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Travel Trailer AC Weak ~ Heartland Wilderness ~ Any others?

Campin__Nana
Explorer
Explorer
Hello,

I am new to the RV.net forums. My husband and I are looking to get a TT and have a question.

Today we went to look at a 2014 Heartland Wilderness 2850BH. We did some research beforehand and noticed just a couple posts on the internet pertaining to weak and inefficient AC with Heartlands. Sure enough, when we went to look at this unit today, it was very, very warm inside. The air had only been on for 15 minutes before we arrived and it was around 95 here today. By the time we left, the AC had been on for 1 hour and 15 minutes and it was still way too warm in there for us. There is no way I could have slept comfortably in there.

Has anyone else had this problem? Are Heartland's known for this? Any other manufacturer's we should know about having this trouble? Any suggestions? We loved the TT, but no way we could use it in the summer. Thank you.
28 REPLIES 28

PAThwacker
Explorer
Explorer
Calicajun wrote:
I own a 2014 Heartland Wilderness 2775RB the AC will cool the TT down but could be a little stronger. I suggest before you buy check all the weight ratings. My Heartland Wilderness cargo weight is so low that if I fill the water tank the trailer is over its weight limit. Meaning I can't put anything less in the trailer. No clothes, food or non water drink.


I just took a look at that. Wow. Published 890lbs. Probably 400 after or less after options. Full hookups are in your future for sure.
2015 Keystone Springdale Summerland 257rl
Tow vehicle: 2003 GMC K1500 ext lb
Previous: 14 years of 3 popups and a hybrid tt

Campin__Nana
Explorer
Explorer
GoPackGo wrote:
Also, remember that just about all the manufacturers use the same AC units in their rigs - all made by Dometic, either a 13,500 btu or 15,000 btu unit. And now most are tied into ductwork. This is fine, but when you have a zillion outlets, that means the airflow is relatively small in each when there is just one AC unit working. Also remember that the cool air must travel thru the ductwork above the ceiling where it's hot just like the attic in your home.

I have a 35 ft Heartland with 2 AC units - one is 15k and the other is 13.5k. That's what's needed to cool it when it's sitting in the sun on a 90 degree day. The larger unit also has the fast cool vent system that lets you bypass the ductwork and dump all the cold air straight down into the living room. This will cool that room in a big hurry.

One last thing. These are 3-speed units. They start on high, then switch to the middle fan speed, and eventually to the slowest fan speed when things get cooled down. I do not know if all have this feature so you might want to ask.


Thank you, GoPackGo for all your helps on my questions!

GoPackGo
Explorer
Explorer
Also, remember that just about all the manufacturers use the same AC units in their rigs - all made by Dometic, either a 13,500 btu or 15,000 btu unit. And now most are tied into ductwork. This is fine, but when you have a zillion outlets, that means the airflow is relatively small in each when there is just one AC unit working. Also remember that the cool air must travel thru the ductwork above the ceiling where it's hot just like the attic in your home.

I have a 35 ft Heartland with 2 AC units - one is 15k and the other is 13.5k. That's what's needed to cool it when it's sitting in the sun on a 90 degree day. The larger unit also has the fast cool vent system that lets you bypass the ductwork and dump all the cold air straight down into the living room. This will cool that room in a big hurry.

One last thing. These are 3-speed units. They start on high, then switch to the middle fan speed, and eventually to the slowest fan speed when things get cooled down. I do not know if all have this feature so you might want to ask.

allen8106
Explorer
Explorer
The camper is big. No single air conditioner is going to cool it down in an hour on a hot day. It's going to take several hours and likely through the night. Partly because everything inside the trailer is hot and it has to cool all the furnishings and walls down also. Partly because the rig is big. I strongly recommend two AC's for a rig this big. I had a 32 foot Puma TT and had the same issue. I now have a 34 foot Jayco 5ver with two AC's and no issues.
2010 Eagle Super Lite 315RLDS
2018 GMC Sierra 3500HD 6.6L Duramax

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RedRocket204
Explorer
Explorer
Campin'_Nana wrote:
RedRocket204 wrote:
Does the AC seem to blow cold air direct out of the AC unit? If it does, probably poorly sealed ducts.

There are many YouTube videos that show this specific issue, model nonspecific.

http://youtu.be/AzdQoDublzs


It did seem to blow decently from the AC Unit, but we didn't think the air blew very hard from the ducts at all. I even closed all the ceiling vents on the main unit and when I went in the bedroom, I could barely feel any air on the back of my hand when I put it up by the vent.

Thank you for the youtube link. We will check it out.


And yes, what you describe is a situation I just fixed on my TT. We just returned home from vacation where we were in Durango, CO and Williams, AZ and there were times where the TT was not cooling as well as it should have. If you watch that video, you will clearly see that the exhaust and intake/return of a RV AC unit are right next to each other. Now, pull off the internal plastic shroud and look at how they are sealed... or lack of being sealed. What I found was that it was possible the AC unit intake/return was pulling in air possibly from outside and also from the AC exhaust... leaving warmer air within the TT cabin. As well, the two ducts were so badly sealed that cool air was going into the TT ceiling, not the actual cabin. All together, my AC unit was not cycling the air like a well designed HVAC system should. I do believe that some of the poor seals were exacerbated by multiple years of travel where it got slightly worse over time.

So, I did as the video suggested and used a lot of aluminum duct tape to seal off both sides of my AC unit along with completely sealing up the area so the two ducts are getting air forced into the ducts. Now when I have the AC on and the main AC exhaust slider closed, the ceiling vents fed by the ducts are blowing much, much better. This should greatly help to push the cold air into the TT away from the AC unit and also allow the AC unit to "intake" the warm air... again, like a proper HVAC system should.

I do understand you have not purchased a RV yet so being able to dig into the AC unit may not be allowed. However, the important note here is that properly sealing off an AC unit is a direct result of the quality factor of the RV build. There are not a lot of different AC units used on RVs, so chances are you will see the same model AC unit from RV to RV brand.

But as mentioned by many others, insulation value is also very important. Mine does have decent insulation, not the best but pretty good, but I was faced with a situation where the ceiling vents were not blowing much air through them, restricting the AC effectiveness.
I love me some land yachting

tatest
Explorer II
Explorer II
Another thing to consider, a RV sitting closed up in the sun can get much warmer inside than the outside air. On a 70 F day, mine will heat to more than 100 F if closed up. On a 100 F day, it is possible to walk into a 140 F to 160 F oven, RV sitting closed up in sunlight.

So the first step in cooling one down, no matter how hot outside, is to open all the windows and turn on the vent fans, replacing the 140-160 F air with 90-100 F air. Then the A/C is starting out cooling 90-100 down to 70-80, rather than trying to cool 140-160 down to 120-140, then 100-120, and so on in very gradual stages. Just like when you get into a car that's been setting in the sun, you open the windows and move to blow the hot air out, before trying to cool it with the A/C. Or maybe people don't do that anymore.
Tom Test
Itasca Spirit 29B

opnspaces
Navigator II
Navigator II
Campin'_Nana wrote:

"If the temperature in side your coach is 100 degrees when you turn on the air conditioner, it will only put out 80 degrees. Eventually the air inside the coach will cool, and as it cools, the air put out by the air conditioner will cool also. However, when starting out at 100 degrees, this cooling could take several hours before it reaches your desired temperature. Therefore, if you know the weather will be hot, turn your air conditioner on early.".

We've read a lot about the quality of Jayco's. Maybe we need to find one and look at it and see how the AC cools in another model. !


No that 20 degree difference is the same whether you're looking at a RV air conditioner or a house air conditioner. It's just the physics of how air conditioning works. I think it's good though that Heartland is trying to explain it and maybe head off dissatisfaction about a problem that they have no control over. Here's what it is saying.

the AC can only cool 20 degrees colder than the air it's cooling.

Imagine it's a 100 degree day when you go to your trailer in storage. Since the trailer has been soaking up the heat all day it's also 100 degrees inside the trailer. So you turn on the air conditioner.

Inside air at 100 degrees goes into the AC, air at 80 degrees comes out of the AC.
After a while the 80 degree air coming out of the AC cools the trailer to 95 degrees. So now inside air at 95 degrees goes into the AC and 75 degree air comes out of the AC.

That cycle repeats cooling the trailer until the desired temperature is reached and the thermostat shuts off the AC.

While it sounds simple, there is a problem with this. Unfortunately our trailers are not well sealed nor are they well insulated. So while your AC is working hard with the 20 degree difference that physics allow, the trailer is leaking in 100 degree heat from the outside. If the heat coming onto the trailer through leaks, through the windows and through the insulation is greater than the AC's ability to cool the trailer then it just won't cool down.

Another way to look at it is it works the same as your home refrigerator. Your refrigerator is well sealed and insulated so it maintains the cold. But if you were to simulate a trailer with AC and open the door multiple times, or crack the refrigerator door open, it would heat up inside. There is nothing wrong the the refrigerator, it's just that you didn't close the door so the cold is getting out and the heat is getting in.

Your trailer is the same as the refrigerator and that is why people are saying they cover windows,finding and plugging leaks, leaving the door closed, closing vents, parking in the shade etc. That's the best that we can do with the leaky poorly insulated boxes (travel trailer) that the manufacturers sell us.

So back to Heartland. Yes it is possible that the Heartland is not sealed as well as other models. But I can tell you that my Jayco doesn't cool very well either. I will say though that I have 4 very active kids in that trailer so there are six bodies adding heat and the door is being opened and closed all the time.

I think ultimately it's an odds game. All trailers are mass produced and some of those are produced poorly. So if a manufacturer builds 5 trailers a day, two of those trailers (first built and built of the day) are possibly assembled with less care than the ones in the middle. So when you buy a trailer you might get one that is sealed better than another. You just won't know until you buy it and try it.
.
2001 Suburban 4x4. 6.0L, 4.10 3/4 ton **** 2005 Jayco Jay Flight 27BH **** 1986 Coleman Columbia Popup

Campin__Nana
Explorer
Explorer
RedRocket204 wrote:
Does the AC seem to blow cold air direct out of the AC unit? If it does, probably poorly sealed ducts.

There are many YouTube videos that show this specific issue, model nonspecific.

http://youtu.be/AzdQoDublzs


It did seem to blow decently from the AC Unit, but we didn't think the air blew very hard from the ducts at all. I even closed all the ceiling vents on the main unit and when I went in the bedroom, I could barely feel any air on the back of my hand when I put it up by the vent.

Thank you for the youtube link. We will check it out.

tatest
Explorer II
Explorer II
It is not so much that the A/C is weak is that it is too small for the heat load. The power available to RVs limits air conditioner capacity, and if your RV is too big for a single air condition, it needs more than one. Two units are fairly common once past 28-30 feet of box to cool, and three are real common at 40-45 foot length. I've seen as many as five RV air conditioners installed on high-end coaches that have the powerplant to run them, this helps manage climate for different zones.

A travel trailer that size in a warm climate, in sunlight, probably needs at least two units running to cool it down and maintain "cool" during daytime. If it needs two, it should have come with 50 amp service to run two. Not many travel trailer brands or models come this well equipped for heat, because us shoppers tend to favor low prices.

Heartland is a relatively new company, so I don't know where they've positioned themselves in the market. I don't think they are in luxury market only, so low price model lines might be less well equipped than what we expect in a premium RV. Wilderness is a lightweight model line, so likely to have thinner walls, floor, and ceiling to keep weight down.

At 32 feet, with a big slideout to leak additional heat, the model you are looking at should really have two A/Cs. My friends with a similar size Jayco lightweight find that they can't cool it down much past 85-90 in the summer sunlight, parked out by the lake shore, so in the daytime they will come sit in my heavier RV (walls 50% thicker, ceiling 4-6 inches of foam) which I've had the sense to park where shaded by trees most of the day.
Tom Test
Itasca Spirit 29B

BubbaChris
Explorer
Explorer
I don't think the issue was that specific unit. Only 1 AC for a unit that size is pushing it, but typical.

If it was 95 degrees outside and my Heartland TT was sitting in the direct sun I'd expect it to take 1-2 hours to get truly comfortable inside. But once it is comfortable, the system can keep up. We spent several days in Tuscon last year without shade and the A/C was on the whole time, it cycled appropriately and worked just fine.

As others have said, you have to plan ahead and manage any RV for very hot weather.

I have my TT pretty well buttoned up right now. Blinds are drawn, insulators in the 2 vents, and a foil barrier for the door window. It hit 104 here yesterday, but this morning it was only 77 inside the TT when I went in to put some gear away.

For the rest of the summer we'll probably be around 100 degrees when leaving home and heading to cooler spots to camp. When we get there we'll open the door and windows, then fire up the Fantastic Fan to pull as much hot air out of the unit as possible. And only if that is not enough to cool the unit will we fire up the AC.
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Samsonsworld
Explorer
Explorer
Kennedycamper wrote:
Most RV's over 30 ft in length, and in the full sun on a 93 degree day, will need 2 AC's to keep it comfortable.


Agreed. Wouldn't own one that big or even shorter with a large slide without a second a/c, but I'm in Texas where triple digits are common.

colliehauler
Explorer III
Explorer III
Most RV's are the same on A/C but there are things you can do to mitigate the problem. Turn on the A/C early before it gets hot, park in the shade, keep the blinds closed facing the sun, cook outside to not add heat to trailer, add a second A/C, camp in cooler place's of a summer (my favorite) .

Kennedycamper
Explorer
Explorer
Most RV's over 30 ft in length, and in the full sun on a 93 degree day, will need 2 AC's to keep it comfortable.

murphysranch
Explorer
Explorer
Yes, the air from your trailer will continue to recirculate and recirculate eventually cooling down the trailer. It WILL cool to make it comfortable, but you must put some foil roll up insulation on the big pic window, put pillows or something in those roof vents, and keep the shades drawn for a bit more insulation.
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