Is a single 15K air enough for 31’ motorhome?

[srobbins]

I’m in the market to buy a used class A motorhome. Looking at 28-32’ units with 1-2 slides. One of my main issues is that most of the motorhomes I’m finding are 30 amp and one single 15K a/c. I’m afraid that won’t be enough to cool a 30’ coach with 1-2 slides. Can any of you with experience on this chime in? Am I overthinking? I know it’s not enough on a 30’ travel trailer but maybe a motorhome has much better insulation? I don’t want to spend a ton of money and be upset because it won’t get comfortable during the summer months.

[Eagle5]

Greetings srobbins,
If the used Class A has single-pain windows, then those have an insulation value of R1. A 31' Class A with a single air conditioner would be hard-pressed to keep things cool in 100ºF weather, just as a trailer would be.
With that said, if you found a great deal on a used Class A which only had 30 amp service, you could add a second Air Conditioner to it, and wire-in a separate 20 amp service just to that second Air Conditioner. The rational for that is most RV parks have a 20 amp service alongside their 30 amp service, so you would plug-in with both types.
Another thing that would help would be a white-colored insulating front windshield cover which installs on the outside of the windshield. If you can get a used Class A with double-pane windows, then those windows would have an insulation value of R2.
Do you have any good prospects for the motorhome? I always recommend to folks to try renting different models to help refine your taste and make sure what you buy will work well for you.
Welcome to the forum.
Eagle5

[be happy]

When I traded my 2 ac 5th wheel for a 2017 30' 1 ac mh I made a big cooling mistake. Living in the midwest I truly did not pay much attention to the 1 ac thinking it would cool. I like a 75 ish temp if possible and the one ac could not do the job. We did everything to help it out. Reflective coverings on windows, blocking the roof vents. Everything helped but not to the point of a cool MH. For many reasons we traded that MH and now have 37' with basement air and a very cool inside coach.

I would stay away from 1 AC, unless you are planning on staying way, way north during the summer.

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by srobbins

I’m in the market to buy a used class A motorhome. Looking at 28-32’ units with 1-2 slides. One of my main issues is that most of the motorhomes I’m finding are 30 amp and one single 15K a/c. I’m afraid that won’t be enough to cool a 30’ coach with 1-2 slides. Can any of you with experience on this chime in? Am I overthinking? I know it’s not enough on a 30’ travel trailer but maybe a motorhome has much better insulation? I don’t want to spend a ton of money and be upset because it won’t get comfortable during the summer months.

No you are NOT overthinking. A big part of the answer is where do you live and where do you intend to travel? I live in Dallas area and it can be scorching hot in Texas and across the South.

in 2019 when I was looking at new coaches I often saw what I thought was a good deal, usually it had just 1 AC. Then one day on a dealers lot I started to notice that that they always setting appointments to precool the coaches. I purposely started selected 29' footer that had not been running. The Sales guy said they need a few hours to cool down, so we left and came back that afternoon, the coach never could catch up. Several did the same thing so I then starting asking questions just like you. The consensus answer I got, was if you think you may need 2 ACs, buy a coach with 2 ACs already installed. That is what we did and we have factory 50amp service.

I don't doubt you can add a 2nd AC and get it done correctly, but unless you rewire the entire thing you will not have a 50 amp coach and hassle managing the two systems. We use our 5500 generator to run both ACs all the time, I can imagine the limitations trying to do the same with a 4000 Onan.

With that said I am adamantly of the opinion you will need 2 ACs and that over time you will want the 50amp service with factory 2 ACs versus the forced add of 2nd one. Now let me be clear, if I owned a 29' RV with one AC, I would add a 2nd one, but that would be because I had no choice. But I think you are in the market to buy and asking for any experience on this topic. Find one with 2 ACs and 50amp Service (not one with 2 ACs that was added as a 2nd unit).

Disclaimer: You may say you live in Upper New York and plan to travel mainly in the Northeast and Canada, to which I would say the 2 ACs are not as mandatory as I insist they are.

[creativepart]

I agree with the NO votes to this. Class A motorhome homes, like Class Cs and travel trailers are absolutely NOT “better insulated” period.

I don’t know of what makes or models offer this, but I’d not purchase a 30’ without 2-A/Cs, 50-amp service and a 5,500w generator.

PS. I’m writing this from a 6-day RV trip to the South Texas Gulf Coast where temps in the low to mid 90s heat up this 37’ RV on 50-amp with 2-A/Cs to 80 degrees inside every afternoon. And both A/Cs must run all night long to cool us to 73-74 degrees for sleeping.

[BirchyBoy]

We owned a single AC Vista 31BH (32’) for five years and the single AC was never enough when the temps got above 85 or so. I would not do it again.

Additionally, if you’re planning to camp in the cold, pay attention to where the furnace is. Ours was in the rear, which was great for the bedroom, but the forward half was always cold. That can be offset some by electric heaters but it is a design flaw.

[IOS 3]

We owned a 28 foot Class A with 30 amp and single AC unit. It couldn't keep up here in South Texas or anywhere we ever went. I spend a lot of time in Utah at around 5000 feet and even there it was marginal until evening.

We now have a travel trailer with 50 AMP and 2 ACs. Would never have less than this capability going forward.

[Scotty B]

Well, you get the message on how many ACs you need. Not to be a buzz kill, and there are some miracle workers on here that do better regarding inside temp control, but note that it will still get hotter than you like inside when it gets really hot outside - think mid 90s and above.
During the recent heat dome out west where temps got over 105 for many days, we could keep it to the low 80's inside. You still have to work it really hard to stay there with managing sunlight on your coach.and glass.
A guy next to us at one point had a smaller rig and one AC and he had to work hard to keep it in the low 90s.
Now on the coast and it's wonderful to no longer dread sunlight!

[srobbins]

Thank you for the responses! This confirms my concerns about the single AC and 30 amp service. Of course it makes my shopping a lot harder but it is what it is. We live in Southeast Oklahoma so definitely in a hot climate. We don’t plan to do a ton of camping locally in the summer, plan to go north during the hot months, but you never know where we will decide to go. I don’t want to make this much of an investment and be disappointed on the cooling part. Thanks again for all the replies and info I really appreciate it.

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by srobbins

Thank you for the responses! This confirms my concerns about the single AC and 30 amp service. Of course it makes my shopping a lot harder but it is what it is. We live in Southeast Oklahoma so definitely in a hot climate. We don’t plan to do a ton of camping locally in the summer, plan to go north during the hot months, but you never know where we will decide to go. I don’t want to make this much of an investment and be disappointed on the cooling part. Thanks again for all the replies and info I really appreciate it.

If you find a rig you like that is 30 amp, one easy solution is to add a second A/C in a vent, typically the bedroom, then run a separate 20 amp cord out to the pole to power it. I have helped do this conversion on several Class C motorhomes. We put a male receptacle in a compartment or under a cover on the left side of the RV, then you plug up with a short (25') 12 gauge drop cord to the 20 amp plug on the pedestal.

The only caveat is ensuring the vent has sufficient framing to support the A/C unit.

It is a fairly straightforward conversion.

Aaron

[Morich]

I would agree that it would be marginal at best for cooling during hot weather.
We had a Vista 31KE and one was"okay" but very noisy and near not enough. We generally did not go out in the hotter months or located much cooler areas.

With the passing of the El Nino/ La Nina currently meaning hotter/drier for Texas, I would not want to move back into one and expect to get full use of it.
As future prospects and predictions are coming much sooner and harder than expected, I would guess that the market will have to begin working toward much better, thicker walls for summertime insulation and use.

[dkoldman]

IMO, the fact that some RV Mfg would even make a 29' RV or larger with only one AC is borderline unethical. Show me any SUV, i.e. Escalade, Navigator, Expedition or etc with only 1 AC.

Yes RV Owners can always have choice, but the choice should be to remove, not do I need to add. Antiquated thinking that has long passed it's usefulness. As long as they get people uninformed to buy them, the market will always be there and many will have no choice but to add a 2nd AC.

Truth be told, the only reason I did not but the "Intent" was at a RV Trade Show the Winnebago reps told me emphatically that not only did it come with only 1 AC, but they strongly recommended against adding a 2nd AC, something about the structure? It was brand new 2019year model, they have even said it voided the warranty. I was not going to argue with Winnebago. They have been there and done that 1000s and thousands of times over. If you asking about it today, tomorrow buy one with