Our main a/c isn't cooling our 38RD enough

[travelin' texans]

Originally Posted by Foxfire

A word of caution. JMHO Putting this stuff behind the windows could cause a problem. It could cause the windows to break due to thermal shock. No where in the product literature does it say anything about using it by the windows. Putting it behind the windows would cause the glass to hold more heat than they are intended to. The insulated glass could fail and the monolithic glass could break. I don't think its a good idea. I would try other things first.

Not to mention it looks like crap!

[Randalf]

What about putting window tint on the outside of the windows? Would that add any heat-reflective value?

Johnboytoo, we do not have window awnings or awnings over the slides. We just have the basic 16' long electric awning over the front door, and it has been furled for days because of steady winds. Wind has been a problem many places we go. Even when it's calm outside, we close it up when we go sightseeing in case the wind comes up while we're gone. By the time we get home in the evening, the trailer has heated up. Would that be a problem with window awnings, too, or are they more wind resistant?

I checked into slide awnings for our previous 5er, but the manufacturers were mainly marketing them for keeping leaves & debris off the slides. Any mention of their cooling value seemed like an afterthought. I check the roof before we move, so debris on the slides doesn't worry me. If they claimed to reduce temps on the top of the slides by a bunch of degrees, I'd be interested. How do you all feel about their thermal value?

[travelin' texans]

IMHO they do help with keeping things a bit cooler, but if you are in an area with 15-20+ mph winds everyday the flapping constantly will drive you nuts.

[Foxfire]

Originally Posted by Randalf

What about putting window tint on the outside of the windows? Would that add any heat-reflective value?



Johnboytoo, we do not have window awnings or awnings over the slides. We just have the basic 16' long electric awning over the front door, and it has been furled for days because of steady winds. Wind has been a problem many places we go. Even when it's calm outside, we close it up when we go sightseeing in case the wind comes up while we're gone. By the time we get home in the evening, the trailer has heated up. Would that be a problem with window awnings, too, or are they more wind resistant?



I checked into slide awnings for our previous 5er, but the manufacturers were mainly marketing them for keeping leaves & debris off the slides. Any mention of their cooling value seemed like an afterthought. I check the roof before we move, so debris on the slides doesn't worry me. If they claimed to reduce temps on the top of the slides by a bunch of degrees, I'd be interested. How do you all feel about their thermal value?

First do you have the double or single pane windows in the rig.

There's only one 3M film approved for outside use and it's a silver reflective.
Without checking further my guess is there isn't a film that would be warranted by the manufacturer being installed on such a dark glass as we have in the camper.
I believe the windows are graylite 14, suggesting a 14% transmittance. Any film you put on would almost block out all visible light.
I put a 20 %, then a 30% then a 50% transmittance film on my kitchen windows eventually taking them all down because it always looked like it was raining outside. It really was depressing.
I think film would be a poor option

[johnboytoo]

Sorry to try and help
for those poo-pooing my suggestions i did say a temporary measure and this comes from someone in Texas where it does warm up a bit The Jeep thermometer said 96 coming home today !

I can't tell you the number of times I've seen the reflectix everywhere..
some put it in their cabinets to insulate the outside walls !

I put it on the sun side of our class a when I bring it home from the storage area to help it not super heat...

The slide covers are certainly not for cooling alone, but I can tell you the slide toppers on ours cool our slides off a bunch! Just from keeping the sun off the top of our full wall slide and two large pass side slides...
and I rarely worry about limbs, etc...

to each his own though - have fun... and I promise not to dictate what you should or shouldn't do to your stuff

[Railcat]

Unless they have changed something in the design of the hvac, both ac's are ducted into the same central duct that supplies air to all roof outlets. If you have the thermostat set to where the front ac is kicking off you will never get the unit cooled off on a warm day. Both ac's will need to be running to keep the temps comfortable on a warm day. I have noticed sun obviously is the enemy to keeping the unit cool on a 85 degree plus day. If you have shade or its cloudy you should have no trouble getting the unit down to 65 even if its 90 outside. What seems odd to me is that your bedroom feels cool, if it is cooler than the downstairs you should try closing the vents some in the front or make sure they are not blowing on the thermostat which will also screw up the way they work. Its kind of learning curve on how to get them in sync to be comfortable. Bottom line if its 90 or above both need to be running all day and I'd be surprised if you'll get it much below 75-72 inside.

[atom ant]

Originally Posted by Railcat

Unless they have changed something in the design of the hvac, both ac's are ducted into the same central duct that supplies air to all roof outlets.

Actually that was one of the mid year changes in 2016 - they separated the 2 rooftops to make them independent. I don't know how they did 3, but I suspect the 2 in the rear are together and the forward is independent.

The phasing in of new is not smooth, so really hard to say which models got what - when.

[atom ant]

Originally Posted by Randalf

Wind has been a problem many places we go. Even when it's calm outside, we close it up when we go sightseeing in case the wind comes up while we're gone. By the time we get home in the evening, the trailer has heated up. Would that be a problem with window awnings, too, or are they more wind resistant?

I checked into slide awnings for our previous 5er, but the manufacturers were mainly marketing them for keeping leaves & debris off the slides. Any mention of their cooling value seemed like an afterthought. I check the roof before we move, so debris on the slides doesn't worry me. If they claimed to reduce temps on the top of the slides by a bunch of degrees, I'd be interested. How do you all feel about their thermal value?

I don't think the thermal benefit could ever justify the cost for slide toppers. The slide roofs are white and I can't imagine they contribute much to the heat. The heat is more from the dark paint on the ends and the sides. We never had slide toppers on our 5ers, and now we do on the MH and I don't see any huge benefit. What I do see is I have a 30' slide topper that prevents me from getting any access to the slide roof, 3 slide toppers that will need replaced before anything else because they don't last long, noise in the wind (not terrible though), and of course they are black so if anything they attract additional heat.

I had Window awnings on a previous 5er, and they held up well in the wind. I never felt the need to bring them in, even when we left camp. Typically I always brought in the awning, but left the window awnings out. The downside was ours were opaque. They shaded well, but they killed the view. There are some that are an open weave that let you keep some of the view yet get some sun protection.

[Railcat]

Originally Posted by atom ant

Actually that was one of the mid year changes in 2016 - they separated the 2 rooftops to make them independent. I don't know how they did 3, but I suspect the 2 in the rear are together and the forward is independent.

The phasing in of new is not smooth, so really hard to say which models got what - when.

Oh geez that doesn't make sense at all. You would have to have the three to keep the thing cool.

[HTX]

Originally Posted by atom ant

I don't think the thermal benefit could ever justify the cost for slide toppers. The slide roofs are white and I can't imagine they contribute much to the heat. The heat is more from the dark paint on the ends and the sides. We never had slide toppers on our 5ers, and now we do on the MH and I don't see any huge benefit. What I do see is I have a 30' slide topper that prevents me from getting any access to the slide roof, 3 slide toppers that will need replaced before anything else because they don't last long, noise in the wind (not terrible though), and of course they are black so if anything they attract additional heat.

I had Window awnings on a previous 5er, and they held up well in the wind. I never felt the need to bring them in, even when we left camp. Typically I always brought in the awning, but left the window awnings out. The downside was ours were opaque. They shaded well, but they killed the view. There are some that are an open weave that let you keep some of the view yet get some sun protection.

I toppers on my last SOB and I can't help but think they helped but I absolutely know that the wind (I have a lot of it) made them a PITA until they self destructed.

An alternative suggestion by the RV tech I have been using for several years was to put a layer of the reflective bubble wrap directly onto the top of the slide. Tucking one edge under the the first seal then using silver tape (not duct tape) on the three other edges. He has several customers that have done it and have been very happy with the results, seeing a 15-20 degree difference with their thermometer guns. Type of beer did not come up during the discussion.

I bought a roll at Lowe's the other day but have been waiting on a less windy day to install. I think the roll was around $30.00. I'll report back.

HTX

[Randalf]

Based upon all your input, I'm going to forget about slide toppers for now. The benefits don't appear to outweigh the costs. I do, however, like the idea of thermal bubble wrap over the top of the slides. I'm trying to envision a couple of sturdy thermal blankets that I could keep rolled up in the basement when we're traveling and then throw over the sunny-side slides when we are going to stay someplace for awhile. Maybe thermal bubble wrap inside a white Sunbrella sleeve that can either be tied or weighed down on each end to keep them in place.

Railcat and atom ant, I'll bet you've nailed the basic problem I have with my unit: Redwood tried separating the systems, and it didn't work well, so now they've gone to three units. My unit must be one of those mid-year experiments because it has two thermostats, the duct sizes are different even though both a/c's are 15000 btu's, and the ceiling vents don't line up front to rear. Makes me wonder whether we made the right decision to buy the 2016 two a/c unit at a discounted price vs. paying more for a 2017 model with three a/c's and being more comfortable.