you're putting more wear on the compressor than the heat strip models, which don't run the compressor at all when heating, just the fan. So maybe that's one of the reasons those units are failing faster?
Anyway, we have a 50 Amp rig, and rarely connect to 30 Amp. When we do, we just run one AC.
Whatever decision you make, good luck! :)
~Rick
When we were ordering our rig (way back in 2004), we have the option to upgrade the rear AC to the same 15k BTU unit as the front for not much more additional expense. I opted to pay for that upgrade for the following reason. I figured that IF we were out somewhere and the front AC failed, if the units were identical, they should be easy to swap "in the field", allowing us to keep 15k of cooling up front where it's needed most. Since the front AC gets used quite a bit more than the rear, I thought this would be a reasonable idea. In practice to even out wear between the two, where we're out during the day, we've often left the rear AC running during the day for the dogs, and set the thermostat higher on the front AC as a backup if the rear AC failed. With the ducted system, it seems to work.
Well, here we are 14 years later, going on our 15th season, both AC's still work fine. About 5 years ago I had a bad relay in the front AC, but thanks to Doug and these forums, he told me EXACTLY what part needed to be replaced. (That man has probably saved the collective membership here on RV.net tens of thousands of $$$ over the years!!! Thank you, Doug.) I did what he suggested, and it's been working fine. Even purchased a few extra relays in case the same happened again. You guessed it, they've been fine. Proof positive that if you HAVE a spare (or spare part) you won't need it! LOL
So, that apparently worked for us. Our units both have heat strips, which I prefer to heat pumps since they work in colder temps than the heat pumps do. Maybe not as efficient, but a better choice IMO if you camp in colder weather.
In a thread currently running about expected lifetime of a rooftop AC unit, it seems like newer models don't last as long. But many of those seemed to be the heat pump models. If you're using those for heating, then you're putting more wear on the compressor than the heat strip models, which don't run the compressor at all when heating, just the fan. So maybe that's one of the reasons those units are failing faster?
Anyway, we have a 50 Amp rig, and rarely connect to 30 Amp. When we do, we just run one AC.
Whatever decision you make, good luck! :)
~Rick
