Night Time Quiet A/C

[TomC]

I have three Coleman roof A/C's-while doing a great job during the day, with only a two speed fan that is being more like high and medium, they are too loud for restful night time use when needed.  I have two thoughts on that and appreciate your thoughts.

One (and this is the engineering side coming out in me) would be to use a CruiseAir split A/C with a 14,000btu condensing unit mounted under the floor (can be exposed to the elements) with two 7,000btu squirrel cage permanent magnet shaded pole motor (almost silent operation).  One mounted low in my hall closet with the vent into the bedroom and the other between the dinette and sofa in front.  Master controls would be on the back and the front would just have fan speed control.  It would be expensive-I'm quessing in the $2,000 range, but would be as close to silent A/C as you could get.  Has anyone used the CruiseAir?  Are they as quiet as the marine versions I've heard at boat shows? Are they trouble free?  Any input would be appreciated.

Second comes from my graphic design wife.  I told her that the Duotherm roof top air has three speeds and is much quieter at low than the Coleman, but I didn't want to have one different roof A/C than the other two.  She said, "why don't you just put the Coleman shroud on the Duother unit?"  Duh.  I know that the high profile Coleman and Duotherm are close in size and profile.  And I have seen shrouds that will fit both.  It would only cost about $600 for a Duotherm, except for the fact that the roof tops are no where near as well made as when I bought mine 12 years ago.  Your thoughts on this way?  Good Luck, TomC

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Tom,

Sure, The cruiseair's are quieter than roof tops. But, the installation will be a bit challanging in a finished conversion, and of course the higher price.

If you choose to go with the DuoTherms I would suggest the Penguins because of there low profile along with 3 fan speeds.

We service Cruisair marine systems and I can tell you they are harder to service than your rooftops but more reliable. The Self Contained units may better

suite your needs, this way you could hide the entire unit in the bay, or engine compartment. They also come in 14,000 btu's

Hope this helps
Nick-

[boogiethecat]

Hi Tom,
My thoughts are that I had, first, a Coleman for the front of the bus.  Then later I bought a Duotherm for the back.

It didn't take me long to actually give the Coleman away for free and get a second Duotherm !  I'd never have a Coleman again.
Noisy, obnoxious, inefficient as compared to the Duo. 

My 2c 

[Eagle]

Tom:
I believe Colman has a newer circuit board for their AC units.

[cjm]

If you want a really quiet roof air, try a Carrier.  I have two Air V's and they are much quieter on high than Colemans are on low.  HTH, John

[DavidInWilmNC]

Tom,

I'm also searching for a quiet rear A/C.  I think I'm going to try a 10K BTU window unit mounted in the rear bay and ducted up into the bedroom.  I have a friend that did this for his camper and it worked well.  He used an A/C with an electronic control panel that he mounted remotely.  It worked very well and is almost silent. 

David

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

David,

Great Idea!  But the only trouble with window units built today is that they are engineered to last 5 years! some more, most less!

Their coils are also not designed to be rugget. Now if you found some 15 to 20 year old units, they would be a better canidate!

Hope this helps
Nick-

[Christyhicks]

I hope you're wrong on the lifetime of the coils on these new Frigidiare units we bought,  ha ha. 

The reasons we went with new units were that we wanted the units with the least amount of amp draw, we wanted quiet units, and we wanted units with features like the coast feature on these units.  Larry can't stand to sleep in a stuffy room, so even if the inside temps don't require it, these units will come on and circulate the air for like 10 mins every hour, just to keep the room from getting stuffy.  They have remote controls and a variable fan speed giving a choice of 99 different speeds when in operation.  They have timers, etc. . .all things not available on the old units.

On the other hand, we fully expect to have to change capacitors and other parts sooner than one would have had to have done 20 years ago on a window unit.   IMHO,  capacitors these days are JUNK. . . we change them regularly, where it used to be a unit would run 10-15 years before you'd have one go out!  It's ironic that the a/c manufacturers are putting more and more effort into making efficient and high quality units, but the component suppliers are making weaker and weaker components.  Anyway, I rant. . . .but anyway, we looked at all of the options, have access to pretty much anything we want, and decided that these are the units will we use, based on configuration, amp draw, space usage, ease of ducting, etc. 

So, Nick, I'm hoping for once that you are wrong,  Christy Hicks

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Christy,


Only Time Will Tell............ Huh!  Lol

Good Luck
Nick

[Christyhicks]

Well, that will be the key. . .and I'm hoping we'll be laughing about this in five years. . . hopefully I'll be laughing at you and not the other way around, 

I do agree that some of the old stuff was pretty tough, but I'm also hoping that setting the units on vibration pads will also help with vibration problems and encourage the units to "Live Long and Prosper" .  Christy