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Why not a mini split?
I’m sure this has been discussed on the side but it seems there is no consensus and no converters using them.
With power usage making a much bigger impact on a coach vs a house you would think the RV community would be doing everything they could to make things more efficient, unfortunately it does not appear to be true.
The best I could find for an RV was the Mach 3 Power Saver, 13.5K BTU/h A/C, uses up to 1320 Watts cooling and 1750 heating. On the other hand Pioneer WYS12AMFI22RL 12K BTU/h A/C uses a max of 960 and 1120 respectively, In fact you would have to go up to a 18k MS to use as much power (1384 Watts)
I get the argument that the units available are not designed for road use, why is there no demand from the community? Have the DIY converters that used them had problems? If so I haven’t heard of them.
Are there converters that have actively worked on a more efficient solution or is the focus more on Echo integration and sexy lights?
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3 Replies
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I’ve looked extensively for a mini split unit to replace my forward Cruisairs, but none of the evaporator units will fit my bus without major surgery and loss of cabinet space. I agree it would be nice to have the option. Bob Glines has some in his home conversion though. I think he’s happy with their performance.
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BMH, as a builder you can likely use a mini split because you can design for its use. Our coaches have been built using roof or Cruiseairs for decades and surface mounting a mini split evaporator is a serious change from how the converters deal with cabinetry and appearance.
One piece of advice is to make sure whatever direction you go that you add enough cooling capacity. Most of us can maintain comfortable temps with 2 units of about 13,000 to 15,000 BTU, but if the coach gets heated up it takes forever to cool one down. That is why you see at least 3 on a 40 footer, 4 on a 45 footer, and entertainer coaches often have 5 or more.
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They have a number of ways to install this system
http://www.fujitsugeneral.com/us/products/split/s-duct/index.html
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