Coleman basement air

[scanzel]

Is anyone out there using the Coleman basement air unit? What is your opinion and do you like it. Where did you purchase it? Cost? The one I am looking at is 24,000 btu and uses dual internal units. Is it enough for a conversion or would one roof top be good for additional cooloing if needed?

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Steve,

the coleman unit is on the small side for a bus.  24,000 btu's is the smallest of the duel units. Dometic's duel unit is 26,000 btu's.

and 1 step better would be to do what I did, 2- 15,000 btu single units stacked. The other bennifit of this set-up is the

redundency of a whole seprate system if 1 fails.

Good Luck
Nick-

[DrivingMissLazy]

Is anyone out there using the Coleman basement air unit? What is your opinion and do you like it. Where did you purchase it? Cost? The one I am looking at is 24,000 btu and uses dual internal units. Is it enough for a conversion or would one roof top be good for additional cooloing if needed?

Rather than a roof unit, the ideal solution would be to install a dash type unit using the existing heat exchanger if it is equipped with A/C coils. The heat from an afternoon sun is really brutal and that was the next thing I was going to do to DML before the unfortunate accident.
Richard

[DavidInWilmNC]

I'd like the quietness and looks of a basement system and keep thinking about it.  I'm not sure I'm ready to give up the bay space, though.  I still have my OTR air, which includes dash air, so my generator is in a bay.  If I didn't have the OTR heat and air, I could move the generator compartment and the batteries to the evap. / heater core spot.  Then I wouldn't mind giving up the space for the basement unit(s).  Having said that, my OTR air is so effective that I've used the dash air maybe 20 minutes.  It's a bit noisy and the main system does such a good job that I didn't really need it.

David

[TomC]

I realize that Nick is in the business, but here are some points I've established from my observations.  Roof airs are just plainly the most cost effective A/C's.  I have 3 Coleman roof airs that 2 of them cool just fine up to 100 degrees.  I have had them in since 1995 with NO problems, just clean the filters once a year (had to replace the front outside cover).  Considering the cost for all three were $1600 and can still get them for very close to that, you can't beat that.  They cool well, and you can replace them in about 2 hours.  But-they only have two speeds-like high and medium, so they are not as quiet as could be.  Duotherm with 3 spd would be better.

I also had considered using the twin compressor basement unit from Dometic.  That is until I looked at the electrical schematic and saw something like 15 relays to operate it.  Way to complicated for me. Even the single unit still had something like 6 relays in it.  The true basement takes up under storage then you have to contend with the space robbing ducting.

The better option, in my opinion, is Dometic's Tundra's truck based all in one or split A/C.  These units are made for the trucking industry, so they are built very ruggedly.  The all in one mounts at the base of a closet.  You have to cut two holes of about 2x6" for the condenser air to go in and out of the cabinet.  The entire unit is mounted inside and then all you have to do is to duct it to the top of the closet for the vent, and have a return at the bottom.  No under storage lost.  The other is the split.  The inside unit is the evaporator and compressor also mounted at the base of the closet, but the condenser is mounted conveniently outside where you want and connected by two freon lines and an electrical line to the main unit.  The inside unit of the split is smaller than the all in one.  They are available in 7000, 10000, 14000btu, and use the basic same components as the roof top airs.  They cost (14,000btu) about $1800 for the all in one and $2400 for the split.  I am going to use one 7,000 and one 10,000btu to create a quiet night time A/C system-this will be my winter project. 

But-ultimately the roof top is still the best bang for the buck.  Good Luck, TomC

[Brian Diehl]

I have the coleman basement unit.  I've found it works great for cooling our bus up to about 90 - 95 degrees.  Anything over 95 and it can't keep up with my 70 degree set point.  Of course, you need to have 30 amps of power to run both compressors.  Good air flow over the condensor is a MUST to stay within that maximum of about 27 amps.  If not, then the two compressors will start to draw over the maximum amps a 30 amp power pole can provide.  I've not found the basement air to be an issue for me since we seldom use air conditioning.  However, we have used the heat pump feature of this unit A LOT.  Even in August here in MN I've had to run heat at night when camping up in northern MN.  The heat pumps pull a lot less amps when running in the cold, but only work down to about 35 degrees and then icing on the condensor becomes an issue.

[tomhamrick]

I have two Coleman basement units and am very pleased with them. I use one unit for the kitchen/ living room/ driver's area, and the other for the bath and bedroom. Keeps it nice even in 100+ temps in the sun. I like the fact that it is quiet and takes no head room. Also like the fact there is nothing on the roof. I bought my units from Ronthebusnut.com several years ago and think I paid $650 a piece. This is the equivalent of about 3 1/2 rooftop units.  I run both units one the road with a 7Kw gas Onan generator.

Tom Hamrick
1984 Eagle 10S

[niles500]

Scanzel - are you sure the Coleman (RV Products) twin compressor is 24K? I've only seen and recently purchased a 27k - I will let you know when I've installed it and run it for a while, but as of yet I can't comment - HTH

[Skykingrob]

Hi Scanzel

I have the coleman heat pump units in my Prevost. One each in the condensor and evaporator bays. Yes there was some engineering time in getting the ducts from the basement to the ceiling mounted trunk but it is quiet and cools/heats well in all conditions. The other time intensive area is getting the hot air discharge under the coach. As was mentioned, heat lonly until about 35-40 degrees. I bought the two units at Colaw RV Salvage, 1-417-358-2125, for $1500 including thermostats 3 years ago. These units were surplus from Winnebago.
Because of the unit size, I had to remove the bay doors and slide the units into the bay with the bay doors off as I had 1/2" on each side of the units. While I haven't had to remove mine, I would guess about 2-3 hours to remove and install a new one. That would include removing the bay door, disconnecting a supply and return air duct, the electric line and four mounting plates then reinstalling in reverse.

Rob
91 LeMirage XL
Missouri