How cool does your motorhome get inside? - Page 2

FrontRangeRVer · 07-31-2006, 12:24 PM

I used a laser thermometer gun and measured the temperatures on various places inside my motorhome while the outside temp was 97 and the inside was 78 (thermostat set on 69....basement air couldn't catch up)

ceiling (not under the ducts): 78
ceiling (under the ducts): 66
the ceiling where the walls connect and there is no insulation, only the aluminum extruded hook together stuff: 99
Inside Walls where they hook to the ceiling: 99
Inside Walls in the middle of the wall: 82
Window frames (we have dual paned glass): 103

Air intake temp: 78
Air from vents: 55

Both compressors running, no leaks in rear cap (that I can tell by laying underneath unit and reaching up and aiming temp gun and various places)

So....there is no insulation where the ceiling connects to the walls (the whole curved area outside is aluminum with only the fiberglas laying over it). Remember also, that our roofs are only formed fitted styrofoam between two 1'8" pieces of luan. There is no metal duct work...

Seems that the insulating factor on Winnebagos are lacking...just my $.02 worth.

Navy Flier · 07-31-2006, 12:30 PM

For those interested, there is a very good article on RV A/C in the latest issue (Aug) of the FMCA magazine.

Hikerdogs · 08-01-2006, 03:58 AM

This morning we're heading out for a few days so I thought I'd get the coach cool before we hit the road. The temperature outside was 89*F when I started the AC less than an hour ago. The inside temp is already down to 75*F and continues to drop. I'll probably shut it off at around 73*.

RTZ6885 · 08-01-2006, 06:10 AM

Mine works great. No issues

BucknJeff · 08-02-2006, 04:29 AM

A few thoughts and observations...

Like many here, we have found that the heat load on our 2004 Horizon 40AD is more than the Winnie supplied basement air can handle. As many have suggested, in various ways, preventing additional heat gain is the least expensive and easiest way to improve a/c efficiency. Less to cool IS less to cool.

However, with our awnings deployed, shades on, systems operating properly, ducting in order, etc, we cant muster more than 79 on a hot day. (We are not willing to put reflective foil in the windows of our coach, we don't care for the look, and at close to $300K, we feel we shouldn't have to)

While many may find that acceptable, we do not. Comfort is somewhat of a personal decision. Too warm is just too warm, no matter the number it happens at for you. We think it not unreasonable to expect that the cooling system be designed to have sufficient capacity to cool the coach to at least 76, and easily keep it there.

I think Winnie did what they could in terms of basic design, and may well have known that there was a deficit in their design or heat load calculations. But think about it. They tout the basement air as the answer! If they had to admit, by offering an optional third a/c unit on the roof (like most large mid to high-line manufacturers do) they would seem to contradict their own marketing. I get that. I also understand that they inexplicably omit insulation in areas that are easy and inexpensive to insulate, and would seemingly not pose any issues in terms of serviceability, etc. The cabinet over the front of the coach is a great example. It's totally uninsulated! Such foolishness... We insulated ours and it helped tremendously. Then there is the roof roll area, where the walls join the roof structure. Surely they could make a foam extrusion that laid in that space and at least helped thermal efficiency. There are countless other areas. We have addressed as many of them as we can.

But in the end, we installed a Carrier low-profile, high-efficiency roof air unit in the kitchen last year. At only 7.5 inches tall, and considerably lighter than any other model we could find, it does the trick. We can now keep the interior comfortable regardless of the exterior temp. Contrary to the person that expressed concerns about amp load, etc we have had no trouble with overloading or circuit breaker tripping. We carefully monitor incoming voltage via our inverter (we replaced ours with a Prosine the day we took delivery) and have a unique cord setup. Our "third" roof unit is wired back to the circuit breaker box through the electrical cord bay. We have installed a disconnect point there, allowing us to choose if the power for the third unit comes from the coach or we can attach a twist on "shore cord" allowing us to run it to the pedestal and plug it in to the 20 amp outlet. This way, if we only have 30 amp service, we can put the extra load on the pedestal and not on the coach (which wouldn't work anyway) As many of you know, most pedestals are not fused at 30 amps, but rather have separate 20 and 30 amp breakers, and are part of a larger buss. The extra load on the pedestal works out just fine this way. To date, we have not had any problems with this configuration.

Now... on to the real monster. Try cooling the coach while going down the road on a hot day! Not going to happen. We have a torrent of hot air that erupts from under the bed while we are driving at highway speeds. No manner of intervention from Winnie has been able to slow it to the point that the A/C can keep up. As best as I can understand, there is a gap somewhere in the firewall or the substructure that allows hot engine warmed air to be "sucked in" as the coach goes down the road. The only way we can minimize this effect is to keep the dash air on full speed, in the "normal" setting, which "pressurizes" the coach and slows it a bit. Sometime soon, I am going to redesign the upper bulkhead area of the electrical cord compartment, and create a seal there, and see if that is part of the problem. I should mention that we also put foam in our outdoor vent openings (dryer and kitchen micro fan) to help lessen the vacuum effect.

All in all, our Winnie is still built and engineered better than anything else we can find in this price range. Sure, there are shortcomings, (some of them maddening!) but overall, we still love it.

I guess I can get off of my soap box now...

rvten · 08-02-2006, 08:08 AM

OK about 92 outside right now. AC set for 79. I checked the air coming out of the ceiling vents. It is 67 deg. We also run a fan that helps the air movement when AC turns off for those few minutes. Better in here than out side.

FrontRangeRVer · 08-07-2006, 06:31 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by BucknJeff:
A few thoughts and observations...

Like many here, we have found that the heat load on our 2004 Horizon 40AD is more than the Winnie supplied basement air can handle.

I think Winnie did what they could in terms of basic design, and may well have known that there was a deficit in their design or heat load calculations.

I also understand that they inexplicably omit insulation in areas that are easy and inexpensive to insulate, and would seemingly not pose any issues in terms of serviceability, etc. The cabinet over the front of the coach is a great example. It's totally uninsulated! Such foolishness... We insulated ours and it helped tremendously. Then there is the roof roll area, where the walls join the roof structure. Surely they could make a foam extrusion that laid in that space and at least helped thermal efficiency. There are countless other areas.

All in all, our Winnie is still built and engineered better than anything else we can find in this price range. Sure, there are shortcomings, (some of them maddening!) but overall, we still love it. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

All 4 of these points are my thoughts EXACTLY! Good post!!

mrschwarz · 08-08-2006, 01:38 AM

I have an 01 Suncruiser with regualar AC. It was 103 here on Sunday and the inside temp was 78 with the termostat set at 75. It seems that was the limit of the AC.

GG1 · 08-08-2006, 03:07 AM

In reference to insulating in the front cabinets. Do you just pull down the carpeted ceiling panels and shove it in or is there more to it?? That area gets extremely hot. Usually I leave the cabinets open in very hot weather.

tderonne · 08-08-2006, 03:14 AM

No one caught SMLRanger's mention of full body paint and the sun. That has to be part of the cooling issue with some coaches, no?

Our AC in our non-full body paint and only 30' of interior motorhome works pretty well. Not a big AC kind of people though, 78 or so on a hot day is just fine for us. But it does make sense that a 40' full body painted unit would need more cooling capacity.

Love to hear about uninsulated areas. Our front cap is sprayed with foam if I'm remembering right. Our step well was very cold in the winter, thought about some insulation there. What other areas should I look at (that I might be able to improve)?

Just wish our darned thermostat didn't quit last weekend out!

smlranger · 08-08-2006, 04:06 AM

Tim:

I raised the question about body paint....

"Now I'd love to have a rig with FBP but I do wonder if the rigs with more white do better in full sun."

I guess if you have enough BTU's you can overcome it but with some of the dark colors I see on many rigs, would think that plays a role.

tderonne · 08-08-2006, 07:07 AM

How about that? (re: my edited post above)

I breezed right over that mention. I agree, the dark colors have really got to hurt.

Rick Stephenson · 08-12-2006, 06:28 AM

One of the things I discovered in my 2003 Adventurer 33V (to my dismay) is that the ventwork connected to the air conditioner had seperated. I was air conditioning the air outside! I compared mine to another Adventurer of the same year and length and found his was attached with a couple of screws and mine was not. I also discovered that the metal tape used to connect the two vertical vents on mine had seperated, his was fine.
After repairing it with the help of a couple of other Winnebago owners, it has kept the coach at 72 degrees easily.
The only thing I can think of as to why the other Adventurer had his ventwork attached and not mine was due to budget contraints at Winnebago. My unit has an Adventurer decal beside the entrance door and his does not!

smlranger · 08-12-2006, 11:51 AM

Suggest anyone with a Winne with any years on it to check the ductwork in the rear. While my AC has been cooling fine, I removed the panel in the engine compartment and the duct was leaking cold air along the entire length of the seam on the side. Cleaned and re-taped with metallic flex duct tape and it is now tight. Took only about 15 minutes.

mrschwarz · 08-12-2006, 06:06 PM

I have an 01 Suncruiser 32V. Where can I find this duct?

NeilV · 08-12-2006, 06:46 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by mrschwarz:
I have an 01 Suncruiser 32V. Where can I find this duct? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Mounted to the back of your basement air unit at the right rear of your coach.

NeilV · 08-12-2006, 06:53 PM

Got my coach back Friday and spent Saturday at the beach. 95 in the shade and 105 in the sun when the coach got below 73 I put it back to a more reasonable temp as all the ladies were getting too upset to continue. It seemed like it was keeping up quite well and would have brought it down into the 60's if I hadn't stopped it.

Regards,

FrontRangeRVer · 08-12-2006, 07:23 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by mrschwarz:
I have an 01 Suncruiser 32V. Where can I find this duct? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Its alot different with gas units than it is with deisel units. Mine (and YOURS) is gas...there is no way you can check the whole duct to the ceiling without taking off the rear cap. Our arms only go so far from underneath the coach. Only way I checked, is with a flashlight and a Thermo temp gun and there was no leakage...I would LOVE to have the cap off though and re-tape the connections though.

mrschwarz · 08-13-2006, 03:59 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by FrontRangeRVer:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by mrschwarz:
I have an 01 Suncruiser 32V. Where can I find this duct? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Its alot different with gas units than it is with deisel units. Mine (and YOURS) is gas...there is no way you can check the whole duct to the ceiling without taking off the rear cap. Our arms only go so far from underneath the coach. Only way I checked, is with a flashlight and a Thermo temp gun and there was no leakage...I would LOVE to have the cap off though and re-tape the connections though. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Oh.

smlranger · 08-13-2006, 06:45 AM

Michael:

While the configuration of your coach is different than the DP's, might suggest you contact Winnebago and inquire how to best access the duct.