Is there such a thing as

[Dano1955]

Quiet air conditioning in RVs?

[Toddupton]

Yes

[bikendan]

Our ducted Dometic a/c is pretty quiet, considering the a/c unit is 3-4 feet from my head.

[BandJCarm]

Mine is very quiet. The 2nd one, when on, is noticeable but doesn't bother sleeping. The main one is hardly noticeable. And they cool my unit down in 90+ in less than an hour after unhooking.

[pgandw]

Originally Posted by Dano1955

Quiet air conditioning in RVs?

As with house-hold air conditioners, noise comes from 4 sources:
compressor
fan to circulate cool air
air flow and fan (if any) to evaporator (outside unit)
cool air flow

You can't do much about the compressor after buying the unit. If it is a major source of noise, rubber mounts may help. But this is typically not the noise you hear.

The fan and the ducts are typically what you hear the most. Back pressure on the fan caused by ducts that are too small or restrict air flow too much will make a fan vibrate. Noise from air flow through the ducts increases exponentially with the speed of the air.

Big, low velocity, low resistance ducts are the key to quiet operation. Those cheap flex ducts with spiral wound wires for support are among the worst for noise. Any duct, especially a round one, with a smooth inside surface will be much quieter than one with a corrugated interior. Increasing the diameter of the duct will help, too.

A caution: low velocity ducts will NOT drive cool air throughout the RV. You will need more vents to get even cooling/heating with low velocity air. It's really a system design thing - and we all know how much RV manufacturers spend on getting quality system design.

Fred W
2014 Rockwood A122 A-frame
And yes, both A/C and heater are noisy in my unit. Both have high velocity fans with small vents because there isn't room to do anything else.

[Teamfour]

Ours became much quieter after I 1) fixed the gap between the fan output and the intake duct to the a/c, and 2) installed registers with larger openings and blocked the excessive length of ducting that ran way past the last vents.

[GOTTOYS]

I recently bought a Cedar Creek Hathaway edition. During my PDI I stepped inside and it was very cool. I had to ask the tech if the A/C was on. The answer was "yes". It's not silent but so much better than our 2011 Heartland Big Country. I no longer have to turn up the TV when the A/C kicks on. You need to experience it to believe it.

[youroo]

Location of unit has a Big input! Also there is a unit called "Whisper Quite" they surly wound not Falsely name it would they? Youroo!!

[waiter21]

Yes, sleep outside...

Its amazing how quite my Dometic 13.5k unit is from outside, you can barely hear it running.

Open the door and step inside, and any doubt that its running is quickly removed..

I have a ceiling unit (not ducted), all the noise is from moving a large quantity of air at a high speed (fancy name for wind noise).

I modified my ceiling cover by adding a vent directly below the air blower. This may have helped with noise a little, but it greatly improved airflow and cooling.

Beat the heat – Improving air flow from the air conditioner ceiling unit | 2001 Coachmen Mirada 300QB

..

[GOTTOYS]

Originally Posted by youroo

Location of unit has a Big input! Also there is a unit called "Whisper Quite" they surly wound not Falsely name it would they? Youroo!!

Since "Whisper Quiet" has no industry standard to govern it can you imagine how disappointed some people are when they first experience it? Just like "4 seasons" and Arctic Pack". All meaningless marketing ploys.