Air Conditioner in Pop Up

[Plan Man]

We have a newer (2000) Coleman pop up camper and did not install the air conditioner when we bought it.

We are camping in FW at the end of June. Been nefore and know it will be very hot.

We have a small window air conditioner we use in one of our rooms at home. Can we use this in our camper?? Will it wreck anything?

thanks

 

[John VN]

With the AC unit securely mounted and draining outside, there should be no problems.

 

[Plan Man]

Thanks. It should be easy to drain outside.

 

[terri01p]

When we had our pop-up , we had just a window unit installed in the end ( under one bed ) and it use to freeze us out, we left it on one time when we were at the parks and when we came back the cake on the table was almost frozen. And the air was on normal setting...( and it was 95 degrees outside). Fun times !

 

[tim5055]

How are you going to install it?

On a 2000 unit I probably wouldn't want to cut into the wall or tenting as both would kill resale value

You may be able to set it on one of the bunk ends, but you will need to secure it somehow and then lift the tenting in that area.

 

[Plan Man]

I have a couple of ideas on where to put it.

The Camper has a front trunk with a trap door that goes between the trunk and the main camper area. I though I would just set it on the floor and let it vent the trunk. I can leave the trunk door open a little so the vented air can ecscape out the top.

If that doesn't work I was going to set it on one of the bunk ends. Both ends have a king size bed so there is still plenty of sleeping room. I will vent it out the bunk end. Do you think I could let it vent through the screen? I can hook a hose to the AC unit to let the water run out.

 

[tim5055]

Originally posted by Plan Man
Do you think I could let it vent through the screen? I can hook a hose to the AC unit to let the water run out.

I never thought about a front trunk

That would probably be my first choice, but if yo put it there, I would probaly put a fan in the trunk running on low to keep the air moving and vented out fully.

I have a feling that it might not work properly venting through the screen, but why not set up in the driveway at home and give both ideas a try??

Good luck

 

[Plan Man]

What exactly is coming out the vent. Is it just stale air or is there something toxic to be worried about??

 

[terri01p]

Just wanted to add , we had our air put in by a Rv repair shop and it was done very nicely and sealed around neatly, it didn't take away from the camper at all. It was held up by a brace mounted under the air (we did not take it out , it became part of the camper). When we sold our camper back in 1999, we got every bit of our money out of it, but then again that was back in 1999. We now have a travel trailer. I would also add that I would be very careful about doing something without a professional opinion because of carbon dix. Anyways this can be done very nicely..good luck

 

[tim5055]

Originally posted by Plan Man
What exactly is coming out the vent. Is it just stale air or is there something toxic to be worried about??

Just warm air coming out. You want to keep the air moving around it to keep it working at peak efficiency.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

Originally posted by terri01p
I would also add that I would be very careful about doing something without a professional opinion because of carbon dix. Anyways this can be done very nicely..good luck

Since there is no combustion involved in an electric appliance like an air conditioner, there is no carbon dioxide production. The airconditioner acts like a heat pump, and so produces a lot of warm air. If this air is not exhausted outside, it will defeat the purpose of having the air conditioner in the first place by blowing the warm air back into the space you are trying to cool.

 

[VAN]

We just got a pop-up camper without a/c (2004 model) and was told that it was "a/c ready" - in other words, the support brackets to hold the weight of an a/c were built in as was the electrical wiring.

If your make-shift room a/c idea doesn't work, you may want to find out if your unit is new enough that it is also "a/c ready" ... this way it will be minimal installation costs - mostly just the cost of the a/c.

I'd be interested to hear if the room a/c works in the trunk area though. Keep us informed!

 

[tim5055]

Originally posted by VAN
We just got a pop-up camper without a/c (2004 model) and was told that it was "a/c ready" - in other words, the support brackets to hold the weight of an a/c were built in as was the electrical wiring.

If your make-shift room a/c idea doesn't work, you may want to find out if your unit is new enough that it is also "a/c ready" ... this way it will be minimal installation costs - mostly just the cost of the a/c.

I'd be interested to hear if the room a/c works in the trunk area though. Keep us informed!

A 2000 Coleman would be A/C ready (they all were in that age range).

Figure at least $600 installed.

 

[Plan Man]

Ok Glad to hear it is only warm air. that is what I thought but wanted to make sure. I am setting the camper up this weekend so I will let you know if the trap door works.

 

[Plan Man]

I set up the pop up this weekend and here is what I have learned. We have a Mesa Coleman with the front trunk. Fully set up it is 26" long with king size beds on both ends. Coleman claims it will sleep9 but it really is better for six or seven - perfect for my family of six. ( My three boys are getting big)

The AC fit perfectly into the trap door. You will need an AC that sends the cold air up not just straight out. I have two and the first one I used sent the air straight out and it was not cooling down the camper. I tried fans and it didn't help enough. it was a 5000 BTU AC. The other AC I put in was an 8000 BTU AC and it sends the cold air up at an angle. With some help from some fans it worked ok. It cooled it down considerably but it was not like in a room. too much air escaping and hard to get the warm air up at the top cooled.

All that makes sense but here was the real lesson and the reason I am glad I tested before we go. The AC unit ( the motor part that would be on the outside in a normal set up.) heated up very quickly. Describing my trap door a little more: The trunk is in the front part of the camper. The trunk cover runs the length of the camper and can only be opened about two or three inches when everything is set up. It also has a side door to access the trunk when it is all set up. It is a very standard coleman design. What I did was put a 12" fan set to high blowing at the back of the AC unit toward the side door. I then set a smaller fan about a foot inside the trunk blowing out the side door. this seemed to work fairly good but the unit still heated up more than normal.


I am a little concerned about the overheating but I am going to give it a try. We leave this coming Saturday. I will let you know if it works when I get back after the 4th of july. keep your fingers crossed and wish me luck.

 

[Memph1s]

Another thing that will helps a great deal to control the heat in a popup is to put a reflective cover over the bunk ends. I made mine out of a material called reflectix.

Reflectix® is a 5/16" thick, seven layer, reflective insulation which is available in rolls of various widths and lengths. Two outer layers of aluminum foil reflect 97% of radiant heat. Each layer of foil is bonded to a tough layer of polyethylene for strength. Two inner layers of insulating bubble pack resist conductive heat flow while a center layer of polyethylene gives Reflectix® high reliability and strength.
You can check out their web site here

When I made mine I did a little test in the driveway in full sunlight. Even with the 13500 rooftop A/C on high the bunk end support pole and the top of the bunk end was so hot you could barley stand to put your hand on them. The thermometer was pegged out over 120* With the covers on for 30 mins the temp was down to 70* with the outside air temps at 89*. Another bonus with the Reflectix is it helps cut down on condensation in the cooler months by insulating the roof from the cold night air.

This material is a little pricey it cost about $50 for enough to do 2 king bunk ends. I got mine from Lowes. But it was money well spent.

However, anything to shade your bunk end is better than nothing. We had great success using the cheap $1 emergency blankets that are a thin plastic with a sliver coating but they are noisy in wind and do not last much more that one trip.

Of course a great site in total shade would be ideal but all the sites I have seen get at least a little full sun for part of the day.

 

[Plan Man]

When you say bunk ends do you mean the parts that pull out to form the bed.

this is a great idea. I think I will try the blankets and see if it makes a difference. Where do you buy them?

 

[Memph1s]

When you say bunk ends do you mean the parts that pull out to form the bed.

YES

The survival or emergency blankets can be found just about anywhere. Walmart has them in the camping section for $1 each. It will take 2 per end and you can hold them in place with clothes pins or binder clips. Be careful with the binder clips they will eventually rust and stain your tenting.

 

[aldebnj]

Your Coleman trailer is designed to take an RV style Air Conditioner on the roof. Around the center of your ceiling, you should see four plastic buttons, that is where it goes. The roof mounted air conditioners work very well and do a good job of cooling down the trailer and they can blow right down into the bed areas.

Another problem with your front trunk idea is the water from the air conditioner. Every air conditiioner drips water and the water from yours will drip right into the trunk and possibly cause damage.

I installed an RV roof air conditioner on my last pop up myself. I bought the unit online at a discount and installed it with the help of a friend. Your camper should be all set up for this including the wiring. Your local RV dealer can also take care of this for you but it will cost you a little bit more. With an RV roof mounted AC you don't have to worry about the hot air exhaust or water.

For the bunk end covers, you can also try http://www.popupgizmos.com . He has exact fit covers for Colemans complete with clamps.

Happy Camping,
Al

2000 Ford Expedition
2003 TrailManor 3023

 

[westjones]

We also have a Coleman without air conditioning. It is just so expensive to have it installed. We too are trying to come up with an idea to use a window unit. Right now we are thinking of making a platform and sitting it outside the screen window by the door. The we will seal around it with plastic window covering and duct tape. The air will blow in through the screen this way. We just have to make a good sturdy platform for it to sit on.

Haven't done it yet, still thinking about it.
But this is the idea we are working with now.

Our other idea was to sit the a/c on the stove (putting a wood around it so the weight isn't right on the stove cover. Then put up plastic around the a/c and the window behind the stove so the a/c blows out the screen, but the window plastic keeps the hot air out. Then run a tube for the water from the a/c to go into the sink.

DH likes the first idea the best, but again, we haven't tried either one.

(BTW, he thought about trying your idea of putting it in the storage area and blowing through the little door, but he was also afraid it would overheat).

DJ