What extras should I insist on in a new Class C

Here in Texas, roof vent covers allow one to have a vent fan run for air circulation. Having a Fantastic Fan with a rain sensor is doable... but you are trusting a $1 piece of electronics from China to protect tens of thousands of dollars worth of stuff.

One idea I plan to do is see about a roof cover, but add a filter, then run the fan backwards (so it sucks air in, rather than blowing it out.) This would create a nice positive pressure to keep dust out.

and I always preferred the maxxaire type of covers where you could leave the vent open in the rain.
bumpy

Roof vent covers also greatly extend the life of the plastic(?) vent itself because the sun can destroy them in a short time.

IslandHappy wrote:
May I ask why roof vent covers are needed? We are shopping for our first Class C MH and have found all the advice very helpful.

They allow for good air flow rain or shine without the moisture getting in.

:C

May I ask why roof vent covers are needed? We are shopping for our first Class C MH and have found all the advice very helpful.

fdwarren wrote:
We spent 3 hours looking at RVs today after many hours of research and using all of your advice. We really appreciate all the great advice. We are almost sold on one we saw, the 2015 Forrest River Sunseeker 2500TS. It has almost everything that was mentioned except no auto leveling(which I want) and the two phase furnace which we do not need since we are heading South for winter.Thanks again for all the advice.

The auto leveling will be a nice feature to have. Ours does not have it and it works out ok. Not really a big issue. We moved up from a TT where we had to level it ourself anyway. We find it easier to level the C than the TT.

Desert Captain wrote:
A lot of RVs come with inadequate heating and cooling systems and that is a tough and expensive problem to cure.

Exactly .... that's why I always recommend ordering an upgrade on heating and cooling appliances, if available, for new Class C buyers.

It's all about flexibility in use of their RV later, when and if the owners' travel styles were to change. I don't recommend buying an RV based solely on what they think they are going to do with it at the time.

Our 24' C (Nexus), came with a 35,000 BTU, 4 vent furnace. It only needs to run for 5 or 10 minutes tops bfore driving the temp up to 70 something. We set the thermostat at 65 when we go to bed and even with outside temps down into the low 30's/40's it will only kick on once or twice during the running for about 5 minutes each time. The thermostat is on the wall above our bed so it is easy to kick it up to 70 in the morning without even getting out of bed.

The coach is heavily insulated and holds the heat in or out as needed. The 13,500 BTU ac consistently gives us 20+ degrees below the outside ambient temp. As noted earlier in this thread the Maxair Turbo with its fan and motor located up and out of the coach works very well quietly moving lots of air, rain or shine. A lot of RVs come with inadequate heating and cooling systems and that is a tough and expensive problem to cure.

We are 20 miles northwest of Lake Tahoe on the Truckee River at 6,500' and it dropped into the high 30's last night... not a problem.

Heated air should enter a room from a source or opening down low in the room.

The warmed air from an air conditioner operating in heating mode with it's heat strip and fan turned on and compressor turned off most likely enters an RV from an opening up high - not good. Only chilled air should enter a room from an opening up high - where most RV heat pumps in cooling mode and RV air conditoners have it coming from for best cooling efficiency in hot weather.

HOWEVER from the viewpoint of raw BTU creation efficiency for heating an RV, an RV with a heat pump unit operating in it's heating mode instead of an air conditioner unit with it's heat strip turned on - uses far less electricity (around 1/3) to produce 5000 BTUs than a portable electric heater or heat strip in an air conditioner does to produce their 5000 BTU output (a 1500 watt electric heating element produces around 5000 BTUs). This is because the heat pump process is way different (although it's electrically powered) than using electricity to directly make a heating element glow red.

All things considered and if the outside temperature is around 40 degrees or higher, an RV heat pump unit operating in it's heating mode will use less electricity than an air conditioner with a heat strip or a portable electric heater.