Caravan Air Conditioning

Hi Jon,

Do not even bother getting a caravan air con system but get a normal domestic house one. Several caravan manufacturers are now fitting them to caravans and they have several advantages. Certainly much cheaper in that they are about 1/3 the price of a Air Command system. People will say you cannot fit them because of the vibration when driving down the highway and this is rubbish. We used to fit them either to the front draw bar or the rear bumper bar of the caravan. You will nned a air con guy to connect it up for the gas but if you are a handyman you can do the fitting and the electrics.

It is a split system that I am talking about so the inside unit we usually mount above the bed. So if your bed is in the rear the outside unit will fit at the back of the van. It is far far quieter as well. Almost silent. If you are in South Australia, Humpback caravans fit them as standard when they manufacture a caravan.

As Graham says, modern domestic split systems now have a lot of fans among vanners - very keen pricing and quite compact. One of the mainstream domestic AC suppliers in my area is promoting the Chinese Haier brand (over Panasonic) - 5 year warranty (may be void if mobile though) - had a one room unit installed in a house - seems wonderfully quiet and effective. BTW - our van rooftop's Air Command Ibis is probably the lowest profile van AC around - we gave it an extended run up at Yulara a few months back on 38C days - it was ok, but seemed to be on its cooling limit.

Fit inverter domestic split system $500 - $700
Keep to the main line brands.
Fit on A frame and gas bottles to the opposite side of electrical connections
Do all the mounting yourself and get refrigeration tech to connect cable and copper pipes. Should be no more than $250
3,5kW for Coromal 20' van as poor insulation
2,5kW for Jayco Sterling 20' as excellent insulation
If you intend to use for heating in cold zones like -2C and below only brand to buy is Mitsubishi. For cooling Panason, LG, Haier, Daiken, Samsung

Air con? Open windows, let air flow through. All that's required!

We have owned vans with Air Command and Dometic roof top air cons. Both have been useless at cooling and heating and both have been very noisy. Our van is 20.5 ft and very well insulated.
In the tropics we are much better off with open windows and a fan or a chair outside in the shade! We carry a fan radiator for heating in caravan parks and have installed a gas heater for camping in cold weather.
We would not advise you going to any trouble or expense to install a roof top system. Also if you van does not have one installed at factory your roof may not be appropriately reinforced so the operation could be very expensive!
Good luck. Lynne and John

we have a 16ft poptop with saphir underbunk system, ducted 3 outlets in van....extremely quiet, freezing cold, it is under my single bed and doesn't bother me at all. hot air outlet goes through the floor, along with condensation.

small unit, all in one, 290 mm high.

our opinion is highly recommend.
keith