Air conditioning in new 5th Wheel
Hi all, just curious about air conditioners on a brand new unit. I took delivery of a new 2021 Grand Design Reflection fifth wheel. We are out on the maiden voyage and it seems the air cond...
Forum Discussion
Two ac units should handle the heat just fine. Here's what we did to our trailer to help:
1) I added 20% ceramic window film to all our windows. I applied a double layer of film to the biggest window over the dinette in the kitchen. I did all of this myself using Concord ceramic automobile film from Windowfilm.com
2) On our Coleman ac units, there is a divider bar that separates the exhaust air from the return air. This divider bar was improperly positioned, allowing the cooled conditioned air to mix with the return air, greatly decreasing the efficiency of the ac unit. I moved the divider bar to the correct position and used hvac foil tape to secure it in place. Go to Mygrandrv.com and do a search on this. Many including myself, have posts with pics on how to do this correctly.
3) I pulled all the vent covers off and felt inside around the ducting. I found that some of the vents were improperly taped to the ducting system that runs around the trailer. This allowed cooled air to vent into the space between the duct and the ceiling material instead of into the room. So I used that same foil tape to make sure all the vents were sealed to the ducting with no obstructions.
4) There is now a mod that you can buy to improve the airflow out of the vents, but at the cost of blocking off the dump function of the ac unit. Folks who have installed this have reported huge improvements in their airflow. Some folks have made a version of this kit themselves out of foam board. I'm about to do the same. https://rvairflow.com/
Making these 3 changes has greatly improved the performance of our ac system. We were in Las Vegas where it was 100° plus, and we had no problem keeping the trailer in the mid-70° range.
You can also investigate adding a duct booster fan if there is any one duct that you really want more air out of.
If your trailer door/s have any kind of window, get some ReflectX insulated foil to cover the window. That was another source of heat entry into our RV.
One more thing. If you don't have a foam insert for the roof vents, get one. They really help to block out the heat from entering through the roof vents.
1) I added 20% ceramic window film to all our windows. I applied a double layer of film to the biggest window over the dinette in the kitchen. I did all of this myself using Concord ceramic automobile film from Windowfilm.com
2) On our Coleman ac units, there is a divider bar that separates the exhaust air from the return air. This divider bar was improperly positioned, allowing the cooled conditioned air to mix with the return air, greatly decreasing the efficiency of the ac unit. I moved the divider bar to the correct position and used hvac foil tape to secure it in place. Go to Mygrandrv.com and do a search on this. Many including myself, have posts with pics on how to do this correctly.
3) I pulled all the vent covers off and felt inside around the ducting. I found that some of the vents were improperly taped to the ducting system that runs around the trailer. This allowed cooled air to vent into the space between the duct and the ceiling material instead of into the room. So I used that same foil tape to make sure all the vents were sealed to the ducting with no obstructions.
4) There is now a mod that you can buy to improve the airflow out of the vents, but at the cost of blocking off the dump function of the ac unit. Folks who have installed this have reported huge improvements in their airflow. Some folks have made a version of this kit themselves out of foam board. I'm about to do the same. https://rvairflow.com/
Making these 3 changes has greatly improved the performance of our ac system. We were in Las Vegas where it was 100° plus, and we had no problem keeping the trailer in the mid-70° range.
You can also investigate adding a duct booster fan if there is any one duct that you really want more air out of.
If your trailer door/s have any kind of window, get some ReflectX insulated foil to cover the window. That was another source of heat entry into our RV.
One more thing. If you don't have a foam insert for the roof vents, get one. They really help to block out the heat from entering through the roof vents.
