Budget Air-conditioning

Our Traveller caravan was manufactured before it was fashionable (and affordable) to have an air-conditioner. What with the temperature reaching 42 degrees over the weekend, I thought about how feasible it would be to retro fit an air-conditioner.

Options Considered

These were the three options considered:

• Roof Mounted – what would have been considered the standard about 15-20 years ago.
• Window Mounted – modify either the front or rear main window to fit an air-conditioner.
• Split System – an air-conditioner comprising of an internal and external unit.

Pros & Cons

The roof mounted air-conditioner was rejected almost immediately due to the prohibitive cost ($2,500 upwards) and the additional weight that would need to be lifted when lifting the pop top.

The window mounted air-conditioner was the next option rejected, purely due to the bulkiness of the unit and the major modifications needed to fit the air-conditioner into either the front or rear window.

This then left the split system as the only realistic option. Cunningham’s Warehouse (SA) and Dimmeys (Vic) have regular “specials” for small split system air-conditioners from $399 upwards.

A little ingenuity in fitting the components is required. Once this has been completed, call in a refrigeration electrician to connect the electrics and gas the air-conditioner and for less than $1,000 you can have a good performing air-conditioner in an older caravan.

Photo Gallery

The following images of installations of split system air-conditioners were sourced from the MSN Groups Caravanners Forum.

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