| Author |
Message |
Henry R. Bergman, Jr. (Henryofcj) (63.224.197.10)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 21, 2002 - 4:31 pm: | |
Who makes the best roof air conditioners for my bus conversion? What is the BTU output and how many amps (starting and running) do they require?
Also about the optional heat strips. Are these a good idea? Are they frequently used or are they just a bell and whistle not used much. Thanks. |
Jim Ashworth (Jimnh) (172.159.216.169)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 21, 2002 - 6:38 pm: | |
I don't know who makes the best but it seems they all have equal market share from looking at the tops of RV's. I prefer the Dometic Duo-therm Penguin because of the height.
Now, as to those heat strips. Not worth the effort. My a/c's came with them from the factory. No extra charge and no discount without them. I tried them and my toaster puts out more heat than they do. 1500 watts each with the fan blowing on high all the time so as to not cook the plastic with the heat. Thats 5000BTU in a strong draft. Worthless in my opinion. If the temp is 50 and you have a couple of hours, you might get comfortable, but the wind chill will kill you. Pass on them.
Jim |
Buswarrior (Buswarrior) (64.229.214.14)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 21, 2002 - 7:26 pm: | |
Manufacturer sites and brochures have all the performance measures listed for their different models.
I have some experience with both Dometic and Coleman mounted in a couple of MC8's. Both coaches had a pair of 13500 rated units with the optional 1500 strips.
In my experiences, the Coleman heat strips did a nicer job of taking the chill off than the Dometic ones.
Roof air heat strips won't keep you "warm" in the winter, but it all depends what the rest of your heating stategy is. It doesn't hurt to have more than one way to make some heat, even if it is poor. Poor is better than none, if the furnace fails some cold night.
Neat trick on one of those horribly humid rainy days, when it isn't quite warm enough for the AC to run comfortably to dry you out, but the condensation is running off the insides of your windows: set the heat strip on in one roof air, and the AC on in the other. Aim the outputs into the middle of the coach, and you don't freeze to dry out.
happy coaching!
buswarrior-MC8-ON |
CoryDane RTSII IL (198.29.191.147)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 21, 2002 - 10:46 pm: | |
I have the Dometec 13500 in my RV with the heating strip, it has been a good unit for the 24' coach. My only complaint is the fan is a little noisy but very bearable.
As for the heat strip, I used it one night at Walt Disney World at their campground. The outside temp was about 40F at night, a rare instance. Instead of putting on the propane furnace, I turned on the heat strip and left it running. After running a couple hours, I woke up because the room was uncomfortably warm. So they do put some heat out.
For my bus, I have two Dometic 15000 with heat strips. I have added a thermostat for the heat strip, controled by an electronic relay. When in a campground, this will save a lot of propane or diesel for heating the coach. It is a simple circuit and will deliver fingertip comfort. |
Jayjay (65.134.220.113)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 22, 2002 - 12:22 am: | |
Since Carrier Corp. got into the roof air business, there is NO comparison to the antiquated designs of the other manufacturers. Local shop says no returns or warranty service since they started selling them. They won't sell any other brand now. FWIW. Cheers...JJ |
FAST FRED (63.215.235.34)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 22, 2002 - 5:55 am: | |
I would agree that the heat strips are worth the cost , but reverse cycle units in very hot country isn't worth the cost.
A reverse cycle unit , because of the restrictions in the plumbing , are about 10 to 15% Less efficent at cooling so in very hot areas are not a good deal.
For more rational areas the reverse cycle IS worth while as you get much more heat than from a heat strip.So the're great for late fall camping.
One delight of the heat strips tho is they don't care much about park voltage ( when YOU have heat , so does everyone else}.
Compressors FAIL with too low voltage, heat strips just make less heat.
Although limited the're poor for heating a freezing coach , but great at keeping a warmed coach warm above freezing.
FAST FRED |
Don KS/TX (64.24.4.37)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 22, 2002 - 7:06 am: | |
I have two 15,000 Coleman units with heat strips for a 40 ft bus, work great but we hate the noise from the fans. My friend with new carrier units loves them, and I think they are quieter too. |
Johnny (63.159.194.58)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 25, 2002 - 11:15 pm: | |
Hmmm--good info. How many BTU's does the "average" conversion need? |
Bradd B. Smith (Bbsrtbusproject) (208.26.165.123)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 27, 2002 - 9:25 pm: | |
Has any one seen a website with the carrier prices and specs? Did not come up on www.carrier.com. Thanks, Bradd |
Peter Broadribb (Madbrit) (170.215.38.3)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 28, 2002 - 12:18 am: | |
Bradd,
the Carrier range for buses is at:
http://www.transportaircon.carrier.com/details/0,1240,CLI1_DIV8_ETI338,00.html
The regular roof top unit is called an AirV and is about the middle of the page.
Peter. |
Bradd B. Smith (Bbsrtbusproject) (208.26.165.38)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 30, 2002 - 1:21 am: | |
Thanks Peter, Bradd |
Chris Sanderson (165.121.88.110)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 02, 2002 - 11:49 am: | |
Check this one out-http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/rv-air-conditioner-parts-1.htm |