Installing a Window Air Conditioner
I've gone thru every way I can think of to cool my RB van & Penthouse. I thought a portable would be good since I could leave it out during cooler seasons. I dropped that plan when I found out how much heat they produce in the exhaust hose, plus, it's a little too tall to make a cabinet to store it.
I'll have a basket roof rack for solar and thought I could sneak a roof unit up there. However, even the smallest I could find had too large a footprint. Kinda heavy, too.
I thought I could put a ClimateRight (dog house cooler) in a rear bumper box; but that idea fizzled, too, due to the worry about capability of the unit and its size.
Long ago I thought about putting in a window unit and just sacrificing some cabinet space. I now believe that's my best remaining option. I thought 8,000 BTU would be best; however, I read on SMBF there may be problems with my Yamaha 2000's ability to crank that size of compressor.
I want to see how Chance did his without cutting an exhaust window to mount it in. He did some sort of hosing through the floor. He's promised a write up and pictures later. He's also getting by with a 5,000 BTU saying it works fine.
Failing that, I'm thinking about cutting a radius corner hole in the side and making it a fold up hatch door, complete with auto-style weather stripping and hydraulic struts. This would be raised for use. The rear fins side would (I think) not, therefore, have to be mounted showing on the outside. I'd have to run a large drain tube out its bottom tray to substitute for the condensation just falling on the ground from the unit.
If I do this right, I still think I can remove it easily when the seasons allow, freeing up storage space for cold weather clothes, etc.
Comments on my hatch would be nice; but let's wait for Chance. He may have a way to eliminate cutting the large hole.
JC
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JC
1999.5 E-350 RB cargo 7.3
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