basement A/C

[lloyd]

I see some guys have installed an A/C unit in the storage compartments as opposed to roof A/C, what type of unit did you use? Has anyone thought about installing an A/C heat pump combination, similar to what would be installed in a house?
Lloyd

[grantgoold]

I installed the Coleman 2 stage 3 ton AC system. Fit nicely and an easy install. A bit tight for the duct work.

Grant
Sacramento

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Loyd,

I use Dometic basement heat pumps, mostly because I am a distributor.

On my bus, I installed 2- 15,000 but HP's "stacked" to get a true 2 1/2 tons. They are ducted to a overhead 2 1/2" x 14"

main trunk with 12 supply's. The return is taken from the bus return tunnel that runs the legenth of the bus.

It takes some extra labor to build this kind of system but, the results are a whisper quiet air system, and a smooth roofline.

here are some pics

Good Luck
Nick-

[jackhartjr]

Hi Grant, can you give us a little more details on this.  Is one enough for the coach?  How much for the unit. 
Thanks
Jack

[Songman]

Nick,

Are all of your outlets in the ceiling or are some in the floor too? As I already mentioned to you, I want to do a basement system that is ducted. One of the things that I have to incorporate is bunks. I assume I can just run a duct down the wall beside the bunk and have outlets there.

[TomC]

The other system to consider that doesn't take much in the way of basement space is the split system.  One is the Cruiseair type that has the condenser/compressor in the basement then pipes the freon up to the evaportor-usually positioned at the base of a closet with a 4 or 6" duct to the top of cabinet vent.  The other type is the Dometic/Tundra split.  One has all the A/C in one unit with two approximately 2x6" holes for the in and out of air for the condenser in the floor, then duct the air where you want.  The other, and this is my favorite, has the evaporator/compressor mounted at the base of a closet with a 4 or 6" duct to the top of cabinet vent with the condensor mounted outside with just the two freon lines in between.

Another home made way of doing it is to buy two identical window units, split them in two using the evaporator, fan and fan motor from one and the compressor, condenser, condenser fan and motor from the other.  Then have freon lines made to connect them with the compressor unit outside and the evaporator unit mounted inside with control wiring extended.  For about the cost of a roof air, you can have a split air.  Good Luck, TomC

[niles500]

I just took delivery if a Coleman (rvproducts) 6536 Series D881 Dual Compressor Heat Pump (top discharge) to replace my PITA RVAC unit - they have straight cools w/side discharge if you can use them - I went to the trouble of becoming a RVP/Coast Distribution Dealer (their only distributor) - the dealer price they quoted picked up at their warehouse was greater than Flagship Marines drop ship price - If you've got some time, when I install it I'll let you know how it works - HTH

[Chaz]

Hopefully Jerry will get in on this thread. He did a split system and it seems to be "THE" hot ticket. If you want to go this route, I know a guy who has these split type units made by Mitsubishi (top of the line) and has a screemin deal on them: 900.oo brand new. He bought out the last of this years AC's with the "old freon". (r22 I think) He's definitely reputable.

  Let me know if you would like his #.

    Chaz

[HB of CJ]

Thank you everyone for this post.  I need to learn much more about basement A/C before deciding what kind of system to use on my bus.  We have all experienced the noisy roof top units and I would rather have a MUCH quieter system. 

[Jerry32]

I put a small ( 1 Ton ) split in myself for the front of the bus and recently had it out camping in lewiston at 104 F and it kept the front very cool and the back was not too bad iether this was a heat pump and in temps camping the other day it got down to 42 and the heat was great too Jerry

[grantgoold]

I would go with Nick on this one. I relied on his help to get to this point in my install. He is the expert as seen in his bio. I can only tell you that it fit, and cranks out some seriously cold air. I am one of those that kept the OTR AC so I can get the bus cold in minutes and then support it with the basement unit. I am trying my best to keep stuff off the roof.

Good luck!

Grant

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Nick,

Are all of your outlets in the ceiling or are some in the floor too? As I already mentioned to you, I want to do a basement system that is ducted. One of the things that I have to incorporate is bunks. I assume I can just run a duct down the wall beside the bunk and have outlets there.

Hi Dale,

The two basement units running together equal to a hi volocity system. The outlets are "Space Pak" vents that are 2" round. and take off
from the main trunk with 2" insulated flexible hose like tubeing, then to the 2" round closeable vents.  All my 12 supplies are in my ceiling.
Needless to say, this is by far, the quietest system I have ever seen in any type RV/Bus. I normally use both together to quick cool the bus,
and the second unit is staged 2 degrees out and maintains the temp by it's self.

Grant, thanks for the compliment!
Nick-

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Here is a pic of one of my ceiling vents in the bedroom.

It's the far round vent "White"

Nick-

[grantgoold]

Nick's last two points prove my point!

Well deserved Nick, I for one am glad to have you around and willing to help us less HVAC inclined.

Grant

[Jerry Liebler]

LLoyd,
    You definitely should consider the SEER13+ ductless splits that are being sold for residential use.  First off a 12,000 BTU/h residential ductless split will outperform a 15,000 BTU RV product at 95 degrees outside temperature.  This is because the residential products are rated at 95 while the RV products are rated at 80.  I'm using an 18,000 BTU/h residential ductless split in the front of my bus.  It's gotten up to 103 here this summer and on that 103 degree day my bus sat in full sun with just the front AC running and the temperature reached 75 in the bus. The power used that day was less than 14 amps at 120 volts.  With the new energy efficiency laws which do not affect RV units The energy efficiency of the residential air conditioners is now close to double that of RV units, both basement and roof top. Contact me off board for other details.
Regards
Jerry 4107 1120