Is changing to a quieter AC worth it?

We did not realize how loud the Penguin II AC units on our rig were until the bedroom AC gave up the ghost a couple of months ago. Was just going to order same AC but RV tech said it would be at least a few weeks and we had a couple of trips planned that we did not want to reschedule. He mentioned several of his customers, after extensive research, have changed out the loud AC units that came with their rigs for the Recpro units manufactured by Houghton, although their original units were still functioning fine.

I ordered directly from Recpro website beating Amazon's price and delivery was insanely quick, reviews are very good and I was impressed with the reduced sound level not to mention the fact that our rig's bedroom gets cooled off much quicker than with Penguin II. Love that they come with remote control although controls are available directly on unit, they also have functions that were not provided on our Penguin II. Overall we are happy and will more than likely replace our front AC unit with Recpro/Houghton unit when it dies.

Our AirXcel (Coleman) Mach 10 that came with our motorhome was atrociously loud... you couldn't hold a conversation with it running. Finally replaced it with a RecPro Houghton AC3501. Wow! What a difference. Very happy with it.
AirXcel has come out with a new model Mach 10 Quiet model that is reported great by others but very hard to currently find one.

Dick_B wrote:
I installed one of the Wacko products and it makes a big difference. Check out Wackoproducts.com. And, no, i don't work for them and would not benefit from a purchase.

Tell me more!! How much does it quiet the unit.


I looked and apparently its only for ducted units. :(

I installed one of the Wacko products and it makes a big difference. Check out Wackoproducts.com. And, no, i don't work for them and would not benefit from a purchase.

It appears that the Aventa requires 230 volt 50 cycle. It maybe for European RVs.
The RecPro model i looked at is 120 volts but draws 14 amps.
And the RecPro specs state the db at 59 - about the same as a Honda 2000 generator.
The "standard" truck camper AC such as the one on my Arctic Fox draws 8 amps.
You'd pretty much need a 50 amp hookup if you're running a larger RV.

"Worth it" is up to you. How bothered are you by the noise it currently makes?

Think about the noise while you're looking at the price tags on new units. Better yet, sit in the camper with the AC running while you're shopping for new units on your tablet/phone/pc.

If you are thinking "I can swing that," then go for it.

If you kinda scrunch up your face and say, "Naaaaaaaaah...." then wait another year.