CARAVAN AIR CONDITIONERS are they worth having??

ok, i haven't got numberplates, but i can still dream about going bush.

OK You're forgiven. Just establishing a pecking order, lol.

GB (WA) you better have Gone Bush (Top Dog) now??? LOL :-))))

What about Gone Bush (The real One) or Gone Bush Number One.

Gone Bush (The First) or (I), then of course SA could be Gone Bush (II) or even Child of Gone Bush. That may produce a few unseen problems at this stage.

A few too many JohnRs these days, so Moses had to come into view. I know JohnR is a good name though ;-)))) Only one cycling Garbutt...........

Child of Gone Bush ??? I don't think so. I don't remember sowing any wild oats in SA.

Phil, is it a Dometic B1900? If so what size Genny do you use? I've been told a Honda EU20 will run mine OK (Will find out when I pick my van up in a month or so) but a lot of websites recommend larger capacity gennies.

I hope I haven't made a blue here.

I have not got a gennie as yet, only been to parks.

Our van is 16f and this unit does an excellent job.

I have been told as you have, that a Honda EU20 is what I should get.

Phil, do some homework and give some thought to the Yamaha 2400. I see on a Caravan forum that it is selling for about the same price as the Honda and will be more suitable. It's bigger and a bit heavier unfortunately. But it will cope with the aircon and fridge etc better.

Seen them at Farmfest in Toowoomba. A real good looking unit. About 2.4 kva from memory and a lot cheaper than the Honda, Don`t rev as quick for the same result.

The company that had them at Farmfest also sell Honda's but were pushing Yamaha's.

As you said, weight and space becomes a problem.

Have a Dometic B1900 in the KK and use the Honda EU2.0i. It will also charge batteries at the same time and run some lights, though most of ours are LEDs. One of my KK owner contacts has the Yamaha 2.4 to run his.

Whoops.
here's the link:

Site Link

Be cautious about fitting one on the rear bumper as David has done. It shows no consideration for neighbours as the rear of your van in a typical park faces the outdoor area of your neighbour in the adjoining row. I for one would be most unhappy to have heat pumped into my awning area. It is also very vulnerable to bumps from behind. The only place to have an aircon in a caravan is roof mounted. It's out of the way, takes no interior space (a split system effectively uses 2 cupboards, and it causes minimum interference to neighbours.

Sorry Aandy,
But that's simply not ever an issue. Totally wrong!
My airconditioner is so quiet most people never even know it's running.
I've NEVER had a complaint because of noise, heat, or any other issue. Quite the opposite in fact. I've lost count of how many people have seen mine in operation..... (usually the "neighbours") and said "wish I'd done that!"

The simple fact is caravan aircons are crude noisy inefficient overpriced etc

Roof mounted are, without exception, noisy. I HATE having one next to me as it destroys any peace and quiet.
Cheers

Granted yours is quiet on the inside but I know what the neighbours are saying! I also know what Andy means - it's happened to me - I didn't complain - what would be the use? They aren't going to move their van or turn their aircon off. Don't understand your aggression to him and his opinion and in what way is a split system different to a roof mounted in terms of technology? We have a split system at home and it's great. It's quiet inside and the noise is outside where we can't hear it. Your noise is outside where you can't hear it too!!

CALM DOWN!!!

MIck, you say "CALM DOWN"....
"Granted yours is quiet on the inside but....."

Who's talking aggression????
What ARE you on about????
Seriously! All I'm doing is correcting a few mis-statements by Aandy- not "attacking him". If one makes a statement which is simply incorrect, one has to accept a correction to that statement. Pretty simple really.

Q. "in what way is a split system different to a roof mounted in terms of technology?"
A. In so many ways I'd have to post a few pages here to do it justice. But suffice to say: "Noise, price, efficiency, design features, operating modes......" etc.

When anyone compares caravan aircons, which are an engineering disgrace, to GOOD quality inverter domestic split systems, (not cheap Chinese rubbish) there is no contest. In fact comparing them is a bit like comparing a Concorde to a small executive jet, noise and efficiency-wise.

Mick, as I said in my post, "neighbours" in close proximity to me have said words like: "Wow, wish I'd done that", and "How do I fit one in my van", and "I can't even tell when it's running", and "I won't run my caravan aircon most of the time because it's too noisy" and so on, and so on etc.

This has happened so many times I've lost count a long time ago.
Fact: I bet that if you were parked next to me, sitting in your annexe, you would not know when my aircon is running! It's that simple. Also, it'll happily run on a Honda 1Kva inverter genny on ecothrottle, which NO caravan aircon will do.
I'm not attacking the messenger, or the people who've handed over their hard-earned dollars for a caravan air"con". Far from it!
But, yes, I'm attacking the makers of caravan aircons, who make overpriced inefficient rubbish- (and BTW I have owned one, and will never ever again.) Yes I guess I'm intolerent of makers who "con" the public. And how many times have I heard from caravan dealers words like "domestic units will not stand up to movement and vibration", which is utter claptrap for a properly installed good quality unit.
Cheers

Calm down. An opinion which doesn't match yours is not "simply incorrect". I've been told by many airconditioner mechanics that domestic units will not stand up to movement and vibration.

Mick,
I can assure you I'm quite calm, just disagreeing with another opinion.
If you can't handle that, then that is unfortunate.

You say "I've been told by many airconditioner mechanics that domestic units will not stand up to movement and vibration. "
Well, if they've told you that, they are wrong! On what do they base that- experience- I don't think so!
I know of one on a trawler which is slowly rusting away (the rust will kill it) but still works fine. It cops INCREDIBLE vibration, day in, day out.
I know of many on vans and motor homes (converted buses), some as old as six years or more, which have never had a hiccup! One friend has three small domestic split units in his bus.
Another one on the rear bumper on a van which has been right round Australia and then some. (The owners live in the van full time)
And many others which have had less use- not one with a problem.

Basically, however, given enough vibration- eg severe corrugations for an extended period- ANY aircon could fail. Although I have not seen this happen to a domestic unit yet (they are still relatively rare), I have seen it happen to about half a dozen caravan aircons. On one rooftop unit, the whole compressor had broken from it's mountings and the aircon was unrepairable. There is simply nothing special about their construction which makes them especially vibration resistant. I know- I've worked on them. Many also suffer very easily from dust and water ingress- particularly the ones with holes cut in the floor for airflow through the condenser- this systyem is a disaster if you take your van far off the bitumen.
Mick, there is a perception that domestic aircons are unsuitable for vans and it just doesn't stack up. (This line is pushed by the dealers who want to keep up their huge profit margains.) When installed properly, they are no more (or less) likely- to suffer from vibration than caravan aircons.
They are however a quantum leap ahead in design and efficiency compared to caravan aircons, which are in nearly every respect 1960's technology, with just a bit of "tarting up".
Think about it- the big name manufacturers spend millions on R&D and sell millions of A/C units- they can't afford to be far behind the market in efficiency and features. And by selling millions, they have economies of scale. (You can buy at least two GOOD quality domestic units for the price of a van aircon..... Alternately you could buy up to six or so cheap chinese ones, and they'd still ususlly be more efficient than any van aircon!)
Cheers

Well you go ahead and put a domestic one on - you seem convinced that they are suitable. Some have lasted six years wowowow that's a long time!! I would want longer than that! I have asked every airconditioner mechanic I can find and they all shudder when I mention putting one on a rear bumper. Then I asked every caravan builder I could find what they thought and they shuddered at putting anything other than a spare wheel on the back and when I mentioned an airconditioner they were very concerned at upsetting the weight distribution and therefore the towing performance. They all said use a purpose built roof aircon in a van which has been constructed to take it. There are quite a few vans around with roof air and I have asked every owner I could find and they all gave it the thumbs up. I have found no vans with an aircon mounted on their bumper bar so I haven't asked any owners about them. I have asked all state controlling bodies about the legality of mounting an airconditioner on a rear bumper bar and when I convinced each one that it was a serious question they were generally of the opinion that it was foolish, ugly and illegal.
Cheers

"foolish, ugly and illegal"

Absolutely 100 % wrong, on all three accounts.
And my aircon is LIGHTER than many spare wheels.

How's this then ....
because the domestic inverter is so much more efficient (less electricity =less CO2), and has less wind drag when towing (not up on the roof), it is far more environmentally friendly and will contribute FAR less to global warming.

I'll leave it at that, as continuing this is pointless. Some will never be convinced- so be it!
Let's agree to disagree. This discussion is going no where. Are you going to have the final say???
cheers

Mick,
You said, and I quote "I have asked all state controlling bodies about the legality of mounting an airconditioner on a rear bumper bar ...... "

I hate to say it, but what a load of utter and complete BS!
You really are full of it! Utter cra*!

And BTW I agree with Dave that a properly mounted good quality domestic split literally runs rings around van conditioners, which are overpriced rubbish. I know- I've owned a few!

hi, yes even thought about one of those about 2 months ago and i phoned the company that makes them and they said that it would not be powerful enough for our van. that in their (the owner of the business) camper the air con just manages, when it's not over hot. I will give that company the credit for being totally honest, he could of easily made a dollar or two from us if he hadn't told the truth, it's nice to see these days. they get my yeah for the day.
thanks anyway.

Yes Robbie I agree. The earlier Dometic have a heating element which is not great. They now have a reverse cycle model which has double the heating power of the ones with an element.

Robbie, have found that one of the reasons that caravan reverse cycle a/c isn't good at heating is that the heat is at the top of the van and doesn't get pushed down before the thermostat turns heating off. Our KK actually makes use of a diesel water heater and small recirculation fan through a heat exchanger. We use a small fan heater on CVP power too.