27' GT: 2nd AC?

[Riskinator]

Hello,

Yesterday I found a 27' Globetrotter than I'm considering buying. One hesitation I have is that it does not have the second A/C unit. We do plan to pull through the southern US at times and seems things are generally getting hotter too. How necessary is a second A/C unit in a 27' Airstream? This will be our first AS trailer so I'm not sure how they hold temperature in the real world of travelling and camping.

Love to hear your advice!! Thanks in advance.

[Aluminium Falcon]

I suppose it all depends on how much time you plan on spending in the southern US. You certainly will not need a second A/C unit while travelling in Canada and the northern part of the US. We have one A/C in our 25FB and seldom used it last summer while travelling throughout Ontario. We actually had to use the furnace at night much more often!

[McStreamy_]

What time of year do you plan to be down south? We used to live in Tucson, AZ and have one AC in our 25FB. Way too hot in the summer months for just one AC. In the spring/fall with temps in the 80s we found one AC to be just fine.

[JeffKim]

We live in the north as well. We opted for one A/C in our GT 25FBT which we will pick up in a few weeks. The dealer said one A/C will keep things cool enough (78 or so) even when it's very hot. Other considerations were hauling and stowing a hefty 50A cord when 95% of the time we wouldn't need the A/C and also a reduction in mileage (however slight).

[Hans627]

My first AS, 25' Int. FBT, only had one A/C. My second AS has two. Having had both and traveling pretty much in the same geographical areas I would say we used our both A/C's about 10 to 15% of the time.

Having 50 amp service is a plus. But having two ceiling fans (in an AS with one A/C) is nice as well

If I lived in Calgary and I found a 27' GT that had everything I wanted with the exception of the second A/C, I would buy it!

[foobar]

If you live in the south and camp a lot in the South, 2 a/c units in a 27 Globetrotter is a must. Even a 25 ft Airstream really needs 2 a/c units to stay comfortable with temperatures in the 90's, especially if shade is in short supply.

Even if you don't live in the south and only camp down here a limited number of times, one a/c isn't going to be able to keep you comfortable. In the more humid southern climates like pretty much anywhere along the gulf coast, including Florida, a compressor based dehumidifier also becomes very important to your comfort level.

It's just a different animal down here in the South. We live in Dallas and have a new 2022 Globetrotter 27FB twin. The Airstream dealers here in Texas will strongly discourage you from ordering a single a/c unit in a 25 ft or larger trailer. Resale value takes a big hit if you want to sell a single a/c based trailer down here.

If buying the Airstream is eating up 100% of your budget, and southern camping will be minimal (or only occur during cooler seasons down here), then by all means go for a single a/c unit.

Otherwise, if you can swing the additional $$ and plan to camp even a couple of days down South, you will thank yourself profusely later for saying yes to the 2nd a/c unit. And, the 2nd heatpump will come in handy for minimizing propane use when camping in full hookup RV parks in cold weather.

[Riskinator]

Originally Posted by foobar

If you live in the south and camp a lot in the South, 2 a/c units in a 27 Globetrotter is a must. Even a 25 ft Airstream really needs 2 a/c units to stay comfortable with temperatures in the 90's, especially if shade is in short supply.

Even if you don't live in the south and only camp down here a limited number of times, one a/c isn't going to be able to keep you comfortable. In the more humid southern climates like pretty much anywhere along the gulf coast, including Florida, a compressor based dehumidifier also becomes very important to your comfort level.

It's just a different animal down here in the South. We live in Dallas and have a new 2022 Globetrotter 27FB twin. The Airstream dealers here in Texas will strongly discourage you from ordering a single a/c unit in a 25 ft or larger trailer. Resale value takes a big hit if you want to sell a single a/c based trailer down here.

If buying the Airstream is eating up 100% of your budget, and southern camping will be minimal (or only occur during cooler seasons down here), then by all means go for a single a/c unit.

Otherwise, if you can swing the additional $$ and plan to camp even a couple of days down South, you will thank yourself profusely later for saying yes to the 2nd a/c unit. And, the 2nd heatpump will come in handy for minimizing propane use when camping in full hookup RV parks in cold weather.

Thank you for the very comprehensive and thoughtful response. Based on your input I will pass on this trailer. I like it cool and the second A/C will be a necessity as we plan to pull to Florida a few times. AS cost so much that an extra few thousand to get what you really want is the better way to go. Thank you!

[foobar]

Originally Posted by Riskinator

Thank you for the very comprehensive and thoughtful response. Based on your input I will pass on this trailer. I like it cool and the second A/C will be a necessity as we plan to pull to Florida a few times. AS cost so much that an extra few thousand to get what you really want is the better way to go. Thank you!

You are welcome.

Adding a second a/c can be done, but it ends up being a bit of a hack. Like you will need to add a 2nd 30amp shore power plug on the side of the Airstream to handle the additional current demand of the 2nd a/c.

Reworking all of the Airstream wiring and electrical distribution panels and breakers to convert it to a true 50amp capability is invasive and not cheap to do unless you do it yourself.

Given the steady stream of recent model Airstreams coming onto the market, your strategy is the best one. Wait for a trailer that had 2 a/c's installed at the factory.

Best of luck with your search!

[AgBullet]

Originally Posted by Riskinator

Thank you for the very comprehensive and thoughtful response. Based on your input I will pass on this trailer. I like it cool and the second A/C will be a necessity as we plan to pull to Florida a few times. AS cost so much that an extra few thousand to get what you really want is the better way to go. Thank you!

Good move. For all you'll be paying for a 27' GT, you should ensure it has two A/Cs / 50 amp. I've owned a single A/C 25' and a 50 amp 27'...the difference in severe heat is substantial.

[dspeltz]

A couple years ago we spent a week in Acadia National Park in late July. The temperature for the full week was in the low 90s and the humidy was high. We had one AC in our 23 foot GT and the coolest we could get it was 83 in the late afternoon. And we had the dehumidifier running (which creates heat) to help). We are now taking our GT27 south in two weeks. With two AC.

[Gleverett]

Airstreams get very warm inside during the summer no matter where you are and after a days travel on the road it takes along time to cool it down with one AC. A fan circulating air helps but doesn't replace a second AC. We had a 25'FC for 5 years with one AC living in FL and traveling a lot during the summer. It was tolerable but when you start going to larger AS's and depending on where you plan on venturing I would recommend 2 AC's. The nice thing about the 2nd AC is you can run only one to be comfortable at night and decrease noise level or both on arriving at a destination.

[Atwebs]

We have a 27 GT with 2 air conditioners, but we don't like the noise of the AC, so we rarely have 2 on. We prefer to simply cool the area of the trailer where we are and block off the other side (the bedroom curtains do an OK job).

Many places are great with simply opening the windows and the awnings after the sun goes down and we do prefer to be outside, even if it is warm. We also don't leave the AC running if we aren't right there so we don't go off camp and leave it running (20 minutes or so and you can sit in the cool air sooner).

[Riskinator]

Originally Posted by Atwebs

We have a 27 GT with 2 air conditioners, but we don't like the noise of the AC, so we rarely have 2 on. We prefer to simply cool the area of the trailer where we are and block off the other side (the bedroom curtains do an OK job).

Many places are great with simply opening the windows and the awnings after the sun goes down and we do prefer to be outside, even if it is warm. We also don't leave the AC running if we aren't right there so we don't go off camp and leave it running (20 minutes or so and you can sit in the cool air sooner).

Thank you. It will be interesting to hear the new brand (I think they use Coleman now on the GT line). Supposed to be much quieter but I can't confirm that.

[Justinfinity]

We have a 2020 Globetrotter 27FBT and chose single AC. We spend a fair bit of time in humid Florida and have not missed having a 2nd AC. We feel that the single AC unit with the two fantastic fans offers the most flexibility. We do carry a GE compressor based humidifier and we will use that to take the moisture out of the air instead of running the AC. Sometimes humidity reduction is all you need as opposed to heat reduction. We have tried running both the AC and the humidifier but only when the small amount of heat emitted from the humidifier doesn't "trick" the AC thermostat from cycling too often. We also wanted to minimize power draw, either to get more flexibility at 15A or 30A hookups, or when boon docking with no hookups.

[Silver Nugget]

This may be a moot point depending on the status of your search but I’ll weigh in. We have 2 ACs in our GT 27FB and always book 50 amp sites so I never gave it much thought…until…a recent trip to Ventura, California. I booked a HipCamp site that only had 30 amp hookups so we could only run 1 AC zone at a time. Based on that experience alone I would say 2 ACs are the best choice for travel in the southwest and southern states. Best of luck to you!

[2012FB]

Originally Posted by Riskinator

Hello,

Yesterday I found a 27' Globetrotter than I'm considering buying. One hesitation I have is that it does not have the second A/C unit. We do plan to pull through the southern US at times and seems things are generally getting hotter too. How necessary is a second A/C unit in a 27' Airstream? This will be our first AS trailer so I'm not sure how they hold temperature in the real world of travelling and camping.

Love to hear your advice!! Thanks in advance.

My 2022 25' has two AC units that I had to hunt for and drove to Dallas to purchase. I would not own anything larger than a 23' without dual AC. This is from significant experience owning various Airstream models with and without dual AC.

[Gibson3798]

My wife and I weren't comfortable with a 25', 1 AC Flying Cloud and we went to a 28' with 2 AC's. 1 AC in the trailer you mention would be a non-starter for us.

[Joe15601]

I ordered mine with two mostly for redundancy. It won't ruin my summer if one breaks.

[JeffKim]

We opted for one AC mostly because we don't anticipate camping much in hot weather and more often than not, we don't have electricity. So I think it just depends on camping style. I'm sure there will be times when we might regret it or maybe our needs will change. I also didn't want to lug around a 50A cord when 99% of the time we wouldn't need 50A.