Anyone ever try August with a single roof A/C unit in their TT?

[mrstamil]

We have been to Disney in August before. We know it's hot. But we have never attempted it with a trailer before. We've always crammed into a small economy resort.
We just picked up a 2009 Dutchman Sport 27BH last summer. It has a single, roof mounted unit that is NOT ducted.
Has anyone else visited Florida in August with a similar sized travel trailer with a single, nonducted, roof ac? How did it hold up?
It'd be a disaster to get there a find out it's not enough.
Thanks for the help!

 

[North of Mouse]

We have been to Disney in August before. We know it's hot. But we have never attempted it with a trailer before. We've always crammed into a small economy resort.
We just picked up a 2009 Dutchman Sport 27BH last summer. It has a single, roof mounted unit that is NOT ducted.
Has anyone else visited Florida in August with a similar sized travel trailer with a single, nonducted, roof ac? How did it hold up?
It'd be a disaster to get there a find out it's not enough.
Thanks for the help!

Yes, we had a TT several years ago with only one AC, and depending on how sunny/shady your site is will depend a lot on how efficient it is. Usually, the nights were fairly comfortable, but not so much the days!

Then we had a 'ducted' one AC unit mh that was more efficient, but IMO the hottest part of summer in the deep south & FL needs two AC units on a TT that length (for middle of day comfort). The high humidity coupled with the high heat really makes the difference. Our mh now has two AC's which is great.

 

[bama_ed]

mrstamil,

I think my friend Joy/North of Mouse put her proverbial finger on the key point of an August stay in a trailer at the Fort.

The key, KEY thing to camping in the peak summer in the South is to be IN THE SHADE for as much of the daylight hours as you can. If you have a shady site for the entire day, that takes a HUGE load off your AC and will be a BIG help here in the sunny hot south.

If you look at my signature, you'll see I DON'T come to the Fort during peak summer; I WON'T come to the FORT during peak summer. But in the next year or two, I might have occasion to come to the Fort in late August or through the first week of September (including Labor Day weekend). If I do I will check in and go to my assigned site but if it is not especially shady, I will call back to the Fort lobby/front desk and ask to be assigned to an empty site I see that IS more shaded.

Since your trailer is unducted, I would bring a small fan to circulate the cool are in the interior of the trailer as much as you can. If August is when you can go, then go! But shade make a YUGE difference in your AC keeping up with the heat load or not.

Bama ED

PS - we summer at Gulf State Park at the Alabama Gulf Coast and they have had so many hurricanes in the last 20 years that most of the old shade tree cover is GONE. Probably 50 out of 500 sites have ANY shade at all during a summer's day. The last few stays (same time of year as before that) I have had a semi-shady site and it has made all the difference. It would only be MORE TRUE in sunny Florida.

PPS - Joy, I hope you and Robert are doing well. Haven't seen you in a while...

 

[peg110]

I certainly won't dispute our veterans, but I will say that we were there in August 2016. We have a newer Coachman Catalina 343 QBDS with a single ducted A/C. It did keep it cool enough. I could see though how if you were in the "Sun" it would be a challenge For us the bigger challenge was the humidity INSIDE the TT with the A/C running all day long. It would condense on the roof and we would have little rain storms in our TT (kind of like Olaf with his own personal flurry. )

 

[Teamubr]

I'll jump in with Ed. My prior trailer, a 30 ft 5er with a single 13,500 ducted A/C, did fine at the Fort and fine for June, July, August in the Midwest for the 13 years we had it. Summers around St Louis are generally worse (heat AND humidity) than the Fort. Camping in the direct sun, 100 degrees and 80+% humidity, the A/C would keep the trailer under 80 during the heat of the day. Give it a little shade or temps less than 100 and it would keep it at the 74 the thermostat was set on.

Unless you plan on hanging out inside the trailer during the day, the evenings and night are the part that matters. As Ed recommended, bring a fan to circulate the air and you should be OK.

j

 

[North of Mouse]

PPS - Joy, I hope you and Robert are doing well. Haven't seen you in a while...

Hi Ed, yes we are well, thanks!! Were so much on the go (camping), last few months of the year that we're kind of 'layin low' waiting out winter!!

Planning a Disney trip end of April/May, then a big one a little later to Acadia National Park in Maine.Great middle of summer weather there on the coast!

 

[Ajmullin]

We have been to Disney in August before. We know it's hot. But we have never attempted it with a trailer before. We've always crammed into a small economy resort.
We just picked up a 2009 Dutchman Sport 27BH last summer. It has a single, roof mounted unit that is NOT ducted.
Has anyone else visited Florida in August with a similar sized travel trailer with a single, nonducted, roof ac? How did it hold up?
It'd be a disaster to get there a find out it's not enough.
Thanks for the help!

We did! And our 32ft only has one ac and we were good. We were at the end of August!

 

[Westcoastwild]

I had a tent with just a fan...so anyway, slightly different...but I wouldn't do it. It's not, funnily enough, being inside the trailer/tent that I had a problem with. It was WALKING to the BATHROOM. Even if you are right next to it, you're dripping from the humidity the minute you leave either the tent or the bathroom. It was intense. I would have given just about anything to be able to take a cold shower and then been able to collapse on my bed without leaving A/C. I'm not sure I'd go in summer again... no, who am I kidding, it's the Fort, I'd go ANYTIME. Just as long as you know what you're getting into. The bathrooms have good A/C and you know you're hot when you're seriously considering washing clean laundry or riding the campground bus around in circles!

 

[Bb3300]

We did south Texas with one ducted AC. We are from the mountains of Colorado and we were ok as long as it ran all day, which was better than we did outside.