Second air conditioner

[Peteandsharon]

Hi everyone,

We are in the final stages of purchasing our first Bighorn - the 3055 RL. One issue that I have been debating is whether to go ahead and add the second air conditioner in the bedroom. I live in northern Illinois but will spend time periodically in Texas and other places in the south. I have heard many pros and cons to having the second air conditioner. If anyone has a strong opinion on this I would appreciate hearing about it. Thanks in advance. None

Pete

 

[tweber]

Pete, we have a 2006 BH 3600RL, and live in east central Wi (Sheboygan). After 1 season, I added the second AC, Carrier unit. I went with Carrier because it was lower and 3lb lighter. It makes a big difference with the initial cool down.There were times when we turned on the bedroom AC and the ceiling fan and the living room area also stayed cool. I did add the heat strip and it works okay, but not like a heat pump. We are talking about moving up to a Landmark after the house is sold and I would order it with the 2nd AC, only this time I would get the units with the heat pumps. Good luck on your final decision

 

[Peteandsharon]

Thanks, Tom. The unit that I am looking at is currently sitting on the dealers lot. It is wired for the second air conditioner but doesn't have one installed. So..... it would be the dealer adding it before I took it off the lot. It has the standard 15 K BTU unit in the living room and a fantastic fan in the bedroom. It's a few feet shorter than your 3600 so maybe not as much of an issue. I dunno. I currently have a 30 ft. travel trailer and even with that unit there have been times in Texas or Branson when I could have used some extra oomph in the cooling. Maybe it's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. As you can tell, I go back and forth on this. We'll see which way it finally goes. Thanks for your input, Tom. Take care.

 

[leftyf]

Is thew wiring in place for the second AC? If it is, I gotta trick for you.

 

[jimtoo]

Hi Pete,

I do live in South Texas and yes, you will need the second A/C if you plan on being in the South during any of the warm weather.

As far as I know the wiring for the front A/C is standard on the Bighorn.

Jim

 

[sealman]

I agree that a 2nd a/c is necessary in the south.
John

 

[Niles]

We have the 2nd AC unit also, have not had the need to use it yet. I'm sure we will, JMO, but it isn't that much of a weight issue and why not have it just in case. Better to be cool than HOT.

 

[hjdiamond2]

We have a 2nd AC also, we live in SE Texas and have had to use it some, plus It's nice to have a 2nd unit if one goes out during a trip, I happened to us once

 

[Delaine and Lindy]

We just got a Landmark, a couple months back and it didn't have a second A/C, which really suprised us. But its a money thing, the Landmark is pre-wired for the second A/C. I use Camping World for a lot of thing we need done on our 5th wheels and it always gets done right and in a short time. But if it was me I would get the second A/C if your going South you will need it, doesn't matter what the dealership tells you. We have been told many times you want need a second A/C with this 5th wheel, that just isn't true. Besides you will have a back-up system if one goes out. CW just installed ours and it took about 2 hours and its looks just like a factory install. Good Luck.... GBY....

 

[Peteandsharon]

Thanks to all for the timely replies. Sounds like most of you think it would be a good idea. We are looking at a couple of other upgrades on this unit (adding the fireplace and upgrading the fridge to the 10 cu ft.). Since it is prewired for A/C we may hold off on doing the A/C now as a cost saving measure and do it aftermarket before we take our first trip to the deep south. This summer's trip is to the badlands/Rushmore area in June so I don't believe the second A/C becomes an issue until next summer at the earliest. Thanks again for all of your valuable input.

 

[Jimmyt5]

I paid I think $50. to get my Bighorn prewired.

 

[sidney dreyfus]

2nd A/C

I agree with everyone else. If you can afford the extra dollars it's better to have it just in case you need it. We have not had to use both a/c units at the same time very much but I'm glad we have it to cool things down when we first turn them on. Also I find the bedroom a/c a little noisy because it's right over the bed. I prefer using the living room a/c because it's not over the bed and cools off the whole camper anyway.

 

[Uncle Rog]

We had CW install the second unit $550, the dealer wanted $1100! We do miss the vent up front and might consider another one. It is great when the temps get up into 100's..............

 

[quandee]

2nd AC

My prior unit had the 13.5 unit and needed the help of a second ac, but my BG3670 with the bigger 15 dosent need it. I spent 2 weeks in 95 degree heat and humidty in Iowa corn field the first week of August! I am agree however that cool downs would be quicker.

 

[sgtbigb]

2nd A/c

We live in Texas an a @nd AC is a plus. WE run the Bed Rm ater cool down and it is a lot less noisey!

 

[jayc]

Here's another vote for having the 2nd A/C installed. A good friend of mine who is in the air conditioning business said he would suggest it for a backup in case the main unit goes out-which has happened to us on the Texas coast on the 4th of July weekend a few years ago!

I plan to retire soon and will chase good weather then, but I'll probably break down and buy the 2nd unit.

 

[leftyf]

I've only stayed at a couple of places where I didn't need an AC. But, one of my first purchases will be a second unit. I stayed in Las Cruces, NM during the summer. My 13.5 was laboring to keep the trailer under 90 degrees. Miserable during the day. Nice at night.