We are thinking about downsizing from a 33 foot 5th wheel to a tent trailer. A big concern is temperature control as we often find ourself in places much warmer than we tolerate. My son suggested a portable room air conditioner. Has anyone found a good solution to cooling off when it is 100 degrees, etc out?

There is a thriving 'teardrop' trailer industry right now with all these people looking for tiny homes and whatnot.I forget the brand but there is one that comes with an optional room AC in the front wall. Others have the traditional rooftop AC like RVs have. Than they have a trap door in the back to open up onto a kitchen. All sorts of tiny things inside these things these days. Including forced air electrical heaters if you'll be RV Park camping, or propane if not and you plan on some cold weather camping.So maybe search for teardrop trailers?

So the key is “tent,” correct? Can’t cool (or warm) a tent trailer anywhere near a 5er. Downsizing is okay but why not a hard sided unit?

The house room AC units are not really made for bouncing down the road and nobody make such a unit yet for the RV market. Roof AC units are specifically made more rugged to take the jostling. Columbia Northwest recently switched to a roof type AC on their new Ascape TT since they were experiencing too many failures with the house type units.However my 2011 StarCraft AR-One has a house type AC unit and so far so good, but keeping my fingers crossed.

You could downsize without going to a pop up. Have you had one before? There are a ton of compromises to consider - setup/put-down time, needing to dry wet canvas, opening to pack/unpack on either end of a trip, shorter season with weather issues, security, small tanks, etc. Just be sure to think about the downsides. I'd downsize to a smaller TT rather than going to a pop up, having owned one for several years.

I have an Aliner and I have gone through 2 air conditioners (5,000 and 6,000 btu) in 5 years (the last one only lasted 2 weeks and died 2,000 miles from home). The design used pop rivets and caulk to hold the a/c in the side of the wall of the camper - not a quick fix to replace. The constant jarring over thousands of miles without any shock absorption seems to do them in. I plan to get a portable air conditioner and vent it to the outside through the same space where the a/c is now. I can figure out a way to cushion it in the camper. This small size a/c works fine for cooling the Aliner.

Air conditioning | Good Sam Community

Jim
Explorer
Dec 14, 2017
There is a thriving 'teardrop' trailer industry right now with all these people looking for tiny homes and whatnot.

I forget the brand but there is one that comes with an optional room AC in the front wall. Others have the traditional rooftop AC like RVs have.

Than they have a trap door in the back to open up onto a kitchen. All sorts of tiny things inside these things these days. Including forced air electrical heaters if you'll be RV Park camping, or propane if not and you plan on some cold weather camping.

So maybe search for teardrop trailers?
Lwiddis
Explorer II
Dec 14, 2017
So the key is “tent,” correct? Can’t cool (or warm) a tent trailer anywhere near a 5er. Downsizing is okay but why not a hard sided unit?
gheicher
Explorer
Dec 14, 2017
The house room AC units are not really made for bouncing down the road and nobody make such a unit yet for the RV market. Roof AC units are specifically made more rugged to take the jostling. Columbia Northwest recently switched to a roof type AC on their new Ascape TT since they were experiencing too many failures with the house type units.

However my 2011 StarCraft AR-One has a house type AC unit and so far so good, but keeping my fingers crossed.
IdaD
Explorer
Dec 15, 2017
You could downsize without going to a pop up. Have you had one before? There are a ton of compromises to consider - setup/put-down time, needing to dry wet canvas, opening to pack/unpack on either end of a trip, shorter season with weather issues, security, small tanks, etc. Just be sure to think about the downsides. I'd downsize to a smaller TT rather than going to a pop up, having owned one for several years.
Wakita46
Explorer
Dec 15, 2017
I have an Aliner and I have gone through 2 air conditioners (5,000 and 6,000 btu) in 5 years (the last one only lasted 2 weeks and died 2,000 miles from home). The design used pop rivets and caulk to hold the a/c in the side of the wall of the camper - not a quick fix to replace. The constant jarring over thousands of miles without any shock absorption seems to do them in. I plan to get a portable air conditioner and vent it to the outside through the same space where the a/c is now. I can figure out a way to cushion it in the camper. This small size a/c works fine for cooling the Aliner.
gheicher
Explorer
Dec 15, 2017
Wakita46 wrote:
I have an Aliner and I have gone through 2 air conditioners (5,000 and 6,000 btu) in 5 years (the last one only lasted 2 weeks and died 2,000 miles from home). The design used pop rivets and caulk to hold the a/c in the side of the wall of the camper - not a quick fix to replace. The constant jarring over thousands of miles without any shock absorption seems to do them in. I plan to get a portable air conditioner and vent it to the outside through the same space where the a/c is now. I can figure out a way to cushion it in the camper. This small size a/c works fine for cooling the Aliner.

I installed my own AC unit in my Aliner and set it on a 3/4" foam sheet. Don't know how much that helped but it didn't fail in the 5 years I used it. I believe the problem is not with the compressor but with the refrigerant lines not being adequately supported, thus eventually causing refrigerant leaks. Have intended to pull the AC unit from by AR-One TT and see if I can't add more support for the lines, but as with a lot of other stuff I need a round-to-it. The nice thing with the small house AC units is they only cost a little over $100.
patperry2766
Explorer II
Dec 16, 2017
I have a pop-up with AC from the factory, but like IdaD said, there are several options out there other than a pop-up. I would strongly suggest looking at those before you pull the trigger because after the first trip in one, you will more than likely regret your purchase.
patperry2766
Explorer II
Dec 16, 2017
patperry2766 wrote:
I have a pop-up with AC from the factory, but like IdaD said, there are several options out there other than a pop-up. Ours is one of the biggest high wall campers available with a 15K unit, and it froze my wife out a couple of summers ago in Florida in July. But we also use PUGS and reflectix in the bunk ends.

I would strongly suggest looking at those before you pull the trigger because after the first trip in one, you will more than likely regret your purchase.
FF286
Explorer
Dec 17, 2017
We went to a pop up for about 2 years, with the rooftop ac. It keep the camper cool. If I was parked is the sun I would use the pop up gizmos, and considered getting the silver insulation from Home Depot to put in the windows around the beds in the middle of the summer. We went we went from a 30’ 5er to a pop up. I liked how easy it was to pull and the wife loved all the windows, but hated how long it took to set up and always worried about rain when we showed up or left. I finally talked the wife into returning to a 5er this year and won’t look back.
NanciL
Explorer II
Dec 17, 2017
Our experience:
We have an older pop up with a roof top AC/heating unit.

At 80 to 85 degrees it is great.

At 100 degrees like it was here in the Florida Keys after Irma went through it was not good except at night after sun down.

Jack L

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