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.

[barmcd]

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.

[dougrainer]

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

[tropical36]

maddawg46 wrote:
I took your advice. Bought a new Newmar 31 ft with two air conditioners. Pick up next week.

There ya go and one will do the trick while you're waiting to fix or replace the other.
What did you get, by the way?
Now, with the big baby we brought home the other day, one can only keep the occupants alive with the other off, but still it's something, although some have installed a third.

[maddawg46]

I took your advice. Bought a new Newmar 31 ft with two air conditioners. Pick up next week.

[tatest]

30-foor MH (with big windows) here, single 15K heat pump.

My experience is it depends on where you are and where you can park. In moderate climates, or maybe even the desert if you can manage to be shaded, a single 15K BTU might keep up with the solar heat load. In places where it is hot, sunny, and humid, it might not keep up. The A/C has to do a lot more work condensing moisture from the air before it can cool the air below dew point.

Mine does fine in 80F Michigan summer heat, sun or shade. In 90-105 F high humidity, full sunlight conditions we have on the central plains and down into Texas, the best I can hope for is to cool the interior down into the high 80s unless I can find a fully shaded place to park. Once the sun goes down, I can cool the interior as much as anyone wants, even when it is still in the low 100s outside.

[Passin_Thru]

Maybe but I lived in Yuma and it's hotter there. How do I know? I lived in OK and ran trucks to TX all summer. 123 degrees was the record (planes couldn't land or TO) The asphalt in Yuma was like walking on a sponge. Your high this week will be 100, Yumas 111.

[dougrainer]

Passin Thru wrote:
Buy an Arctic Fox. 1 AC on a 31 ft is plenty at 100 degrees here in N VA.

I guess we have a HOTTER sun here in Texas:B Doug

[Bruce_Brown]

IMO it depends more on how well it's insulated. Our '00 Dutch Star gasser only had (1) 15K unit and that would bring the inside down to meat locker temps. That was a 34'er.

[Passin_Thru]

Buy an Arctic Fox. 1 AC on a 31 ft is plenty at 100 degrees here in N VA.

[Kayteg1]

I would make a chart for 30' motorhome:
1 smaller AC will be good if you park it in the shade at 80=85F
2 AC if you want to stay in the open with temperatures below 90F
3 AC if you stay in the open with long wall facing south and temperatures close to 100F
4 AC when you are in >100F weather and want the interior to stay below 80F.
There will be variations depend on coach colors and number of awnings, but you should get starting idea.

[fortytwo]

2 A/C's are always nice. If I only need one I run the rear when I'm using the front and the front air at night when we're sleeping. Really makes a difference on noise levels. Then if it gets really hot you have both available. Unless you have an intelligent electrical management you'll need 50 amps for two.

[msmith1199]

maddawg46 wrote:
The deal is off. When I called the seller asking about whether there was a spot for or was wired for additional air he got real nasty. So I said he had to get that info for me. He hung up on me.
Everything was set, but sounds like it was not the RV for me. Sounds like something was not right in the head with this seller.

I didn't even notice you were just right down the road from me. And if a seller got nasty over a simple question like that, I'd walk from that deal too. Now that I notice where you are, as I mentioned above, I get around any heat problems by not camping in the heat. It's really hot right now down in this valley so our next camping trip is over to the coast. So for the rest of the summer our only destinations will be the coast or the Tahoe area. Spring and fall open up all the foothill destinations. If I wanted the heat, I'd just stay at home.

[Goldencrazy]

On my 31 foot I could hold about 20 degree less than outside temp. Had to cover the windows when it got hot and that really helped. I also would run the engine and use the dash air for 15 minutes to assist in the front when I was camping in 98 degrees no shade. A second AC unit would really be wonderful for you.

[booty51]

Some of the best deals you make are the one's you walk away from!

[tropical36]

maddawg46 wrote:
The deal is off. When I called the seller asking about whether there was a spot for or was wired for additional air he got real nasty. So I said he had to get that info for me. He hung up on me.
Everything was set, but sounds like it was not the RV for me. Sounds like something was not right in the head with this seller.

Too bad and also that you're so far away, as ours will be for sale as soon as I get the big DP in here and our stuff transferred.
Comes with chassis manuals, service records and my tech. support, as I do know this coach pretty well. Super clean and one, like it, that you won't find anywhere, with many mods and upgrades.
Might even be worth one way plane fare for you...