| Author |
Message |
Eric Brown (Ericb) (206.246.174.253)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 27, 2001 - 1:03 pm: | |
I know this has been discussed a thousand times, but I need a refresher course. I am trying to decide, roof or basement air. I will have a 9" roof raise. I have been told factory ht. on an Eagle 05 is 11'. That would put me at 11'-8" plus 12" for the air. The basement air looks better, but seems to be a lot more trouble to install. We removed and replaced two roof units on another coach this weekend in one hour. I have been told that the roof air is more efficient. The cost for two basements vs three roof units ids within $ 200.00. Tell me about it! What to do? |
CoryDaneRTSII (4.17.253.175)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 27, 2001 - 4:32 pm: | |
I installed two roof airs on my RTS, it was a cakewalk and done fast.
The basement airs will need ductwork for incoming air and out going cool air.
Roof air leaves a nice target on your bus if you have a high one. Since you are raising your bus, yours will be up there with the branches at the rv parks. Parks like Walt Disney Worlds have cleared the branches so you will fit right in but the ma and pa parks dont have the equipment to trim all the time, a serious thought for you.
The roof top airs so have some sound when running from the fan, am told the basements are quieter, both cool well, roof top is easier to change out when it goes bad, basement can be a job, you will find it will alldepend on you, the owner, on what exactly you want in your coach.-cd |
Jack Conrad (Jackconrad) (204.193.117.66)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 27, 2001 - 6:43 pm: | |
Like everything else involved in doing a conversion, this is a matter of trade-offs, comprimises, and how & where you will use your bus. Roof airs are definately quicker to install, require no ductwork, give you more available bay space for other things, but "clutter up" the roofline, are noisier, are potential water leaks and "branch catchers". Basement AC take longer to install, requires ductwork, uses up bay space, and involves cutting openings in bay doors & floors for air circulation. But they are MUCH quieter, nicer bus profile, lower overall height. With basement AC, installation MUST be per installation specs (duct size, discharge vent size, etc.)to acheive maximum effeciency. You have to look at your situation and decide what is best for you. You can see some photos of our basement AC installation in our MC-8 at http://members2.clubphoto.com/jack217421 At the present time I have our bus with the basement AC and a friends bus with roof airs at my place. Both cool adequately, but our bus is quieter inside. I would recommend going in a bus with each kind of AC before making a decision. Bottom line , I quess, is faster or quieter. Hope this helps, Jack. |
billkeller (209.173.121.238)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 27, 2001 - 7:17 pm: | |
If you have two or three A/C and one goes bad you
still have A/C. another plus for roof tops. |
madbrit (216.67.211.91)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 27, 2001 - 8:35 pm: | |
I am taking the same route as Jack, but if you do, follow his comments to the letter about getting the duct sizes correct or it will not work efficiently.
With the 9" roof raise, you will have plenty of space to run all the duct work you want.
I am considering using a modified window a/c, just for extra cooling for the driver and co-pilot and installing it below the driver's floor area or in the spare wheel compartment.
Peter. |
FAST FRED (63.215.236.76)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, August 28, 2001 - 5:26 am: | |
Write or call the Mfg and get the instalation book. read the size ducting , going and coming from the unit.
IF you can install it , as the Mfg sggests , the quiet of a basement cant be beat.
FAST FRED |
JackInKC (24.94.188.131)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, August 29, 2001 - 2:16 pm: | |
I have seen “ducted roof air” a couple times but I didn’t pay real close attention. My father has a non-coach RV with this configuration. Install “helper” fans to deliver the cool air from the roof unit. Line the duct with foam for noise suppression and route the air around two 90-degree turns after it leaves the helper fan.
I have seen low-profile roof units but I don’t know the brands. |
Phil (204.89.170.3)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 30, 2001 - 8:06 am: | |
My Monaco has dual roof air that is ducted through the ceiling and it work great. I have used it in Florida in 95+ temps and the coach is very comfortable. The bedroom unit and living area unit ducting is connected but each unit is controlled by its own thermostat. When just using one unit it still cools the other area somewhat. Work out well when the local hookups won't carry the load of both units and I don't want to run the gen. It helps that the coach is well insulated and has duel pane windows. |
Greg Roberts (63.73.123.39)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 30, 2001 - 2:07 pm: | |
Can you guys with ducted roof air tell me how far down below the structural part of the ceiling does the ducting extend? My finished ceiling height will be 6'4" and if the ducting adds only 2-3" I will go with the ducted roof air system because I will still have 6'1" to 6'2" ceiling height in the center walk area of the coach. |
madbrit (216.67.210.237)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 30, 2001 - 2:25 pm: | |
If you are having height concerns, then why not run the ducting inside the upper cabinets and have the vents coming out either above the doors or between them or even below? Lots of options on where to blow the air in and suck it out from.
Peter. |
Jim Wilke (199.181.167.68)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 30, 2001 - 4:30 pm: | |
I have roof air units. They leak condensate water all down the sides of the bus which finds it's way through my side windows. The unit in the bedroom is so loud it keeps me awake and when the compressor cycles on and off at night, I am either warm or freezing, not to mention the "clunk" it makes with every cycle. I would NEVER use them again!
Jim-Bob |
Jim Ashworth (Jimnh) (172.128.43.6)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 30, 2001 - 8:09 pm: | |
Greg- 2" is sufficient for depth of ductwork as long as it is wide enough for the volume. I dropped the whole ceiling 2" at the center and 1-1/4" at the sides (kind of flattens the ceiling) and have more than adequate air flow for the 3 roof units. As Jim W said, they are a bit noisy and do thunk, but for the bay space not taken up and the price, I can put up with that minor inconvenience. Remember, the roof can't be used to store anything and the bays can, so why use bay space for an a/c unit? As for the condensation, Duo-Therm makes a drip catcher that will stop the water running down the side of the coach. Condensation goes through tubing inside the coach and down to the ground. Works great and costs about $40 per a/c.
Jim |
Greg Roberts (172.156.26.120)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 30, 2001 - 11:17 pm: | |
Posted earlier but it didn't show up. Good info Jim, Thanks. Jim, did you build the ducting yourself? If so, what material did you use and how did you design it so that it is supported. How did you attach it to the roof. - Greg |
Jim Ashworth (Jimnh) (172.157.77.237)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, September 03, 2001 - 9:15 pm: | |
Greg- I didn't ignore your post. Went away for Labor Day weekend. On the roof ribs, I screwed 1/2" ply and then suspended 1/4" luan on built-up blocks made of 1/2"x3"x3" plywood blocks stapled together to get the right thickness. 4 pieces at the center and then tapering toward the sides until I reached the 2 1/2"ply strips with a 1/4" luan strip as a cap along the edge of the roof. This is in a Prevost that has a 1-1/4" step as the sides meet the roof. (That's why the 1-1/4" sides) The blocking is about on a 2 foot grid all over the ceiling with a line of blocking at the upper cabinet fronts as an anchoring point. Make darn sure you lay them out logically, because after the luan is held up for stapling, you cannot see the blocks. An electronic stud finder is useful in case you know there's a block but just can't find it. For vents I used six 3"x12" white plastic diffusers per air conditioner along the outside to cool at the window area first. I thought about using strip soffit vents but it didn't look good in my conversion. It might just be great in yours. (And, for $3.00 for 8' it can't be beat for cost!) This amount of venting results in no drafts. Just cool air floating down throughout the coach. I would do it again in a heartbeat if I was crazy enought to do a 4th conversion!
Jim |