mini-split a/c

[Road_Phantom]

Has anyone installed a MINI-SPLIT INVERTER AIR CONDITIONER/heat pump in their RV yet? They seem way more efficient (cheaper to run) than conventional a/c units, especially for a full timer. They are a lot more quieter and can be controlled by a remote.

[calewjohnson]

I have a buddy with a Cyclone that mounted a couple, one in his garage and one in the main living area. The power draw is much less and they keep it much more comfortable inside, and in the winter too, as they are also heat pumps. I know one condenser is in his front basement, I think the other is mounted in the underbelly.

Cale

[tpi]

Check out a google image search for mini split rv. I saw three mounting styles shown- tongue mounted on travel trailer, a rear bumper extension or rear mount, and basement compartment mount. I have friend who's into classic bus conversions and I understand the mini split has been used there-one reason to keep roofline clean, and another performance/efficiency. Condensing unit located in a large pass through basement compartment with good ventilation.
As far as I know up to 12K BTU 120 volt is available.

[seaeagle2]

The company I work for installs (and I service) minispilts in residential applications. Couple issues I see, its got a lot of sensitive electronic boards, they don't like power surges etc, so you'd need to be sure you had really clean power. I've having a hard time visualizing how you'd mount the outdoor unit. Also all the ones I'm familiar with are 240 volt.

[GordonThree]

tpi wrote:

Fitting in the big parts would be the issue. RV AC units are compact and very space effective. The tradeoff is low efficiency and noise.

Maybe if they started doing it in Elkhart, they could take care of hiding the "big" parts. Build a condenser unit that can lay flat rather than stand upright, it shouldn't look too out of place on the roof.

For the travel trailer, the nose cabinets box could easily be reworked to contain the evaporator unit, and still offer storage on either side.

For a fifth wheel, the dual evaps would really be nice, one condenser and two evaporators ... bigger evap in the living room, smaller evap in the bedroom.

[tpi]

One thing would be great for RV use: The compressor variable speed, and the head unit can be set to a "dry" setting or very low fan speed at night. Mine is almost inaudible when in dry mode. It should be plenty of cooling for an RV at night, and keep the humidity down. Almost no noise. The outside unit is quiet too if running slowly, but I would think you would want to rubber mount it from the RV frame and possibly mount it away from sleeping locations.

The heat pump feature is very useful and effective. They are good to a lower temperature than RV roof air heat pumps.

Don't underspec the size of the unit, these can run more efficiently at part output vs. full output.

Fitting in the big parts would be the issue. RV AC units are compact and very space effective. The tradeoff is low efficiency and noise.

[Slownsy]

A lot of peaple installing them in FW in Australia, and they are a loot quieter, cheaper, and use less power than the roof rattlers, and seme to last ok.
Frank.

[colliehauler]

What would be the cost difference? A rv a/c is around $600.

[GordonThree]

I wonder how their mechanical parts would hold up to driving around?

Granted, a lot of people drive their RV once/twice/never, it just stays parked somewhere - probably work great in those cases.

[ryanw821]

I found this example on an older trailer on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHDT5ZEpKkw
Been done, but I can't say that it will work for everyone's setup.

[tpi]

Not in my RV but in my house. There is a maximum amp draw on these, and they have variable amp draw depending on how much work they're doing. I've seen my 12K home unit as low as 300-350 watts. They are much quieter than RV ac units. One of their tactics to get efficiency is large coil sizes, especially condensing unit. I have the 12K split and a 36K BTU unit side by side outside my house and it is remarkable how large the 12K condenser is in proportion. This may present a problem for RV installation. Mini Split units come in 120 and 240 volt spec. The split units come in various BTU sizes and some with multiple heads for one condensing unit.

Again check physical sizes of the components for RV usage. Just off the top of my head, I'd say possibility in very large basement storage compartment setup with good airflow pattern.

[colliehauler]

What's the current draw with a split unit? Never seen one small enough for a rv.