IS Air Conditioning needed

[Billy Bob]

Hello everybody, the bride and I are planning a trip out west with stops in the Bad Lands, Yellowstone, Zion National Park and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon before heading to Colorado Springs and St Louis and then MAYBE heading home. This will all be done in the month of July and hitting the North Rim around July 20th. We just purchased a new Fleetwood Sante Fe but it doesn't have air conditioning. Do you think it would be a wise investment to have it installed or even do it myself. Thanks ahead of time for your time.
Bob

[wavery]

Hello everybody, the bride and I are planning a trip out west with stops in the Bad Lands, Yellowstone, Zion National Park and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon before heading to Colorado Springs and St Louis and then MAYBE heading home. This will all be done in the month of July and hitting the North Rim around July 20th. We just purchased a new Fleetwood Sante Fe but it doesn't have air conditioning. Do you think it would be a wise investment to have it installed or even do it myself. Thanks ahead of time for your time.
Bob

Air conditioning is a pretty personal comfort issue and everyone is different. I would not be without A/C under any circumstances and especially on a summer, cross country, trip. My brother, on the other hand, hates A/C. He has it in his camper and refuses to turn it on, even on all but the hottest days.

A/C is worth what it is worth to the individual user. I feel that I paid about $600 more for my used 2002 Coleman camper with A/C then I would have paid for one without it. It was worth it to ME. Others may think that it was a waste of money for what little it will be used.

[SpeakEasy]

I agree with what Wavery said on this, but I'll add a little bit from a western-NY perspective.

We've done three different trips in the Rockies - Colorado, Wyoming (Yellowstone & Grand Teton), and Montana (Glacier). Glacier was cold so we'll leave that out of the picture. For the other two trips, when it was HOT outside (like in the 90s) it was during the day, and we were not in our camper. We were out hiking or driving around. At night in the Rockies, when we were in our camper, it was very comfortable. One night we even woke up with frost on the roof of the camper! There would have been zero nights when we would have needed A/C. (I don't have it.) The summers in the west, at the high elevations, are a whole different animal than summers here in western NY.

Now the Arizona and Utah part of your trip might be a different story.

[brainpause]

What Wavery said.

Is air conditioning needed? Yes, for most of our camping season. If you have trouble sleeping with humidity or slightly elevated temps, you will love your AC.

Larry

[NadMat]

Come camping in Texas, and most other areas of the deep south, between June and September, and you will be either wishing you did or grateful you do have A/C. It is do-able without it, and lack of it doesn't stop me from camping, but am adding it as an upgrade during current camper overhaul because I am tired of doing without. There are some nights here in central texas that it can be absolutely miserable without it.

[wynot]

What Wavery said.
 
Is air conditioning needed? Yes, for most of our camping season. If you have trouble sleeping with humidity or slightly elevated temps, you will love your AC.
 
Larry

I didn't think you all had A/C or have you added it since we saw you in VA?
 
Wynot

[Kelly]

I agree with wavery too (don't tell anyone!   )  It's personal preference.  I had AC on my old Palomino and didn't use it the whole 2002 camping season.  In 2003 we head to CO, UT, NM, AZ, OK and a few other places.  Used in darn near every place we stayed!

The only exception?  The North Rim.  Most days there was at least a 50* difference between daytime temps (110+) and nighttime temps.  We actually ran the furnace at night!  It was an awesome place.

Good luck, welcome to PUT and let us know what you decide.[/FONT]

[Gone-Camping]

I was born and raised not far from where you are at....Massachusettes...and can remember plenty of hot stifling summer days and nights up there. I've been down here in Virginia and wouldn't be without it. Even a couple of years ago when we were at Bar Harbor.... it was 90

[Billy Bob]

I called the dealer today and they said it would cost $521 for the unit, $200 labor and $100 for a kit that they have to order. I asked about the heat strip and they said it was $50 each and they don't think it was worth it. They said they give out about the same heat as a hair dryer. So I just went with the air conditioner because it has a furnace already. Does this sound like a good price installed.

Bob

[tlhdoc]

One thing everyone has over looked.  Will you be camping with electric hookups?  If you will not have power, then forget the AC.  You need it to run the AC.  If you will have power then it is your choice.  Do you use it at home?  I added AC to the PU in 2002 (I have had a PU since 1996).  I would not want a PU without AC now that I have had it.

[brainpause]

I didn't think you all had A/C or have you added it since we saw you in VA?
 
Wynot

http://www.larryandhollycrockett.com/ACfinished.jpg

We had it with us, but the weather was so pleasant in VA that we never set it up.

Larry

[fritz_monroe]

Being in the Mid-Atlantic, an AC is virtually required for any vehicle.  It's so humid here that without AC makes things just too uncomfortable to enjoy.  While camping, we don't spend much time inside the tent, (don't have the pup yet) but we avoided camping in the middle of the summer because of being too uncomfortable to sleep.

[GrizzlyTaco]

Bob, I live here in Vegas and I can honestly say in July it get around 120 degrees and Yes AC would be a good thing for you!! At least a 13,500 BTU........Ed  :sombraro:

[GrizzlyTaco]

Bob, you might want to consider solar bunk-end covers also from Pop-Up Gizmos...Ed  :sombraro:

[TroutBum]

I live outside of Idaho Falls, and I don't have AC in my house, let alone in my PUP.  if you leave the windows open during the day (there is almost always a breeze- "Utah Sucks and Montana Blows" is the local saying), things stay comfortable, and at night the temperature seldom is above 60.  Often it is quite cold at night, due to the altitude and lack of cloud cover.

I come from Cleveland so I know humidity.  Idaho is not humid at all.  DW and I sleep with a ceiling fan on and the windows open on warm nights at home, and our Starcraft has a very quiet fan in the ceiling vent with plenty of windows.  

I haven't camped in Arizona, but what I remember from my childhood (my grandmother had a house in Tucson) is that it also is a dry heat in the day and cold at night.

It is my beleif that you can get by without AC in your PUP. You will probably even be in a light sleeping bag and be wearing a fleece in the morning until 8am.

I am a fishing guide and it is often in the 40's when I hitch up my boat and go pick up my clients.  By the afternoon it can be in the 90's.  Seldom does it top 100 here, but it has been known to happen.

I also like to hear the outdoors when I am camping, not the sound of an AC unit.  But that is more of a personal taste thing.  I don't often camp around other people so maybe the white noise helps if there is a campground "din" when you are trying to sleep.  Someone else would have to sound off on that.

Just 2c from a PUP owner in Idaho (2 hours from Yellowstone).

If you are around in the summer drop me a line.  If I am free I might be able to get you down the Snake River.