# Habitation Air Con



## 117826 (Oct 29, 2008)

Hi All,

I am new to motorhomes and have only had one since December. I am going to the South of France in August so expect the motorhome to be pretty stuffy.

Anyone find they don't need air con or find that it is well worth the money.

Also does anyone know of a decent mobile installer, I live in Berkshire.

The Dometic B2200 seems to fit the bill so if anyone has one it would be interesting hear their feedback.

Many thanks,

Richard.


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## JohnsCrossMotorHomes (Jul 21, 2007)

Hi,

The Dometic B2200 can be fitted and installed for £1700 including VAT and you will not need to leave the van with us overnight.

The B2200 is 240v only.

A far cheaper option is a portable 240v air con unit costing about £250

Peter


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Aircon and France*

Hello,

I am a qualiied RAC Engineer (Refrigeration & Air Conditioning, not the breakdown people)

We went in the motorhome to south of France in 2006 and 2007 no problems. Even told people on here not to bother with Habicon.

However, last year we went to south of France, we hit a heat wave in July 46C it peaked at and boy was it hot. We were okay once we arrived as we could sit in shade or sea breeze. However, traveling inland from Dijon to St. Tropez was increadibly hot, especially with 8 people on-board.

We had the Cab aircon on full and two fans in rear with all blinds closed in habitation. But when we stopped everyone except the driver and lucky passenger came out dripping!.

If you are going to go for it, I would suggest you get something that can be used on the move!. Any more pie going?

Speak to John Cross on here.

Trev


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## hogan (Oct 31, 2006)

Better to be safe than sorry.We live in Spain and had our hab aircon fitted at Vanbitz,couldnt live without it but other posters say they have no problem not having one.Each one to his/her own.


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## JohnsCrossMotorHomes (Jul 21, 2007)

*Re: Aircon and France*



teemyob said:


> If you are going to go for it, I would suggest you get something that can be used on the move!. Any more pie going?
> Speak to John Cross on here.
> Trev


Only problem with on the 'move' is that you will need a 240vAC/12v DC and that costs more plus you will need to upgrade the alternator to take the extra load. Ask Glenn, he knows more than I do.

Peter


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Re: Aircon and France*



JohnsCrossMotorHomes said:


> teemyob said:
> 
> 
> > If you are going to go for it, I would suggest you get something that can be used on the move!. Any more pie going?
> ...


Hello,

Depends on what size alternator is fitted, if you have solar panels and what size batteries you have.

Never looked into the details with regard to the Truma/Dometic inverter kist and wether or not you could use a decent quality inverter of your own? Anyone done this?. As an example, we have a 2kW inverter and can run our mobile A/C unit off it when on the move. Ours is A Mercedes with standard alternator but with 2 x 80w solar panels and 2 (Sometimes 3) 110Ah Batteries.

Could a Dometic/Waeco/Dometic detect that its AC 240V source is from an non EOM inverter?

Trev.


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Aircon*

Hi

I have the B2200 and think it is great, both for cooling and for heating. Mine works only when on hook up and is not the version that can be used on the move.

Russell


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*AC*

Do let us know how you go on!>?

Trev


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## ytank (Jan 9, 2008)

we have been away in some mega hot weather we have got hab air con but a big fan and dose the job for use and there is 7 in the van 

but i will say air con will be nice if u plan to be away for a long time we do 3 weeks a year


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## babyrhino (Oct 19, 2006)

We have an Electrolux model fitted in our van and the main drawback is that it is quite noisy so not very good for night time which is when you would probably want to use it as you would be outside the rest of the time.

Having said that, we spent a whole summer in various parts of Europe with temps about 30 degrees and found that we didn't feel the need to use it much anyway - usually just a blast to cool things down after being out all day. Once we were in the van having all the windows and rooflights open did the job for us.

I suspect it will vary depending on what van you have, how well insulated it is and how much window and rooflight opening you have. Our Hymer has some fairly large openings and the drop down bed gives a fair amount of shading so we didn't really experience a lot of problems with direct sunlight into the van.

Brian


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## geordie01 (Apr 20, 2006)

we have hab air con and i find that it is worth it. some times just a kwik blast to cool things down. my partner reckons that it is noisy but it is more inside the van than outside.last year in france we hadnt used it and it was really hot when she and our daughter got back from retail therapy..she said thank god for air con i said no good its knackered wont work. omg she said what are we going to do in this heat. so i siad shall i put the fuse back into the noisey cooling thing on the roof. reply *******


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Make*



hogan said:


> Better to be safe than sorry.We live in Spain and had our hab aircon fitted at Vanbitz,couldnt live without it but other posters say they have no problem not having one.Each one to his/her own.


What make and model do you have?

Trev


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## Bubblehead (Mar 5, 2007)

Hi

Weve just had a Dometic CA 2500 fitted to our van which has a fresh air only mode, hence reduces the noise. Ive tried it on site in all modes whilst listening outside and you would struggle to hear it from more than 5m away. On full it is quite noisy in the van though, but when turned down it would be OK to sleep. We didnt have the 12v kit fitted as it would hammer the supply and we use the cab aircon or just open a window on the move. Our last van also had hab aircon which was great.

Theres nothing worse than trying to sleep in a red hot van when theres no wind to cool you down.

Andy


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Sleeping Air Con*

Thanks Bubblehead, our wish is on the move too as we often have a few passengers. However some of the DC kits are showing costs over £1000.

For example Dometic DCKIT3 £1034.

Trev.


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## Vennwood (Feb 4, 2007)

*Re: Sleeping Air Con*



teemyob said:


> Thanks Bubblehead, our wish is on the move too as we often have a few passengers. However some of the DC kits are showing costs over £1000.
> 
> For example Dometic DCKIT3 £1034.
> 
> Trev.


Wow this has jumped in price - only a few months ago I was quoted less than £655 - I thought we were in a recession


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## babyrhino (Oct 19, 2006)

Loads of posts from all of us with information to help Richard with his question and debate between ourselves but we seem to have lost the original questioner!

Brian


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Questioner*

Nothing new there then

(losing original questioners that is)

Trev


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## 117826 (Oct 29, 2008)

Hi Everybody,

i am still here and appreciate everybodys replies. I think potentially I will need to get an aircon fitted but this year I might buy a stand alone unit for a couple of hundred pounds and see how much it gets used, and how effective it is. It will either be a good buy or a total waste of money.

Many thanks,

Richard.


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## hogan (Oct 31, 2006)

*Re: Make*



teemyob said:


> hogan said:
> 
> 
> > Better to be safe than sorry.We live in Spain and had our hab aircon fitted at Vanbitz,couldnt live without it but other posters say they have no problem not having one.Each one to his/her own.
> ...


Sorry for the late reply I have the ac/dc Waeco 2000


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