I desperately want a Friedrich for my bedroom, but DAMN do they want all the money for them. If it's a hot summer again I may break down and raid the piggy bank to get one just for the noise level reduction.
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I desperately want a Friedrich for my bedroom, but DAMN do they want all the money for them. If it's a hot summer again I may break down and raid the piggy bank to get one just for the noise level reduction.
I somehow can't get over the perception that a window unit in a trailer will look ghetto. All that comes to mind is this:
Attachment 47386
I also worry about leaks etc. because cutting a huge sized hole on the wall of trailer seems like asking for trouble down the line. Am I off?
What about split ACs for trailer? If quietness is the goal, wouldn't putting the AC in the tongue be better? Do Split ACs cool as well as window units?
Heh, you don't have to have the ass of the AC hanging out the side, as I said mount it in a low cabinet and vent it out the floor instead. I've seen quite a few mini splits on trailers as well, you wouldn't be crossing new ground there. On how well various systems cool, ultimately 5000 BTU is 5000 BTU of cooling, the difference is in how much juice they burn to do it. Portables tend to need more watts to do 5000 BTU of work than window shakers, etc. A trailer your size is going to need 8000 BTU minimum to really be cooled effectively based on my slightly smaller setup. You've at least got some decent paneling in place acting as some insulation so that'll help.
hmm.. interesting. I already have a low cabinet Kurlon - see pic. I currently have odds and ends in it but it can easily be re-purposed as a dedicated AC spot.
I am thinking at least 12000 BTU. In fact, I will go as high as I can power from my 2000W generator. Can a generator handle 12000 BTU? What about 14000 BTU?
Is a window unit quiet / as quiet as a mini split? What's the quietest, all else equal?
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2000w sustained or 2000w peak generator? My 8000BTU unit will stall a 1800w sustained generator when it cycles. No way you'll run anything bigger off that unit.
Window units vary wildly in noise, cheapy Walmart special will be annoying as all hell. A Friedrich Kuhl which costs 10 times as much for the same cooling capacity will be MUCH quieter, and likely use less juice. A mini split air handler should be nearly silent, but I dunno how quiet the external portion will be?
Ok I researched all the suggestions and options and sadly none of them seemed to me to be heads and shoulders above the others. Every trailer AC option seems to have major downsides.
Weighing cooling power, quietness, ability to move it later to a different trailer and cost in that order, I went with the portable Honeywell 10k BTU ac and heater combo unit.
I tested it out yesterday and it seems to work as advertised. Though it was only high 50s outside in NY so the compressor only kicked on a handful of times so I can't tell how cool it's going to get just yet. Good news is that my Honda EU2000i has no problems running this unit. In fact, I even loaded up my tire warmers (woodcraft dual temps) at the same time and both ac and tire warmers ran with no issues.
When Pinned gets back from vacation, he is going to 'install' this ac for me, vent it permanently instead of through the window and finish up the electrical work. Will post an update.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5e733cd431.jpg
Nice dude! What did that run you? I'm in the market for something similar.
As long as the bike fits in the bed, you'll need a spot to bolt the base plate to either just in front or just behind the rear wheel. I dunno as I'd trust my tailgate for that job personally.
You can just leave the tailgate down. I did that all the time when I moved bikes in the back of my Tacoma years ago. And here's a 5.5 foot bed and a full size R1 on Pitbull. You cant see the TRS but its amounted ahead of his rear wheel. And he didn't even have to remove his belly pan.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/im...OO7wxTiaWA9uek
OK here's an update on this trailer build.
- Duncan finished installing my shore power setup and AC - the bubba-recommended charge controller feeds several AC outlets on the inside; microwave, Keurig and AC are always hooked to those outlets.
- AC is vented directly to floor. He fabricated a slick trap door with latch.
- At places without shore power, my EU2000i seems capable of powering the whole setup, and tire warmers. Will need to see for sure on a super hot summer day, but initial testing says it will do ok. Worst case, I may have to drop tire warmers, generator will power everything in trailer just fine.
- Ceiling fan and interior lights are hooked up to marine battery, or when shore power is available, direct to AC.
In addition,
- I added Pitbull's stand holders to the wall to securely hold the stands.
- I added some "shelves" to hold my sugar, creamer, etc. I like my mornings to be very organized, too grumpy to be searching for stuff in the mornings :)
- Added a very over-engineered water bottle holder by bedside :) lol..
Very happy with this setup so far.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/qD...2x1_gHHQkq5cpI
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/eH...08TOptD-QS4rsw
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/AU...NhT1ThBGUZ97RI
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/lv...OKChXP6vLCs-5Q
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_g...xyoABW0r-gzVFo
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/by...5x_xEaNtzlvCWk
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/uY...BT4ngL1VklYj7E
I found a soft-start setup that'll coax my AC into being generator friendly, just dunno if I want to spend $250 on it, and I still haven't figured out where to hide it in the enclosure...
OK I added two toolboxes to keep tools and supplies organized. I also wanted the right size toolboxes that I could just roll up behind one of the bikes and simply strap to the wall, instead of rolling up and making a turn etc.
Bought two of these guys:
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This is the setup:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/u2...TydDpauTvQHmbY
Also broke down and finally bought an "ez-up" Went with the coleman:
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OK I have an update on this AC situation. It's not great news.
- Situation A: Start the AC around noon when it's really hot outside. It only cools at the rate of 2-3 degrees per hour compared to outside temperature, and opening the door of trailer to get in or out instantly sets you back a noticeable few degrees.
- Situation B: Start the AC in the morning itself (loudbeard's suggestion) and let it run all day. This is certainly better. However, it still only maintains roughly a 10-12 degree difference between outside and inside. While it was comfortable inside the trailer, it certainly didn't feel very airconditiony. While my 2000W generator handled the AC easily along with my tire warmers, it still felt like a lot of burn for not a lot of cooling, not to mention the hassle of having to stop the AC every time I needed the Keurig of microwave and the resultant rework/catch-up the AC had to do.
- Situation C: Improve the efficiency of the portable unit. I was researching portable units more closely and it seems I should have bought a dual hose model instead of the single hose like I have. I see plenty of DIY hacks to convert a single hose model to a dual hose. In addition, I see that some folks are adding tubing to the water vents and draining the water actively, instead of letting the AC burn it up from the tray. At this point, I am on the fence about trying either of these as it seems like good money/time after bad. Anyone know if these are worth doing?
I still don't know if I would have gone roof mount or split over the portable as they have major drawbacks (not being able to run off a small generator for one, or noise) of their own. But the portable option in a trailer isn't proving to be great.
Bear in mind, many modern AC purposely keep water in the tray to splash against the radiator as a means of improving efficiency.
I also don't expect mine to radically drop temps, but man is standing in the airway nice after peeling leathers off...
I apologize for not re-reading, but what's your insulation in the trailer? I'm surprised with the small area that it doesn't cool better. I can vouch that my 6X12 fills up with carbon monoxide rapidly...
Turn it on, stick a thermometer in the output, see what it says. If it's a good 30 degrees below ambient in the trailer it's doing the best it can.
Yeah, I will hit it with my IR thermometer next time.
The one other thing that struck me was to rule out power input as the reason for insufficient cooling. As in, if the 2000W generator for some reason isn't putting out enough for the AC compressor to run continuously. I plan to run the AC with garage power next time I'm working in the garage at day time and see if the cooling is any better.
Once the AC is started, voltage sags really shouldn't significantly impact the perf. If the compressor is running, it's doing it's thing even if the rpms dip a touch.
Gents, one of the areas I have been thinking about for next season is generator setup. I'd like to avoid having to move generator and fuel and cords in and out of trailer each time. Among all the things about this that's annoying, packing the 100 ft cord without tangling is reducing my life expectancy greatly.
Ideally, I'd like to hard mount my generator on the tongue of trailer, permanently hooked up to an extended run fuel tank, and have a retractable cord reel hard mounted to tongue also. The ideal scenario I am hoping for is to fill up the generator's fuel can on tongue when fueling up the truck, pull up at camp site or track, start generator, unwind power cord and be off and running. I can line the box with sound insulation to help muffle the noise. The Hondas run relatively quietly anyway so having it running on the tongue should be OK?
I am looking for thoughts and critique on this whole idea. Major first world problem, yes, I know, but help me out.
One option: Generator Boxes for Travel Trailers
Another option: GenBoxes – Hapco Inc.
Third: Generator Boxes | Georgia Made Trailers - this one seems comparatively less expensive than the first two options.