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Old 06-10-2020, 08:27 PM   #21
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Not cheaper

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Originally Posted by BVThunder View Post
Here is a cheaper DIY suggestion. Get a cheap, small A/C unit that will fit one of your windows. Seal it in the window opening. Most campground pedestals have both 30 and 50 amp connections. Get the proper adapters and a heavy and shortest run extension cord length that will work. You should be able to snag enough amps off the 50 amp plug to run a small A/C. This is the way we air conditioned our first Toyota Chinook RV.
Cheaper than $35??
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Old 06-10-2020, 08:28 PM   #22
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One thing I did was buy a roll of insulated sheeting from amazon

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and I cut it to fit the windshield. I put this in before closing curtain on front window, it seems to help.
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Old 06-10-2020, 08:37 PM   #23
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There are a number of low cost options for dealing with this:

First thing is to cover the big magnifying glass up front from the outside with a light colored sunshade.

Change or Clean the AC filter WEEKLY and be sure to clean the coils at least annually. The previous owners did not keep the coils clean on mine so it took a number of cleanings before I got them fully clean and free flowing. I would have needed to remove the unit and disassemble it to get it done in one session.

Keep the roof clean and white so it does not become heat soaked and resist the temptation to paint it a color. In sunny hot locations "White is Right" as far as roofs are concerned.

If you do not already have them, install roof vent covers to keep direct sun from beating directly on the vent lids. The lids will last longer too. Also be sure to insert an insulating vent cushion from the inside to make up for the insulation removed when they cut the hole for the vent in the roof.

Deploy your main awning and keep it pitched as close to the ground as practical without turning it into a head banger to keep the sun from beating on the side of your Motor Home with the entry door.

Avoid cooking meals inside that take a long time to cook or involve boiling pots. There are three burners on your stove (1 @ 9,000 BTU and 2 @ 6,500 BTU) which combined put out 22,000 BTU's of heat plus an oven so using them especially for long periods of time can easily overwhelm a 15,000 BTU Air Conditioner when its over 100 degrees out. I use a 2 burner electric buffet range or a portable gas grill outside when its hot and humid here in Florida. Think 100 degrees real and 120 or more effective due to humidity so high your clothes can take hours to dry out on a clothes line. Walmart has a basic 2 burner electric model for around $23. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays...rner/273668612

Avoid Long Hot Showers meaning showers longer than 2 to 5 minutes using more than tepid water and be sure to turn off the water when not wetting or rinsing off.

Use external sun screens or awnings on the side windows and if window awnings are used keep them pitched down to prevent the sun from shining directly on the windows.

If boon docking and running the generator consider using a fan to blow the heat from the generator out from under the coach. Even after the generator has turned off it can take hours for the heat to dissipate after its been turned off.

Have reasonable expectations. Too many from the North come down to Florida and expect to literally cool their motor homes to temperatures in the 70 degree range or lower while the accepted norm for the locals here is a chilly 80 to 82 degrees so that they will be better acclimated to deal with the temperatures when they step outside. You really won't have much Fun in the Sun when your body is acclimated to temperatures much below 80 and the effective temperatures outside are between 110 and 130.

If you have the PowerLine Management System in your coach it may already be set up to support a second AC unit on a 30 amp service. You do however need to be careful not to use high draw electrical items for extended times during the hottest parts of the day since PowerLine will turn off the second AC when other electrical loads outside of its control are turned on.


I live in Florida and camp in sunny locations during the Dog Days of summer with my 30 amp 2001 Adventurer 35U. Yes it has a more residential system with two sets of condensers and two compressors however even on a 20 amp service running only 1 compressor using the methods listed above it is able to keep up plus its 4 feet longer and has more roof vents and windows than the Intent 31P.
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Old 06-11-2020, 05:50 AM   #24
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Does anyone put shade awnings on their not entrance side?
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Old 06-11-2020, 08:00 AM   #25
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We live in the Phoenix area so this is a continuing problem for us. We have a 24 foot Winnebago Fuse with a single 13,500 BTU air conditioner and I have given up trying to keep the inside of the RV livable while camping in the summer. We just go to higher elevations - Payson, Heber, Show Low, the New Mexico mountains north of Silver City or around Santa Fe or southern Utah.

In the late Spring and early Fall we are also careful down here but we do try to mitigate the heat by always using reflector window coverings, putting the awning out to keep the side of the RV from getting direct sunlight, closing all of the roof vents and using electric appliances instead of the stove to heat food. We also direct the AC to the rear of the RV where the bedroom is in an effort to try to lower the area that the AC has to cool but we realize that the AC unit can only do so much in cooling the air. We also have a track for a curtain that can be used to close off the bedroom but that can be iffy because it also tends to close off the cooler air from reaching the bedroom. And, of course, we try to camp in the shade if possible, even at the higher elevations since the sun is strong there as well.

When we bring the RV home to prepare for the trip we wait until later in the evening so that it will not sit in the baking sun while we are putting our stuff in it and we try to run the AC at night so that it will be cooler in the morning and the refrigerator will not have such a burden in trying to cool the food.

As tough as it is to cope with the summer heat here the flip side is that the winters are just wonderful ...
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Old 06-11-2020, 08:21 AM   #26
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Originally Posted by AJMike View Post
We live in the Phoenix area so this is a continuing problem for us. We have a 24 foot Winnebago Fuse with a single 13,500 BTU air conditioner and I have given up trying to keep the inside of the RV livable while camping in the summer. We just go to higher elevations - Payson, Heber, Show Low, the New Mexico mountains north of Silver City or around Santa Fe or southern Utah.

In the late Spring and early Fall we are also careful down here but we do try to mitigate the heat by always using reflector window coverings, putting the awning out to keep the side of the RV from getting direct sunlight, closing all of the roof vents and using electric appliances instead of the stove to heat food. We also direct the AC to the rear of the RV where the bedroom is in an effort to try to lower the area that the AC has to cool but we realize that the AC unit can only do so much in cooling the air. We also have a track for a curtain that can be used to close off the bedroom but that can be iffy because it also tends to close off the cooler air from reaching the bedroom. And, of course, we try to camp in the shade if possible, even at the higher elevations since the sun is strong there as well.

When we bring the RV home to prepare for the trip we wait until later in the evening so that it will not sit in the baking sun while we are putting our stuff in it and we try to run the AC at night so that it will be cooler in the morning and the refrigerator will not have such a burden in trying to cool the food.

As tough as it is to cope with the summer heat here the flip side is that the winters are just wonderful ...
Well stated! Although the winters in Flagstaff are pretty iffy these days!

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Old 06-11-2020, 08:27 AM   #27
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Well stated! Although the winters in Flagstaff are pretty iffy these days!
I used to live in Utah and travel to Tucson every Christmas to visit relatives and I have to say that Flagstaff in December is not pleasant. In fact it is pretty much the coldest area I have ever driven through with the exception of the year I lived in the Alaska interior.

I drove through there one December years ago and there is a banked curve right as US 89 comes into north Flagstaff driving south and the road was so slick with ice that it felt like you could put the brakes on, get out of the car and just push it. No need for an engine or transmission.

Always struck me as odd how in 2 hours I went from "Wow. It is really cold" to "Wow. It is really warm" when I went from Flagstaff to Phoenix.
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Old 06-11-2020, 08:49 AM   #28
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What I did to help keep the RV cooler in very hot weather and easier to keep warm in very cold weather ...

I get a lot of heat gain / heat loss thru the single pane side windows and the winshield on my RV. Also on my RV the back side of the winshield is painted black on the upper third of it and that increased the temperature of the glass when sun was hitting it too.

- I removed panels in cabinets above the drivers and passenger seats and added fiberglass insulation behind them between the back side of the glass and cabinets, and added fiberglass between the top of cabinets and the fiberglass front cap. There was none there as it came from the factory.

- I covered the top part of the winshield that is painted black with white plastic on the outside of the winshield. This lowered the back side of the upper winshield temp by 25 F when the winshield was in sun.

- I bought 3/4" styrofoam insulation panels made to go between 1 by furring trips in basement remodels and trimmed them to fit inside the winshield glass from one side to the other. I use foam weatherstripping around edges of the panels to make them pretty much airtight and sized the panels so the weatherstripping compresses slightly which holds them in place. Same insulation panels cut to fit the single pane side windows.

- Carefree window awning over the large driver's side double pane main room window.

- There's no insulation on the back side of Vista basement compartments and the basement air space is connected to the interior air space of the RV thru the furnace return air vent, suspect yours is the same. Cover the return air vent to keep the hotter basement air out. I installed 3/4" styrofoam across the back sides of the basement storage compartments, mainly for better cold weather performance.

- There's no insulaton around the step well. I installed 3/4" styrofoam around the side walls of the step well that I could get to.
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Old 06-11-2020, 09:24 AM   #29
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As the first response indicates, either either artificial or natural shade would help a great deal. We used to go to my mom's winter place at Mesa in the summer and the only time we got too hot was at the zoo where no shade was available for people in most areas. As an aside, when she got down there months later she accused me of not turning off the water heater, but it was in an outside room and the water merely stayed hot due to the outside temps!

For me personally I'd just avoid these areas in the summer months. We keep our house very cool--65-67 degrees--so trying to sleep in say 75+ degree temps would be problematic for us.
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Old 06-12-2020, 06:47 PM   #30
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I painted my fiberglass RV roof with Henry Tropicool elastomeric roof coating. I live in Moab, Utah where it is usually over 100 degrees almost every day of June and July. (We are typically 10 degrees cooler than Phoenix on any given day.) The elastomeric coating is supposed to reflect much more of the sun's rays and is supposed to drop the inside ambient air temp by up to 20 degrees. I just did the coating a couple of month's ago, so we'll see how it does this summer. Attached are before and after photos. The before photo shows the color of the fiberglass roof after being scrubbed prior to the coating, so you can see it is not really very white.

Today the temp was over 90 degrees and I climbed on top of my motorhome with an infrared thermometer to check the temps. The white-coated roof in the sun was 92 degrees and I could very comfortably stand barefooted on it and was not even warm to the touch. I would have included a photo, but my wife says my feet aren't that pretty, so.... A section of the roof in the shade of a tree was also 92 degrees. The silver-painted trim on the roof cap was 126 degrees and the solar panel was 136 degrees, all in full sun at 3:00 pm, Mountain Daylight Time. The driveway was also 136 degrees and I definitely could NOT stand barefooted on it. Unfortunately, I don't have an uncoated section of fiberglass roof to make a comparison between coated and uncoated.

If the roof of your motorhome is not acting as a solar oven for your rig, then I think it has to help the load on the AC on hot days.

Go to their website at:
https://henry.com/retail/white-roof-coatings/887-tropi-cool-100-silicone-white-roof-coating"]https://henry.com/retail/white-roof-coatings/887-tropi-cool-100-silicone-white-roof-coating"]https://henry.com/retail/white-roof-coatings/887-tropi-cool-100-silicone-white-roof-coating

I also read a number of testimonials from others but couldn't find the link today. Sorry. Here is a link to a Youtube video and in the comments, he has updates after 3 years.

Just an idea that might help.
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Old 06-14-2020, 06:56 AM   #31
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Quote:
Originally Posted by al1florida View Post
They make an aluminum shelter to cover RV's. I don't know the proper term for the shelter.
It is basically posts holding up an aluminum roof that is about 14' from the ground to the bottom of the roof. Look around at RV parks and you should be able to find some covering RV's.

I's sure they are not cheap, probably $5K to $10K at least.

Double pane windows is not a cheap or easy upgrade. I doubt they work as well as the foil window coverings. Don't get me wrong, I love double pane windows, it really helps with temps in the 90's and you want to see out. But I think the foil works much better the hotter it gets.
Just returning from Arizona, I can attest to the stress 100+ temps put on my motorhome. I use foil on windows. I don't know how effective double pane would be in a motorhome. U see we have that huge windshield that we can't double pane. I believe another AC or at least a larger one would help the most.

Our summer home is here in Wisconsin where we had frost 2 evenings ago.
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