Lots of people love traveling during the summer months and I belong to this group of people. Traveling helps us to meet new people, places, and taste new meals. And the last point but for us, the most important one is the freedom we can feel on our journeys. If you want to enjoy the comfort of being free and travel you will also love the pleasant comfort of a window air conditioner in a van, caravan or with a mobile home or other types of AC unit that helps you to feel cool.
The good news is I tried many ways how to achieve a pleasant temperature in every kind of recreational vehicle (RV) and have lots of experience with standard units for RV as well as with the installation of household units into a window in RV. It doesn’t matter if you are on a budget but still desire to have an awesome holiday. There is always a way how to solve your situation and be the king of a camp park.
But before you start preparing your RV for summer you should know some facts that it’s always better to take into consideration. I boiled down the most important and interesting facts about AC units in the RV. Read this article and be ready for the new cool adventures!
Can I Have a Window Air Conditioner in Van, Caravan, or Mobile Home?
Of course, you can. If you are on a budget the window air conditioner in van, caravan or mobile home is the simplest and smartest solution. However, lots of people won’t recommend to buy the unit and install it because this kind of AC isn’t designed to be used in the RV. And yes, absolutely they are designed to be used in a room but thousands of people around the world use it and they are satisfied with their units.
Size of Window
The first thing you should double-check before purchase it the size of the unit. You have to find a unit that will fit into the window perfectly. You can’t customize the window and make the window bigger.
Cooling Capacity in BTU
Before purchase, you also have to find an appropriate BTU (British Thermal Unit) for your home on wheels. The BTU indicates how much energy you need to cool the room and it’s dependent on the size of the room in this case on the size of a caravan floor. The standard units that are suitable for most of van, caravan or mobile homes have BTU between 5,000 and 15,000 BTU. For your better overview, the value of 5,000 BTU is used for RV having 150 sq. ft. of floor area (it corresponds to a room with width 10 feet and length 15 feet).
Kinds of AC Units Suitable For Home on Wheels
There are lots of air conditioners on the market and sometimes isn’t easy to orient among them. When you try to find some informative articles about units that are primarily used in households the situation is much better. But when you face a special case and you’re preparing your recreational vehicle for summer months and juicy traveling your options in reviews and feedbacks aren’t so rich eventually.
There are four types that can be installed in your RV:
- Rooftop – The most common kind of AC unit installed in recreational vehicles. You can benefit from the ducted and non-ducted version. They are very expensive.
- Under-bench – Very smart units that are hidden under seats in RVs. They don’t need any special cutout into a wall or window.
- Small Portable – These machines are primarily used in homes along with window units. But they have a big advantage because they are movable however they a space on a floor.
- Window – Popular and cheap solution of traveling during summer.
Is Heating Function Worthy?
Lots of window air conditioner units for caravans and mobile homes offer the heating function. What you should know before purchase it that the cooling is a primary purpose of the unit but heating is only a function. For heating, it’s used a simple heating element which is not so powerful as the unit when it cools, unfortunately.
If you really want to use the appliance in the lower temperature you should double-check what temperature could influence the process of heating according to the information given by a unit producer. Follow the specification and find out the temperature. Read best window air conditioners with heating function which you can install in your RV, van, caravan, and mobile home.
Amperage in Camp Parks
If you like to stay in some kind of camp parks your fees usually cover also the power. Then, you don’t need to solve this problem.
But if you are planning to stay out of the parks and you need to use the power from a generator. In general, the generator should provide more than the air conditioner consumes. Producers of generator usually don’t provide the true information about the output. They simply over-quote their rated output. Rely only on well-known brands that also offer well customer service. And if it’s possible to follow reviews of RV owners who can provide valuable feedback and their experience.
Quiet AC Unit for Van, Caravan, and Mobile Home
One of the considerations you should focus on is the noise. The noise of the operating machine should be between 40 and 60 dB (decibels are units that identify the level of noise). For your better overview, the value of 40 dB is like a quiet talk between two or three people. The value of 60 dB is like a loud talk between two or three people. If you choose a noisy appliance you struggle with dreamless nights which worse when you are on a holiday. Pick one of the quietest window air conditioners.
There are some tips on how to make the level of noise lower if you have already solved this issue with a noisy appliance. You can, for example, you an isolation foam around the unit to make reduce the resonance. A big part of the noise is absorbed by the foam.
The Bottom Line
In general, the window air conditioner for van, caravan or mobile home is a pretty good idea if you can’t spend lots of money and buy a rooftop unit or don’t have enough space for under-bench or portable appliances. The window AC units are cheap and you can do all the maintenance yourself without having to pay experts.
Some people can consider this type of air conditioner noisy but as I already said it’s like talk of two or three people and you can improve it by using some tricks. Also, the operating is cheap and gives you some other benefits.
If you want to stay cool on your journeys and travel economically the window air conditioner is the best choice!