30 ft- one roof air sufficient?

[maddawg46]

I'm in the process of buying a 30 ft. Class A. It has one roof air conditioner. I think is a 1355 BTU. I haven't seen it. The owner lives in Arizona. He says it does ok when in the high 90s. He doesn't the HK ts wired for 2 air conditioners. Is it a mistake getting this? It's a pretty good deal and the exact floor plan we like.

[Hudsoner]

tropical36 wrote:

Hudsoner wrote:
I have a 30' with one air condition. It is OK, but I had all windows tinted with reflective film, and I make sure that the roof is nice and clean and WHITE. I stuff these unsulator cushions into all hatches (https://www.amazon.com/Camco-45192-Sunshield-Insulator-Reflective/dp/B0024E6QX0), and made a cover for the light dome over the shower with the reflective bubble stuff.
I plan to install a ceiling fan in the bedroom.

We have two ac's and surprisingly it cools well, for having this much space, but how about if one should quit and should we have to be in that much of a hurry for getting it replaced at any cost. Just saying an extra never hurts and especially if you have no spare at all to share the load.

That might be true if you are always in hot (temperature) parts of the country. I hardly use my air conditioner (maybe a few days per year), and therefore it is enough if I do the measures that I do to keep it cool enough inside my rig.

[tropical36]

Hudsoner wrote:
I have a 30' with one air condition. It is OK, but I had all windows tinted with reflective film, and I make sure that the roof is nice and clean and WHITE. I stuff these unsulator cushions into all hatches (https://www.amazon.com/Camco-45192-Sunshield-Insulator-Reflective/dp/B0024E6QX0), and made a cover for the light dome over the shower with the reflective bubble stuff.
I plan to install a ceiling fan in the bedroom.

We have two ac's and surprisingly it cools well, for having this much space, but how about if one should quit and should we have to be in that much of a hurry for getting it replaced at any cost. Just saying an extra never hurts and especially if you have no spare at all to share the load.

[Hudsoner]

I have a 30' with one air condition. It is OK, but I had all windows tinted with reflective film, and I make sure that the roof is nice and clean and WHITE. I stuff these unsulator cushions into all hatches (https://www.amazon.com/Camco-45192-Sunshield-Insulator-Reflective/dp/B0024E6QX0), and made a cover for the light dome over the shower with the reflective bubble stuff.
I plan to install a ceiling fan in the bedroom.

[glamisorbust]

I would look for one with a larger generator and two roof air's. I had a 28' class A georgie boy with one 13,500 BTU unit. It was old and not nearly enough. I replaced it, didn't change a thing. One air is just not enough. I live in phoenix area, and once it hits about 95*, forget it. You need two air's.

[barmcd]

frankdamp wrote:
We had a 32' Class A with just one 15K a/c unit and it was fine for us most trips. We rarely travelled to the hotter climes, mainly went to coastal WA, OR and BC. One trip, July 4th weekend to eastern WA, we came home after one night!

This makes me chuckle. When we came through BC and coastal Washington and Oregon in July we didn't even need any A/C so I could see where one would be good. By the time we made it to Utah we needed both A/Cs.

[frankdamp]

We had a 32' Class A with just one 15K a/c unit and it was fine for us most trips. We rarely travelled to the hotter climes, mainly went to coastal WA, OR and BC. One trip, July 4th weekend to eastern WA, we came home after one night!

[J-Rooster]

I owned a 31' coach a long time ago that had one air conditioner and it didn't do well in temps from 90* to 127* that I've been in with that coach.

[RedJeep]

RedJeep wrote:
We have a 36 footer class A. One 13.5 AC. We're in Maryland right now. Hot and humid. One AC works fine for us. Just set the thermostat real low and set your expectations real low. Ok, just joking... it actually works fine for us. While driving when the temp hits 90 we then turn on the generator and AC. We also close the curtain by the bunk beds so that we only need to cool the front half of the rv when driving. Our dash AC also works very well. Finally, we use an o2 cool fan hung from the ceiling to create a nice breeze. I wired a 12v outlet into the ceiling to plug it into. That also helps a lot.

Correction. We have a 15k unit.
Updated opinion... after several weeks of hot hot weather my new opinion is that one AC barely works during the day but is fine at night.

[tropical36]

maddawg46 wrote:
I bought a Newmar Bay Star 3124. It is new and beautiful. Drove it back from LOs Angeles on Thursday. Been hot here, so in glad I have two airs. It seems to be insulated much better than the other brands we looked at. $30 K more than we were planning, but the quality is far better than the other brands. Loading stuff up and getting use to all the stuff my trailer never dreamed of.
Maybe in a few weeks we will go to Idaho for a visit.

Congrats on your purchase and again, the second air is also important for having as a backup, until the other is repaired or replaced and when you really will appreciate having it, whether it can keep up or not.
Right now in FL, it's sweltering, but hope to be on the road north, before too long, with our new rig, as well. New to us, anyway.

[maddawg46]

I bought a Newmar Bay Star 3124. It is new and beautiful. Drove it back from LOs Angeles on Thursday. Been hot here, so in glad I have two airs. It seems to be insulated much better than the other brands we looked at. $30 K more than we were planning, but the quality is far better than the other brands. Loading stuff up and getting use to all the stuff my trailer never dreamed of.
Maybe in a few weeks we will go to Idaho for a visit.

[strawec]

I recommend two heat pumps

[Mr_Mark1]

RedJeep, you must be a 'cool' natured person. I would die with one A/C. In the winter, I use very little heat.

At 45 ft., we have four 13,500 BTU units and I have used all four several times. Normally, 2 units will work fine. When it's a little warmer the third unit comes on. When it's real hot like it has been today in Florida, all four units are humming! At 95 degrees, we are holding at 72 degrees inside with all four units running.

I just don't see one 13,500 BTU unit working in the south.

MM.

[RedJeep]

We have a 36 footer class A. One 13.5 AC. We're in Maryland right now. Hot and humid. One AC works fine for us. Just set the thermostat real low and set your expectations real low. Ok, just joking... it actually works fine for us. While driving when the temp hits 90 we then turn on the generator and AC. We also close the curtain by the bunk beds so that we only need to cool the front half of the rv when driving. Our dash AC also works very well. Finally, we use an o2 cool fan hung from the ceiling to create a nice breeze. I wired a 12v outlet into the ceiling to plug it into. That also helps a lot.

[tropical36]

barmcd wrote:

dougrainer wrote:
Just a Thought. After 37 years in the RV service/sales business, I have NEVER (I mean Never) had a customer complain that they NEVER needed or used that 2nd or 3rd AC unit and it was a complete waste of money spent:E But I HAVE had hundreds over the years complain about the inadequate results of just having 1 AC.:B Doug

I'd like to add a third to our coach. We've never had bad issues, but there already have been times when both were working hard to keep it cool inside.

Yep and highly unlikely that one would lose all three at the same time, which would make for tough living in Death Valley or the FL tropics.
Sure hot today and both are going strong out here in the driveway, which makes it nice for working inside.