Adding roof AC - What brand & model?

[swreeder70]

I'm one of the "fortunate" people that suffers with insufficient basement air in our 2007 Adventurer 37b.

Last year we camped in direct sunlight where the heat index was in the 120's. On day one, we could not keep the inside under 90! Did a bunch of work and found the dreaded split duct issue. With a little work, we fixed that problem and that dropped our ambient temperature down to 80 inside the coach during peak heat in the day. Verified both compressors, thermostat and proper filter were part of the system..all this and it was day two of a 14 day trip.

So off to home depot and bought a portable AC unit. This worked, but took up a ton of floor space and lost some our seating area to vent the unit out a window. It also isn't very efficient.

I have decided after researching that adding a rooftop AC would be our best bet. Read up on all the posts here and found picture install instructions. We are going on a 12 week tour this summer and don't want to worry about staying cool and like the idea of two units.

My real question is what brands to avoid, what size in BTU's and anyone do a unit with the heat option as well?

Prices go from 450 on the low end up to 1,000

[Clifftall]

If you get the inside down to 80 with a heat index of 120 , I'd say you're doing ok. Is this roof top unit to be used in conjunction with the basement unit or instead of ?
Cliff

[swreeder70]

Originally Posted by Clifftall

If you get the inside down to 80 with a heat index of 120 , I'd say you're doing ok. Is this roof top unit to be used in conjunction with the basement unit or instead of ?
Cliff

Cliff, this is in conjunction with the basement air. This is a well known and documented problem with the basement air being insufficient in keeping up with hot environments, especially with dark colored coaches (mine is black). There are a lot of threads on this site and others that document this issue and how to add a second AC unit.

Trying to determine what unit to buy as there is a wide range of prices and options for roof AC units.

[Clifftall]

I had an 01 Winn Chieftain and never had an issue ( maybe cause I stayed away from 120 heat index ). I traveled to 49 States and all 10 Cdn Provinces without any discomfort. Hope you find a solution to yours.
Cliff

[edgray]

Originally Posted by swreeder70

I'm one of the "fortunate" people that suffers with insufficient basement air in our 2007 Adventurer 37b.......

I have decided after researching that adding a rooftop AC would be our best bet. Read up on all the posts here and found picture install instructions........

My real question is what brands to avoid, what size in BTU's and anyone do a unit with the heat option as well?

I have a trusted friend at an RV dealership who highly recommended ADVENT brand roof-top units. Here is a link to the Advent products on an un-related retailer's site:
Advent Air Conditioner on Sale - PPL Motor Homes

Because of their refusal to honor my warranty on my basement unit, I'm not likely to ever buy again from "Coleman" which is actually RVP.

FWIW, I'm also considering adding a roof-top unit to augment the poor performance of the basement A/C.

[swreeder70]

Originally Posted by edgray

I have a trusted friend at an RV dealership who highly recommended ADVENT brand roof-top units. Here is a link to the Advent products on an un-related retailer's site:
Advent Air Conditioner on Sale - PPL Motor Homes

Because of their refusal to honor my warranty on my basement unit, I'm not likely to ever buy again from "Coleman" which is actually RVP.

FWIW, I'm also considering adding a roof-top unit to augment the poor performance of the basement A/C.

I was the Advent AC units but saw this warning from Dometic

Buyer Beware: Look-Alike RV Rooftop Air Conditioners Hit Market
ELKHART, Ind. – Dometic is issuing a consumer warning that its Brisk Air RV air conditioner and heat pump models appear to have been counterfeited by a Chinese company and are now being sold into the RV industry under the brand name Advent.

Full details here: Look-Alike RV Air Conditioners - Dometic

[dc8cappie]

I added a Coleman MachIII 13,500 PS to the roof of my Maridian 39K.

I bought the unit when it was on sail with free shipping (forgot the cost).

I had a mobile RV Service install it with a seperate auto-tranfer relay so that I can power it from either the 20amp pedistal outlet or from the main coach 50amp breaker panel.

[TXiceman]

For roof top A/C units, my preference is Coleman then Dometic. The Advent are cheap Chinese copies of the Dometics, complete with design flaws.

The reason the Advents cost less is they are built cheaper.

Ken