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RV Air Conditioner and Return Vent

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RV Air Conditioner and Return Vent

In another article, I wrote about the rv air conditioner and how you could locate it on the external part of the RV. I also had an article with a picture of the roof with the air conditioner clearly showing.

In this article, you can see the INSIDE of the RV, looking up at the ceiling, where the rv air conditioner is located along with its return vent.

On almost every RV with an air conditioner, you’ll see a very large rectangular GRID on the roof of your RV. On every one of these, the air conditioner return vent is located there. Why? Well for one reason, it is the direct input to the air conditioner and the return vents are located so that the conditioners can get air. You can’t very well get outside air since the air conditioner has to suck in and cool the air and the outside air would be too hot. The idea would be that you cool air that is already cooler so your air conditioner doesn’t have to work so hard. Since the air conditioner blows air, it stands to reason that it has to suck in air from somewhere so that it has air to cool and blow out. So that is why you need a air return vent.

Some RV air conditioners will also just blow their chilled or cooled air out from a vent right next to the air return vent. The advantage to this is that is is cheap and simple – the RV manufacturer doesn’t have to put in an ductwork. Another advantage is that the air conditioner has to work less since it doesn’t have to push air into ductwork. The disadvantage is that the cool air is located mostly in one spot.

Our Open Range 399BHS has ductwork. Honestly, I would recommend against an RV with ductwork and encourage you to get one that has a straight dump out. In our Open Range, the ducts are very small and I think make it very difficult to route the air efficiently. With two $20 fans from Walmart you could just as effectively get the cool air where you want it – with the added advantage that air would always be moving on those warm days.

I thought I would list just a small handful of RV air conditioners from Amazon (disclosure) for your convenience.

 

RV Air Conditioner and Return Vent

RV Air Conditioner and Return Vent

 

CURRENT eBay listings for RV Air Conditioner items:

 

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