Dual A/C... Worth it?

[BAB]

I added the 2d A/C to my 28' last summer. 'Nuff said.

[ramblin rose]

Get two. In the CA foothills, our 27 cannot keep up with the 95-100 degree heat at all with just the single unit.

[megandrudy]

Go for dual A/C. You won't be sorry.

[m.hony]

It's more than getting a second a/c.
It is getting a 50 amp trailer instead of a 30 amp trailer.
Now, you can use the a/c and the microwave or a hair dryer at the same time without tripping a breaker.
I will never ever never have a 30 amp trailer again!
Regardless of which brand of trailer purchased, this is one piece of advice I wish everyone shopping for any RV trailer or motorhome would hear me out on-

[JFScheck]

27 or larger and you need that second A/C unit!

[cwf]

"Adding" 50 amp and second AC are not trivial to do at home. It is far better to have AS Factory install.

[Msmoto]

In a newer unit, the cost of the second A/C will return itself at resale. And even in my 2009 27 FB International one A/C would not keep it below 80 degrees in almost any southern venue in the US.

The 50 Amp cord.... well at age 72 I handle this by simply being careful and not attempting to lift the entire cord at once. Maybe a minute or two more work, but the convenience of not having breakers trip, especially if one has an espresso machine, hair dryer, etc, which might do this in a 30 amp, more than makes up for the slight bit of work dragging the big cord around.

And, there is really no extra space in a trailer for a portable A/C unit, and this does not sound like good advice.....especially in a new purchase.


Ms Tommie Lauer
Greensboro, NC
2015 Serenity 30 RB / 2008 Dodge Cummins 4 X 4
WBCCI #4165 AIR #31871

[m.hony]

The benefits of a 60 amp trailer far outweigh the one down side- that big ole heavy, unruly black snake-
He is even stiffer and harder to handle in the cooler months-

[m.hony]

60 amp?
I meant 50 amp..

[Tater]

The 50 amp has many advantages especially when running a/c microwave and anything else simultaneously. Has 30 amp on our 25' and one a/c. Had to manage power usage and on Florida summer it never cooled below 80 during the day. Our 30' 50 amp dual a/c cools great and we don't have to decide what can be on at the same time. Bottom line. If I had a pup tent I would have dual a/c and 50 amp. Lol

[switz]

If ordering a new unit, one can pay an up charge to have both the second air conditioner and the rear fantastic fan (I read on the forum a member paid a factory charge of $1,000 for the modification for the second fan with two air conditioners).

Another useful modification is the reversible air flow switch for the fantastic fan.

[tkowalyk]

Another benefit is running one of the ACs in the other living space. For example, run the AC in the bedroom while you are I. The galley / dinette. So much quieter.

[tkowalyk]

Originally Posted by m.hony

The benefits of a 60 amp trailer far outweigh the one down side- that big ole heavy, unruly black snake-
He is even stiffer and harder to handle in the cooler months-

I have a 50 to 30 amp pigtail that connects to the trailer. I use my 30 Amp extension cord as the primary cord. This works well when I don't need 50 amp power

[m.hony]

In the 100 degree 100% humidity south we rarely ever can do without a/c. Even in winter I want to run both heat pumps and the microwave.
That is a good idea, but I sold my 30 amp extension cord. I guess I'll keep wrangling the big, thick, heavy, stiff, unruly snake-

[Wayward]

There are options to add a second A/C without having to upgrade existing Airstreams to 50amp/240v service.

One option is to add a dedicated 120v line, with single circuit breaker, for the AC.

That dedicated line could be a standard extension cord plugged into the 20amp outlet on the campground power box:



Or the dedicated line could be pluged into one half of a 50amp/220v spltter like this. The Airstream's maim power umbilical plugged into the other side. Each side could supply up to 50 amps at 120v when fed by the 50amp 240v campground outlet.





Another option is to leave everything as-is and let the second A/C unit share the oven/microwave circuit with a smart power sharing gadget. It connects two high current appliances to one breaker even though together they would trip it.

It is called a priority switch, load shedder, or automatic energy select switch.


It works by hooking two high current loads (up to 20 amps each) to the black box and then running the input to the breaker.

So.... the existing microwave breaker would only have capacity to serve the oven or the second A/C but not at the same times. But consider that it would be OK to pause the A/C for a minute or two while the microwave runs.

Place this automatic switch near your breaker panel and hook wire going to the microwave to high priority side of it. Hook the second A/C unit to the low priority side.

• If you turn on the second A/C when the microwave is off, it works.
• If you turn on the microwave when the second A/C is off, it works.
• If you turn the microwave on while the second A/C is running, power is paused to the A/C until the microwave is finished.
• If you turn the second A/C on when the microwave is running, it will wait until the microwave is finished and then the second A/C goes on

[Skater]

Originally Posted by Wayward

Place this automatic switch near your breaker panel and hook wire going to the microwave to high priority side of it. Hook the second A/C unit to the low priority side.

Older Airstreams (before sometime in the early 90s) used to have a 120 volt wall switch mounted somewhere that would do the same thing for the microwave vs. the air conditioner (I presume it was a 3 way switch, but I never looked at the wiring to confirm that). My '91 B190 had the switch, but our '95 trailer doesn't, so I've narrowed the change down to somewhere in that vicinity.