Keeping our coaches cool in extreme heat

[Gary the Wombat]

The problem we had was the noise of the AC kept us from sleeping well at night. We ended up going to Home Depot and buying a freestanding AC unit. Vents out the drivers window (obviously when we are parked).

It is quiet enough that we can run it all day and night and not hear it. I also run the power cord outside and plug it into the 110v outlet on the pedestal so I don’t trip my circuit breakers.

[Artvaark46]

Originally Posted by buddy110

I'm wondering what others do to help keep their coaches cool during hot days. We are in the high 90's here. Getting my front LR zone to less than 78 is impossible. The AC rubs constantly. 78 is fine, but I worry about running the AC all day.

I noticed the exhaust fans allow a lot of radiant heat through. I am going to line the lids with a radiant barrier which should help. I wonder if lining the windows with a Low E film would help also?

I'd love to hear ideas, tips and tricks from others:

Thanks in advance

We live in Florida and have a 40 foot Winnebago Tour 2007. The best help came from a Magnashade
Windshield cover. We also lined the back of all of our storage cabinets with 1/2 inch insulation foam.
The AC is keeping our coach much cooler.

[MAINE413]

When we were in Utah last fall (temps 100+) with a carvan anumber of us used an aluminum covered bulb wrap insulation on our fantstic fan covers and larger windows during the day in an effort to keep our couch cool which seemed to help. Granted you will lose some viewing of the outside. You need to decide which materes most. We purchased this material at Lowes. Not the perfect solution, however better than nothing. Hope this helps.

[Dutchstar53]

Originally Posted by Butte64

I put the fitted pillows In the exhaust fan areas. Also, I think too much heat comes I’m the shower top. I use Velcro strips to hold a piece of reflective aluminum insulation in place over the shower. A few years ago I recommended that Entegra put a sliding panel over that area like Tiffin has but like so many other suggestions to Pat Carroll it was ignored.

We had a shade (just like a window shade) on our shower skylight. It was great at blocking the heat or cold. Then we did some upgrades at Newmar and one item was to replace the frame around the skylight, as it had a couple of cracks. When Newmar was walking thru upgrades, they showed us in our basement storage things they removed or extra carpet/flooring. Sitting there was the shade for the shower😭. They could not install it as the frame was a different shape. Never even thought of it. Haven’t come up with a replacement idea. Do the manufacturers ever let owners help with designing these things? I doubt few of them have traveled in a motorhome. Some of the simplest tihngs are some of the most important for comfort.

[Roadgypsy]

Everyone said it best-cover windows-outside if possible, use Reflectix to cover windows, vents, etc. Glass transmits heat and cold easily. This is why double or triple pane windows with argon gas in between were invented and used in stick homes.

To address the exhaust vents, see below. These "plugs" are available at Camping World, Amazon, Ebay RV dealers, or you can make your own with foam and a cover. We use old stadium seat cushions that fit just fine (Indy 500 Races). Problem solved.
Checker board flying tire decor on the ceiling!
Safe travels-

[Bonron]

Originally Posted by buddy110

I'm wondering what others do to help keep their coaches cool during hot days. We are in the high 90's here. Getting my front LR zone to less than 78 is impossible. The AC rubs constantly. 78 is fine, but I worry about running the AC all day.

I noticed the exhaust fans allow a lot of radiant heat through. I am going to line the lids with a radiant barrier which should help. I wonder if lining the windows with a Low E film would help also?

I'd love to hear ideas, tips and tricks from others:

Thanks in advance

So, if you’re getting 20* below ambient then you’re doing pretty good. You have to understand that you’re living in a tin can with some insulation and the AC is doing it’s best. Try somewhere that’s 110*, your AC’s can only do so much. 78* is actually pretty good.

[BikesAndGuns]

We have the Day/Night Slow-Rise Roller Shades and they work great. Also have foil on all 3 bedroom windows all the time. Our 44' fifth wheel Heartland Cyclone 4200 has 3 AC units (bedroom, living room and garage) and my wife insists on keeping it at 74 degrees. We're able to do that as long as the outside temperature doesn't get above 105. They don't all 3 run all the time; it depends a lot on the position relative to the sun. When we leave the RV to run errands, I set all 3 of them to 78 degrees. Our electric bill was $353.77 for 6/2 - 7/2 here in Mayer, Arizona. The owner said he'd never seen an electric bill that high for a camper, lol! I just smiled.

[Bogus JK]

There are some cheap ways to stay cooler, like park under a tree.
Lots of people covered reflective materials but that is an inexpensive method.
Reduce air infiltration as much as possible.
Bringing the slides in should help by reducing exposed surface area.
We added some insulation where the roof was especially hot, like in the front cap. RVs are generally not well insulated or sealed, so there might be some easy improvements possible.
If you don’t mind spending money, there are reflective coatings that can be applied to the roof that would help, like https://www.solec.org/lomit-radiant-...-roof-coating/
Check that your a/c is working properly. There is info on the internet about this. All you need is a good thermometer to check the temperature drop between the inlet and outlet.
If you have the option, open the direct vents on the a/c rather than sending the cool air through a hot roof duct system. You can buy aftermarket a/c grills for this if you don’t already have them.

[GG1]

Keep the sun blocked follow the sun around the coach all day especially when it shines in the windshield. Start cooling down early in the morning while it's cool out.

[donr103]

Hi, go to big box lumber yard.. get reflect x.. bubble wrap.. 2 sizes get both.. light and cheap.. pick up aluminum tape. Staples and stapler.. . and I dare you to just unroll small piece and stand outside and hold over your head.. then walk in coach do same... if you like it use it.. if not take back.. I went crazy on my 34 ft.. pulled microwave.. found Hugh gaps in roof insulation.. you would not believe shotty work they hide there.. pull front tv.. same.. big gap between cap and walls little or no insulation.. tucked in there.. lined top and sides of all interior that I possibly could.. use HD staples and high quality staple gun.. then pull a/c roof air covers.. used 2 large rolls aluminum duct tape to wrap the duct work.. so shotty.. sealed every nook and cranny.. what a great difference.. just under 200.00 staples and foil and tape.. cheaper that magnetic shade.. cut piece for front windows.. un-believable .. now going up top and wrap cold air side of roof a/c.. even did all compartments.. but that cost a lot extra.. in all I did all that I could with the stuff.. even the doors on compartments.. even noise cut some.. warning once you start you will not want to stop.. good luck and let us know what you did..

[Quickuc]

We just had another AC installed in the back bedroom, our RV as a 2014 thor ace 30 amp system. We had separate wiring so it has nothing to do with existing wiring, meaning it has its own 20 amp breaker, so we get to RV park and ask for 50 amp site. We used a Y split to plug into camp power using 50 amp plugin, so 1 half of the y is powers the RV house and they other half of the y powers the new a/ c only. Its great. We don't boondock. Now if we did we would not be able to run add on a/ c. 2500.00 later we are cool.

[vicwhit]

Big question. What is the color of your RV?
Recent years have seen units getting progressively darker. There are now lots of rigs that are mostly black. Yeah, they look cool but they are really hot.
My current 06 Mandalay is mid-gray and my thermal meter registers 135 in the sun on a day that is only mid 80s. I cringe on what that would be at 110 degrees.

[hencye]

We have a 5th wheel and this is what we've done. Keep the AC units cleaned, at least once a year, done from the outside, coils, water drains, etc Clean the filters and vacuum the inside at least once a month. Recoated roof with Dicorp CoolCoat. Changed out my roof vents to Maxxfan Air Deluxe that circulate air even with the vents closed. Keep all my darkening shades pulled down. Some windows that never get used have Refletix on them and others have pieces cut and ready to install as needed, including my sunroof over the shower. All of the vents have vent pillows with foil facing out on them when the fans aren't running. Also if not in a windy area keep the awning out to help block the sun and it's an UV ray blocking shade. Every bit helps and I've done this over a few years and every step makes it more comfortable!

[Rob_M]

Originally Posted by vicwhit

Big question. What is the color of your RV?

Recent years have seen units getting progressively darker. There are now lots of rigs that are mostly black. Yeah, they look cool but they are really hot.

My current 06 Mandalay is mid-gray and my thermal meter registers 135 in the sun on a day that is only mid 80s. I cringe on what that would be at 110 degrees.

So you’re suggesting they paint their rv a lighter color? Lol.

You are correct though. When shopping for rv’s in the summer we noticed a big difference in inside temps from the lighter colored ones to darker. Black rv’s look cool but I’d hate to try to keep one cool, ours is off-white. “Close the door!” Lol