Air Conditioning

[Lonewolf212]

I'm thinking of buying the 2006 Niagra. Living here in the deep south, where it's not uncommon to run the home AC in November, I was wondering how effective the PU AC would be in the bunk ends and the slideout without the use of solar reflective covers.I also would like some feedback on the Niagra's hard side showers. After owning a TT, I would like some of the same amenities, but I don't want to get something that will be more of a pain than it's worth.
I love this board! You guys have been so helpful!

[wavery]

I'm thinking of buying the 2006 Niagra. Living here in the deep south, where it's not uncommon to run the home AC in November, I was wondering how effective the PU AC would be in the bunk ends and the slideout without the use of solar reflective covers.I also would like some feedback on the Niagra's hard side showers. After owning a TT, I would like some of the same amenities, but I don't want to get something that will be more of a pain than it's worth.
I love this board! You guys have been so helpful!

It may depend on the type of A/C that you have/get.

I have the Carrier MarkV Heat Pump A/C. it's 13,500BTU.
http://www.airv.carrier.com/details/0,2806,CLI1_DIV46_ETI9772,00.html
It has the air vents that aim directly into the end bunks. It works quite well at blowing cold air right on you.

The fact is PUs are not extremely efficient at recirculating refrigerated air. PUs are not "Air tight" and some of the cold air is lost and new warm air comes in and replaces it. Although the PU is quite a small space for a 13,500BTU A/C unit, so it does a pretty darn good job.

The Gizmo bunk end covers do a great job of keeping the heat out. I highly recommend them whether you have A/C or not. They do make a big difference with the the A/C in the bunk-ends though.

[fritz_monroe]

I'm thinking of buying the 2006 Niagra. Living here in the deep south, where it's not uncommon to run the home AC in November, I was wondering how effective the PU AC would be in the bunk ends and the slideout without the use of solar reflective covers.I also would like some feedback on the Niagra's hard side showers. After owning a TT, I would like some of the same amenities, but I don't want to get something that will be more of a pain than it's worth.
I love this board! You guys have been so helpful!

There's a discussion going on about the 2006 Niagara on the PopUp Explorer forums.  Here  is a link to the discussion.

I am also looking at this PUP, but it's slid down my list of PUPs to get.

[Camping Coxes]

We have an AC on our PUP and while I always thought it was a waste of time because of the canvas, I'm happy to say I was completely wrong.  We have run it in very hot weather and I've actually had to yell at DH to turn it down because I'm cold.  It's not something that you can cool the PUP with and turn off and it will stay exactly the same temp, but then neither would your house.  The bunk end covers do keep the cool in, especially since one or the other bunk seems to always be in the sun.  So IMHO, go for the AC if you can afford it.  It's a nice amenity to have and you'll be able to camp places in summer that otherwise you might avoid because of the heat.

[tlhdoc]

There's a discussion going on about the 2006 Niagara on the PopUp Explorer forums. Here is a link to the discussion.

There is a discussion going on about  the 2006 Niagara here at PUT too.  Here is a link to that discussion.  http://www.arveeclub.com/showthread.php?t=55654
 

I love this board! You guys have been so helpful!

Your welcome.  Now to your question about AC.  Most PU trailers have a 13,500 btu AC unit, although some are now having a 15,000 btu installed.  On my 10 foot box the 13,500 btu Carrier Air V is more than enough to cool the unit very nicely.  I don't use it on the highest setting except when first turning it on with the trailer is hot.  The solar covers allow the compressor to run less often.  They are a very good product to have even if you don't have an AC unit.

[zamboni]

My parents had their 2002 Coleman Niagara in Houston, TX.  They said that with the Popup Gizmo covers, they rarely had to turn their AC higher than "low"...

I had their popup for a year, and can attest that the AC did keep it quite comfortable.  On high, my wife complained it was too cold...