Adding front A/C - Need recommendations

[Grady23]

Looking in to adding a front A/C unit for better cooling. I'm looking at the Coleman ultra unit w/o the heat strip. It's a 9K BTU unit and should be plenty for that small space. The 5'er isn't pre-wired and I was told today the simplest way is to just add a single 110/30 amp twist-lock connection on the outside and route it thru a circuit breaker to the ceiling unit. I would need to do so since the main power panel is for 30 AMP service. Your thoughts or suggestions.
PS-- The dealer has mentioned a price of $1400 to install.

[Endricken]

I installed a Coleman Mach low profile 13.5K AC last year in our bedroom (RV was prewired).
If I had to do it over again I would get a Dometic Brisk Air 2, like the one we got as a replacement for our main AC. The new Brisk Air 2 is lighter and much quieter, albeit it would be higher.

[me1magoo]

See what the power load really is. I added a 13.5k unit to our previous 5'er several years ago. It only pulled about 13 amps at full load, so I used a simple Marinco 15 amp plug in the outside wall and ran the wire from the vent in the bedroom over and down the wall to the hole cut in the wall for the plug. The vent area was very strong and the weight of the 13.5k unit was not excessive and we never had a problem with it. I recommend the 13.5 unit because you won't need extra heavy power to run it but it will help give your main unit a break on hot days you can cycle it off and let it defrost without getting too warm in the trailer.
The other BIG thing to consider is that many parks only have 30 amp service allowing a 30 amp plug and another 15 amp plug on the post. You will likely be able to get away with a standard load on the 30 amp line running to the trailer and running the 2nd a/c on the other line, but be aware of your voltage (keep a voltmeter plugged in where you can monitor it or put an alarm sensor on a plug). I ran many many days over 90-100 degrees with both a/c's cranking away on 30 amp sites since I was using the second plug separate for the 15 amp plug running the 2nd a/c. It never shut down except the few times the whole area went down due to high surge loads.

So- my .02 is to put in the 13.5k unit and run a 15 amp plug in the wall so you can hook up without a second 30 amp circuit.

[Grady23]

Thanks for the responses -- REWahoo -- I've already considered the additional clearance issues -- Thanks. Having the additional 30 amp service would be nice if an extra heater was needed. I might see if my neighbor who is and electrical engineer will give me a hand on this.

[padredw]

In our experience, as stated just above, the second AC is not so much for cooling the bedroom area as for assisting in cooling the entire trailer, especially after driving on a very hot afternoon. It really helped as we arrived here in Taos, New Mexico, day before yesterday.

In fact, we have never used the bedroom AC at night while we were sleeping. Sometimes we turn off the main AC in the evening and allow the beroom AC to keep the living area cool.

We wouldn't be without the second AC but, in our case, we actually run it far less than the main AC--probably not 10% of the time--or less.

We have never been in weather so hot that we had to run both ACs all the time. Once we get it cooled down the main AC handles the load.

Just sharing our experience.

EDIT TO ADD: We went ahead with a 15 K unit. Very little difference in cost. We got one of the last Carrier units because it was the lowest profile available. Sadly, no longer made.

[Charlie_D_]

I would go with the 13.5 BTU because a second AC not only cols the bedroom but really help cool the rest of the camper on hot days. Especially after getting to a campground.

[REWahoo]

Grady23 wrote:
Looking in to adding a front A/C unit for better cooling. I'm looking at the Coleman ultra unit w/o the heat strip. It's a 9K BTU unit and should be plenty for that small space. The 5'er isn't pre-wired and I was told today the simplest way is to just add a single 110/30 amp twist-lock connection on the outside and route it thru a circuit breaker to the ceiling unit. Your thoughts or suggestions.
PS-- The dealer has mentioned a price of $1400 to install.

I went this same route three years ago but with a larger unit. It has worked very well for us.

The dealer charged $1300 which included a 30 amp shore power cord and the addition of a 110v outlet wired into the circuit where it routes through an internal wall. This allows us to run another electric heater in cold weather.

Note: be sure to check the new height of your rig with the additional unit on top.

[N6761U]

I added the coleman mach 8 13.5 to my Big Country before we left Northern Ca. last month, glad I did. We first went to the Las Vegas area and it was hot. The second air worked great, helped to keep the 5er nice and cool. Once we went over Vail pass in the Rockies, didn't need it any more. Rain wind and more Rain. Now it is starting to warm up and should be needing it. Installed it myself, piece of cake, did need longer bolts for the install. You will need help to get it on the roof, weights about 90 lbs. Need a heat gun to help remove the old caulking from on old vent, just follow the instructions to crank the bolts down to seal the gasket and its a plug and play. There are some videos on You tube that show how to install if you need a little encouragement. All in all, I would do it again.

[TakingThe5th]

I was able to snake extra wiring through the ceiling of my 2008 318SAB. I had removed the frig to replace the drain hose and found that I had excellent access to the power panel and the ceiling from behind the frig. I lowered some ceiling lights and found that I could fish wires through the ceiling. I ran wires to the ceiling vent in the kitchen and replaced it with a Maxifan. I also ran wires to the bedroom vent but never installed a fan or A/C.

My 318SAB only had 30 amp service which would not support two A/Cs very well, but if you have 50 amp service in your Cougar it should work well.

[captbru]

We put this same unit in our Lerado, works very well and also has the heat strip. We really like it. However our trailer was pre wired and pre framed around the vent for an A/C unit. Other's can offer wiring and roof reinforcement to hold weight.