Habitation Aircon

Hi,

Our 2021 Fairford Plus has served us well this summer- Highlands and Islands of Scotland, Cornwall and Northumberland absolutely fantastic with Eurotrips being planned for next year 

Had some van envy when an auto sleepers parked beside us with hab aircon aircon, I’m thinking this would be great for electrical hook up sites in the warmer climates 

Has anyone on the forum had an aftermarket unit fitted?

Advice please

Dave

No but I find the fairford with the skylights open a lovely cool temp in France at 36 degrees. The only time we have been too warm in Europe is at night if it rains and the skylights cannot be left open. However this was resolved with a fan.

I believe quite a few on here have removed them.......

My Sussex had it as standard but it failed and can't be regassed so instead of a new one at £2000, I had a rooflight fitted in its place at £300, so now if it gets too warm, I can open up a third rooflight , it also lightens up the inside. We don't go abroad so it's rare to really need aircon in UK.

Yes,  a couple of times on previous MoHo's.

As long as you have a suitable 400 x 400 skylight that you are prepared to give up, it's not a problem.

Have had both Dometic and Truma  before, and would always choose the Truma Aventa, IMHO its more effective and certainly quieter.

Last one I had fitted at Notts County Campers, near Mansfield (Simon on 07837 132512).   Good price, great communicator, and never a problem afterwards.

Regards,

I have the Truma Aventa Comfort on my Warwick Duo.  It is AS factory fitment and I don't think you can go wrong with it though I know Truma also do a smaller unit.

Side windows don't open and the blinds blow out if you open the roof vents.
I would not be without hab A/C despite the fact that it only gets used for a few weeks each year.

HTH

We had the Truma Aventa Comfort on a Warwick Duo MQ but never used it in anger. We found it annoying with the constant noise, even in its quiet mode, but may have succumbed to using it in baking temps. I’m always conscious of noise annoying others too.

I have the Dometic habitation Aircon on my Sussex Duo and I really enjoy it. I would definitely miss it if I didn’t have it and just had it repaired. I was seriously considering getting a replacement if the repair wasn’t possible.  But others do well without it, so its horses for courses.

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We have a Truma Aventa Comfort which was supposed to be fitted as standard on our 2020 Warwick XL, when the van was first delivered to Marquis Devon, the aircon unit was missing and Marquis fitted it, like an aftermarket unit.  Unfortunately Marquis didn't seal it correctly and I had a six month saga getting them to fix the leaks (in fairness Covid complicated the issue). I so wish that these vans had a flat roof without the reinforcing ridges then perhaps sealing items to the surface would be better.

The Aircon has been used occasionally in the evening when the midges are out and it has been really hot, it actually works exceedingly well. However, when running it is fairly quiet inside the van but it is noisy enough outside to possibly annoy neighbours if they have their windows open on an adjacent pitch.

Would I buy one if it didn't come as standard? probably not, it reduces your payload, increases your overall height and because it replaces a rooflight it reduces the amount of natural light in a van that has heavily tinted windows.    It is also a possible leak source but there again so is a rooflight.

Seems Marquis Devon were running true to form 

It’s the nuisance to neighbours which bugs many folk.

Not quite, but on a par with built in generators..................

I’ve spent 6 months in mainland Europe out of the last 18 months, and yes, there have been plenty of nights too hot and sticky to sleep easily. Not just high temperatures, but high humidity at night. But I’m still not won over by the idea of fitting a/c, for the reasons already mentioned by others. Noise, loss of light, uncertain longevity, increase in weight (and the roof is the worst place for that), cost, and reliance on EHU which I don’t use very much anyway.

I have not found a good solution yet, but I think some sort of extractor fan would work nearly as well at night, pulling in cooler ambient air, without most of the drawbacks. Having said that, I’ve managed so far without it making that much of a difference to the holiday experience. So perhaps it’s not a big issue, just a bit inconvenient.

Saab, many moons ago had solar panels in the car roof, driving fans under the car, in the floor I guess which sucked cool air from under the car and blew it inside.
Worked well I understand, as you'd expect from Saab!

v8oholic wrote:I’ve spent 6 months in mainland Europe out of the last 18 months, and yes, there have been plenty of nights too hot and sticky to sleep easily. Not just high temperatures, but high humidity at night. But I’m still not won over by the idea of fitting a/c, for the reasons already mentioned by others. Noise, loss of light, uncertain longevity, increase in weight (and the roof is the worst place for that), cost, and reliance on EHU which I don’t use very much anyway.

I have not found a good solution yet, but I think some sort of extractor fan would work nearly as well at night, pulling in cooler ambient air, without most of the drawbacks. Having said that, I’ve managed so far without it making that much of a difference to the holiday experience. So perhaps it’s not a big issue, just a bit inconvenient.

Have you considered the Maxxfan. It covers all the points you raise above.

We find the Truma aircon in our 21 Wxl to be extremely quiet on the night setting. I cannot hear it outside after the first 10mins. Worth its weight in gold in last French trip. High 30s and humid and more mosquitoes than we have ever seen.Came as part of mq edition and we would not have ordered otherwise based on previous noisy Electrolux and Dometic models. So glad to have this and will never be without it.
Cheers

Bernie12 wrote:We find the Truma aircon in our 21 Wxl to be extremely quiet on the night setting. I cannot hear it outside after the first 10mins. Worth its weight in gold in last French trip. High 30s and humid and more mosquitoes than we have ever seen.Came as part of mq edition and we would not have ordered otherwise based on previous noisy Electrolux and Dometic models. So glad to have this and will never be without it.
Cheers

Whilst I agree, after the first 10 minutes once the van temperature has been reduced it is very quiet, until the thermostat decides to cut in half an hour later. 

I suppose it all depends of your perception of noise nuisance, some folk are affected by it, others who are hard of hearing tend to contribute to it by turning up the volume on their TV.   

Is the start-up current not a problem with these devices? Especially with the minority of continental sites which only supply 6A or 10A maximum (normally a 2 pin adapter is needed with these). Even the much more common 16A is exceeded.

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Sally wrote:
Have you considered the Maxxfan. It covers all the points you raise above.

It does, although it still blocks light to a certain extent. I was thinking along the lines of something containing a fan that could be clipped into a standard roof light opening, and could be easily fitted and removed as and when required, but these don’t seem to exist. I might end up with something from the MaxxAir range though. I’ll have to measure the openings and see if anything would be suitable. I would rather replace the smaller roof light over the kitchen area in my Symbol rather than the big one nearer the front. Perhaps the SkyMaxx is the right size.

v8oholic wrote:Is the start-up current not a problem with these devices? Especially with the minority of continental sites which only supply 6A or 10A maximum (normally a 2 pin adapter is needed with these). Even the much more common 16A is exceeded.

Not in my experience, not at all.  
I have been on 6A sites where I can't start the microwave but I can always start the Truma Comfort.  I can't explain it.

We had it fitted by the supplying dealer who cut a hole in the roof so no loss of light or ventilation, it's a Truma and is very quiet inside and out, never failed to work on numerous European sites last Summer and no complaints from neighbours. We had a Dometic on a previous van which was noisy, I think things have moved on in the last few years.

At night we've found a simple two speed mains fan helps, I just have to remember to pack it.