Portable AC for RV
We, the Two Tired Teachers, talk with you about our Costway portable AC unit in this video. We chose the Costway 8,000 BTU because of the positive reviews we read about it and the size works for where we store it when the are driving.
We will talk with you about both the pros and the cons. Before we get started, you need to know that our travel trailer is 22' from ball to bumper. The box is 18' long and 7' wide or 8' with the slide. The reason we tell you that so you won't think the this small AC unit will begin to cool a large RV.
The Costway 8,000 BTU cools our Micro Minnie. It will drop the temperatur 12 to 15 degrees or more especially if we close off the bathroom, getting rid of about 2' of room for it to cool. This AC unit is designed for single rooms, I imagine it would work well in a bedroom. It's only going to cool the part that is in front of the unit.
The second pro is it works very well with our solar. Because the Costway is 8,000 BTU, the draw of it is roughly half of the draw of our roof mounted AC. That is a huge savings on the power. Also this unit will run from our Westinghouse iGen 2,000 generator. Sharon has a dedicated extension cord that she runs from the Costway to the Westinghouse. That frees our solar to run a microwave, coffee pot, or other things. The Costway will also run off a 110 outlet.
The first con is that it is a pain the set up the Costway because it has to be vented. It takes less than two minutes once you have your RV set up for venting. Sharon used a truck visor (to keep the sun out). She folded it over to double it and taped it together. She cut a hole for the exhaust. On the window, Sharon put velcro with the curl up side attached to the window frame. She also attached velcro to the visor. She checked her measurements once more before she attached the visor to the window. She left it attached for a couple of days. During that time she would rub it down to be sure it would stick. That visor keeps the exhaust out, and it keeps the heat out. The prep did take some time, but that is a one-time thing.
Once you've done the prep to the window, the next steps are what you will do each time you use the Costway. Attach the visor to the window. Take the exhaust hose and attach it to the window adapter by screwing it into the adapter. Then you take the hose adapter and slide it into the exhaust on the AC unit. If you are in high humidity areas, you will want to attach the drain hose to the unit, and put the other end of the hose into a receptacle to catch the drainage. We do one more step. Because the exhaust hose gets hot, we wrap it in a blanket.
If you get one of these, you will need to be able to secure it when you drive; otherwise, it could damage itself or things inside your RV.
