Split type ac recommendation?

[88Lance]

Hello everyone, I have a 2005 Montana 37'.
It reached 85 here for the first time since I owned it, and I fired up the AC's.

The bedroom AC is nice and cold.
The main ac that works off the thermostat is in the ceiling in the rear kitchen.
It blows somewhat cool air from its own vents, and almost nothing through the vents in the rest of the RV.

Repair guys wants $200 for a service and clean, which isn't bad, but I'm wondering if this AC is even worth messing with?

Seems like a lot of people really dislike the amount of electricity these use, and talk about how their performance is mediocre.

I read a few people talking about putting split type AC in, and seeing a lot better electric bills, and actually keeps the RV cool when it gets to triple digits.

Anyone have any recommendations or experience with messing with these in an RV?

Not sure whether to pay to have this one serviced, or just not even bother with using it and get a split.

[routemaster]

I installed a split in 9/9/23 in our Landmark but it is only 24,000BTU and we are very happy with it, it's way quieter and is cheaper to run. Also if I ever did again a ceiling model would be nice as a second unit for bedroom, it would have been nice to have a larger one but do not have the power for one.This model we have will run on my solar as long as we have sun, mind you I never run the battery bank down.Pictures turn your head sideways.
Just have to inventive where to install I guess.
Den.

[88Lance]

Nice! 24k btu?? I thought that was huge, I read that 10k btu is good, but a 12 would be great. The 12k I found runs off of 240.

Since I have a rear kitchen, there is a long cabinet above the sink at the rear wall of the trailer, and I think the I side unit may fit up there pretty well.

For the outside unit, there is a receiver hitch on the back of my trailer, and I could probably build a bracket that would hold the outside unit that just slides into the receiver hitch.

I also found a pre-charged 15k DIY split for $1,300, doesn't require HVAC guy to come out, it's just plug and play.

Don't know a lot about these so I'm not completely sure what to look for, but it's great hearing that people really like them, sounds like it's the way to go. Your setup came out nice!

[88Lance]

This one seems to be a pretty good deal for a pre-charged plug-in and go system.

[Melungeon]

There are a couple of fairly new options specifically for RVs on the market that would be much easier to install. The Furrion Chill Cube has been on the market for about a year. It's basically an LG variable speed package mini split in a Furrion housing and label. LG has been making high quality mini splits for a long time, they are very reliable and efficient. It's an 18K BTU model and adjusts the speed based on load, it always starts on a very low speed then ramps up over a few seconds, there is no inrush. I'm not totally sure about this unit, but the variable speed split systems never turn completely off. When they cool to set temperature, they slow to a low speed and will continue to dehumidify, and by keeping the evap coil wet, it can get to max cooling much quicker. The original model is a non-ducted and they have just recently offered a ducted model.

Another new model is the Turbro Greenland which is also an inverter driven variable speed. There's a Youtube video where a guy does a very deep dive and measures all performance variables including noise levels:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsnWzNLYGOY&t=417s

This is a non-ducted model that he modified to work with his duct system. The Trubro product is a heat pump that can work with much lower outdoor temps than other RV units, the Furrion is straight AC.

The Turbro is made in the people's republic, but so are a lot of traditional mini-splits. Midea makes an estimated 60% of all mini-splits mostly sold under different labels. Almost certainly any you see in a big box store or internet sales are made by Midea.

[workingonit]

Originally Posted by 88Lance

Nice! 24k btu?? I thought that was huge, I read that 10k btu is good, but a 12 would be great. The 12k I found runs off of 240.

240 single phase is there if you have a 50 amp service. You would have to add some sort of sub panel so you could get the two phases on a double pole breaker.

[88Lance]

Resurrecting an old thread of mine, sorry, I got sidetracked and didn't get to dig into the AC yet.

I'll check those out, that may be better than what I found on the home Depot site.

For a 37' Montana, is 12k enough, or should I go for the 18k btu?

The 12k is 120v but the 18 is 240. I do have 50amp, but I'm plugged in to it for shore power, unless the wiring can handle that and the 240 plug both? Or is that overloading?

The 12k might be easier if it is big enough for the RV, but if that's too small, I may have to go 240 and the 18k.

This is West Texas, so the summer sun is like a brutal oven

[Paul_D]

Before going to the effort of installing a new AC, check the ducts out.

On my unit the installers had the plenum separator laying sideways, meaning no separation between the inlet and outlet side of the AC. After fixing that the performance was great from the dump vents on the unit, but was horrible from the ducted outlets.

When I removed the interior AC panel, and looked at the ducts, it was a mess of broken Styrofoam and partially blocked openings.

I would have installed one of the after market RV airflow units (Kool RV, RV Airflow) but the power line across the plenum made that impossible.

I decided to make my own using 1/2 inch foam board. I also used several cans of low expanding spray foam to repair the transition areas into the ducts. The AC improved, but I was getting more cooling inside my kitchen cabinet, than some areas of the RV.

I decided to take off every vent grill and look at the ducts. I found the Styrofoam at every roof beam was broken off, vice neatly cut. This let air leak across the ceiling and out the edged at the side wall. I had found the cause of the cold cabinet. More spray foam at each reachable roof support. The final improvement was sealing off the ducts after the last outlet. The ducts ran all the way to the back of the RV. Blocking them off after the last outlet eliminated 3 feet of duct work going to the rear cap.

After the improvements, we did a coast to coast trip and had no issues cooling the RV, even in 110 degree weather in NV. Of course we had Reflectix in all the windows and a cover on the outside of the windshield.

[88Lance]

Originally Posted by Paul_D

Before going to the effort of installing a new AC, check the ducts out.

On my unit the installers had the plenum separator laying sideways, meaning no separation between the inlet and outlet side of the AC. After fixing that the performance was great from the dump vents on the unit, but was horrible from the ducted outlets.

When I removed the interior AC panel, and looked at the ducts, it was a mess of broken Styrofoam and partially blocked openings.

I would have installed one of the after market RV airflow units (Kool RV, RV Airflow) but the power line across the plenum made that impossible.

I decided to make my own using 1/2 inch foam board. I also used several cans of low expanding spray foam to repair the transition areas into the ducts. The AC improved, but I was getting more cooling inside my kitchen cabinet, than some areas of the RV.

I decided to take off every vent grill and look at the ducts. I found the Styrofoam at every roof beam was broken off, vice neatly cut. This let air leak across the ceiling and out the edged at the side wall. I had found the cause of the cold cabinet. More spray foam at each reachable roof support. The final improvement was sealing off the ducts after the last outlet. The ducts ran all the way to the back of the RV. Blocking them off after the last outlet eliminated 3 feet of duct work going to the rear cap.

After the improvements, we did a coast to coast trip and had no issues cooling the RV, even in 110 degree weather in NV. Of course we had Reflectix in all the windows and a cover on the outside of the windshield.

I considered looking into overhauling the rooftop unit, and having it cleaned and checked out. But I looked up a lot of reviews and research about this rooftop unit that's on mine and everyone really just hates it. Lol.
They said it doesn't really cool the RV even when it's working properly, and that it uses a ridiculous amount of energy.

So I'll probably just stick to the split type instead of of trying to do anything with this one