07-31-2012, 07:59 AM
Well, the guys are finished with the AC add-on.
My impression so far is that the unit is far, far more efficient than the basement units. When it blows, it has a huge air volume compared to the basement units. I think this is because of the way that the basement airs are ducted around the slides. I have a four slide and I think that is really a critical issue with basement airs. In the lounge area, there are only four ducts and two of those are in the dash.
The new unit is not quiet, but then again neither are the basement units.
The way that this is built is that all the air from the new unit shoots out the front toward the front of coach. The return is back towards the bedroom and is runs along inside a duct made of wood and covered with naugahyde.
So how does the unit perform? Yesterday I was sitting in the direct sun with outside temp around 112F. I did not deploy awnings or put down the shades so this was a worst case test for me. I was able to keep the coach around 82F inside. Actually some parts of coach were cooler than that..but that is the hottest part of coach. The new unit pushes a lot of air towards the front of coach so it does not feel as hot by the driver as it did.
So far this looks like a success. The Newell guys did an amazing job in hiding the plastic stuff. Some might think this is a little overkill
...but it makes me happy!
The funny thing is that this is well within the reach of someone with modest carpentry skills. The oval is made of plywood covered with vinyl the bronze plexiglass was mounted like mirror frame holds the glass. The floating pieces are more plywood and vinyl. The light fixtures were recycled except for the big on (and Newell is still using the big on one new coaches) The oval is mounted with 10lb catches so it can come down to clean the filter. (they put safety straps on it in case it falls during driving) I have a lot more pictures if someone wants to tackle the job!
Cheers,
bill
My impression so far is that the unit is far, far more efficient than the basement units. When it blows, it has a huge air volume compared to the basement units. I think this is because of the way that the basement airs are ducted around the slides. I have a four slide and I think that is really a critical issue with basement airs. In the lounge area, there are only four ducts and two of those are in the dash.
The new unit is not quiet, but then again neither are the basement units.
The way that this is built is that all the air from the new unit shoots out the front toward the front of coach. The return is back towards the bedroom and is runs along inside a duct made of wood and covered with naugahyde.
So how does the unit perform? Yesterday I was sitting in the direct sun with outside temp around 112F. I did not deploy awnings or put down the shades so this was a worst case test for me. I was able to keep the coach around 82F inside. Actually some parts of coach were cooler than that..but that is the hottest part of coach. The new unit pushes a lot of air towards the front of coach so it does not feel as hot by the driver as it did.
So far this looks like a success. The Newell guys did an amazing job in hiding the plastic stuff. Some might think this is a little overkill
...but it makes me happy!The funny thing is that this is well within the reach of someone with modest carpentry skills. The oval is made of plywood covered with vinyl the bronze plexiglass was mounted like mirror frame holds the glass. The floating pieces are more plywood and vinyl. The light fixtures were recycled except for the big on (and Newell is still using the big on one new coaches) The oval is mounted with 10lb catches so it can come down to clean the filter. (they put safety straps on it in case it falls during driving) I have a lot more pictures if someone wants to tackle the job!
Cheers,
bill
Bill Johnson
Birmingham, Alabama