Roof or side mounted A/Conditioning

Well have been parked beside a side mounted one and it was noisy as.


We are putting a 3hp in a 109sqm apartment so would be an overkill in a van.

Do a search on Dometic, Air Command, Carrier etc and you will see the sizes Most roof mounts seem to be the same capacity and you just turn the up or down to suit.

We have a side mounted aircon and no problems at all. Not noisy from the inside hehe.

Anyway, we had heard that roof tops ones were not ideal for the following reasons:

1. Roofs may sag
2. Adds height to the van (especially if parking under trees in park)

Havent seen a sagging roof but just what I have read in other forums.

All caravan air cons are dogs. Noisy, expensive and rubbish.
Fit major brand domestic inverter air con Mitsubishi, LG, Daiken etc.
Inverter air cons are quiet inside and out. Can power from 1kva gennie.

Hi Orejap,
Roof mounted units place a fair amount of stress on a roof unless the van has been manufactured to accommodate it. On my Gazal Champion the airconditioner has been mounted on what is known as a 'H' bar which is an steel frame made to for the job and is available from most caravan spare outlets. Camec have them.

These H bars spread the load of the airco unit to the side walls and take the bounce out of the roof mounted units. A much better idea in my opinion.

But that is just my opinion, for what it is worth.

There is a trend now to mount split systems in vans and at face value it seems a good idea.

Cheers, Bruce.