Since we won’t be spending the summer in Canada, we’ve been looking at how to keep the RV cool when the temperatures start hitting 100°. Last Summer we were in Dallas when the temperatures went over 110° and the temperatures inside the RV got over 90°.
The steps we took to try to keep cool this were:
- Get as much shade as possible
- Install fans
- Optimize the A/C flow to the areas needed
Getting As Much Shade As Possible
So we started out by finding an RV site that had at least some shade. We searched around the RV parks in Liberty Hill, and was blessed to find one fairly close at Rio Bonito II. It isn’t full shade, but has a lot of afternoon shade.
The next step was to install our ShadeRV roof shade. We had purchased this while we were in Dallas. To be honest, I’m not sure how much good this does. It definitely keeps most of the roof out of the sun.
Installing it isn’t very tough. It just rolls out from one end to the other.
Installing Fans
The next step was to install fans in the living room and office.
Optimize A/C Flow
The final, and perhaps most important step was to make sure that the air conditioning was functioning efficiently and delivering the air to where we need it.
Our RV has 3 air conditioners, one each in the
- Bedroom
- Living Room
- Office (garage)
The air conditioning ducts on most big RVs is configured in a big loop, referred to as a “race track”. Each A/C unit outputs its air into the same loop. So the trick we discovered to getting the most cooling where we want it is to
- Close off any vents in areas that we don’t want or need cooling
- Set the thermostats so that all 3 A/Cs run when needed.
The living room is the largest room in our RV, and it’s also where we spend most of our time. It also has been the warmest room, and is difficult to keep cool in high temperatures.
The bedroom is the smallest room, and is usually too cold when the A/Cs are running. So we modified the vents in the bedroom to allow reducing or blocking the airflow to the bedroom. This involved the simple application of some white duct tape.
When the airflow is blocked from the bedroom vents, the A/C’s output gets routed to the next vents down the line which is the living room, right where we want it.
So today got up to 98°, and the RV remained quite cool. I guess we’ll see how it does when the temps go over 100°, but I’m feeling pretty optimistic.