One or Two Air conditioning units

[Danishgod]

What do owners think? If I Airstream in Canada for the summer and the US southwest from January to April, do I need two air conditioners or can I get by with one?

[JonDNC]

What size?

[BayouBiker]

I Live in Louisiana our 25' FBT has two. From September through mid May one A/C does the job no problem except maybe in a Walmart Parking lot, I haven't tried that down here, and if you have 5 or more people visiting and going in and out on a nice warm southern fall day (we needed two then). There are a few other considerations though. The upgraded 50Amp service and distribution bus is nice especially if you are partial to hair dryers, steamers, irons, electric coffee pots etc. and you like to use more than one at a time. The redundancy is also nice to have, if one fails but also so you can set one to cool for daytime and one to heat overnight (I know you can use the program mode for that also, but....).

Both units feed into a common duct system so if you're not careful with them set to "Auto" you can get them competing with each other. Even worse you can get the furnace competing with the A/C in auto mode.... (I don't make this stuff up, I live it)

[perryg114]

You should not need more than one unit but best to have a 15k BTU unit. If you were going to be in 90F plus temps all the time then I would say two. Shade is your best friend when the sun is out. A white roof helps a lot.



Perry

[jeffmc306]

Danishgod, I've seen comments on the forum that you can get by with one in a 25' or smaller but larger consider two. If you were in the Southwest in the summer, two required in a 25' or larger.

There's another benefit to consider - 50A electrical service with two A/C's. That gives you two 50 A legs to your distribution center which means you can run more stuff at the same time.

We opted for two on our 27' Globetrotter. Another benefit is you get 1+1 redundancy. If one fails, you still have another. Plus, two heat pumps!

Good luck with your decision!
Jeff

[brick1]

Get the 50amp/dual AC option. Cheap to do when buying, expensive to add later.

[Mike Leary]

There is a 'noise factor' with the roof airs; we run the rear when we're up front and it cools just fine WITHOUT the noise of the front one above our heads. We are in SW Arizona and very seldom does the need for both come up.

[Denkim]

This is a question that we asked before we bought. We look hard at a 25rbt, but we selected on a 26. the 26 comes standard with two. Being that said, we have not gone thru a summer with ours yet, personally I can't answer. But I do like the 50 amp when camping in a park that has the plug. We love our A/S.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

The "what size?" question is indeed very relevant here. If you are looking at new trailers, there are a limited number that have an option to get one or two. If you are looking used, things have changed a lot over the many years that Airstream has been in business.

Since the A/C units in some setups also run as heat pumps, the same geography that may help you in one season could hit you in another season. Running them for heat off the campground's free electricity usually beats paying for propane for heat.

Bob

[tbashin]

Originally Posted by brick1

Get the 50amp/dual AC option. Cheap to do when buying, expensive to add later.

I agree with this. You can always leave one off when you don't need it but you can't turn on the second one if you don't have it.

[moosetags]

We have always gotten by with one A/C unit in our 25FB's. We have been Airstream camping for a very long time (14 years) all over the United States and Canada. We have logged over 2,100 nights of Airstream camping.

One A/C unit has always worked for us. If we were replacing Lucy today, it would be another 25FB with a single Air Conditioning unit.

Brian

[Mike1948]

I have a 25 front queen. I went with the 2 ac units and I’m glad I did. When the weather is mild I take my 30amp cord but for the gulf coast in the summer I use my 50amp. I love it. Better to have it and not need it than to need and not have it.

[AirMiles]

I'm with Moosetags and only want one A/C, even on a 27'. 45,000+ miles in 350 nights and I have not once regretted my single A/C Airstreams . Both Moosetags and I have the Three Awning Option which is important with the single A/C. (Moosetags told me to get this option on my first purchase). I also have a roof full of solar panels which helps shade the roof. We are always comfortable in the Florida heat and everywhere else in the country. After 40,000 miles and 316 days of use across the country in my single A/C 25', I bought a single A/C 27' as a replacement.

[Lumatic]

I have a 34 foot AS with only one 13K AC. I also have a Luna portable evaporative cooler for really hot days. My roof is also painted white. This works 95% go the time. When (not if) I replace the roof unit I would get a 15K unit.

[Banker]

We drove across Texas in early November. Temperature was freezing for 13hours with a low of 24 degrees. We were pleasantly warm with two reverse cycle A/Cs.

[kscherzi]

Have one 15k AC on our 27FB. We survived the heat dome in Iowa last summer. Upper 90's with high humidity. The AC ran nearly nonstop, but we also made a point to camp where there was afternoon shade. Inside was fine, just noisy.

If you can be strategic in your camping decisions, one AC works. In our camper, the single AC allowed us a second fantastic fan which we feel is much more useful in our daily lives.

[Mattirs]

Last summer I was in 100 plus day and 70 night temps and found there was a 20 degree cooling effect. 25ft FC 2016.
My interior during the day was in the mid 80's and ran half hour on 10 minutes off.

[Daquenzer]

Originally Posted by mikieleary

There is a 'noise factor' with the roof airs; we run the rear when we're up front and it cools just fine WITHOUT the noise of the front one above our heads. We are in SW Arizona and very seldom does the need for both come up.

I completely agree! We run the AC in the living area while we are sleeping, and while we are in the living area we run it in the sleeping area. Much more quiet. Also easier to heat on the heat pumps when we don’t need the LP furnace. I know it is more expensive. Having said that I have a 28’. Never been in a 25’.

[rowiebowie]

Originally Posted by Danishgod

What do owners think? If I Airstream in Canada for the summer and the US southwest from January to April, do I need two air conditioners or can I get by with one?

Welcome to the forum Danishgod!

Your question is one well thrashed out previously on this forum, but for your specific time-frame the answer might not be so cut and dried. As weather is generally mild in the location and months you specify, you could still run into 90 degree days in the month of April (and even occasionally in March). But as a resident of South Texas, I'd say you'll be ok with one ac.

Change your time-frame to May-August, and my answer would be definitely two unless you like sweltering heat inside an aluminum can.

[out of sight]

We carry a small 750/1500 watt electric heater with us and that takes care of 90% of our heating needs in our 28. If it gets really cold we might put on the propane furnace for a while in the morning to take the chill out but its too powerful and it cycles on and off to much. The A/C's in HP mode are too noisy and they dont work well when it gets into the 40's. Also they seem to only heat up the top of the cabin and the bottom remains cold so we hardly ever use them for heat.