Retrofit AC for garage?

[nlp23]

Hi, we have either a 2013 or 2014 XLR, and we did not realize when we bought it that there was no AC in the back garage area. There is one vent but I believe that is for heat only. Does anyone know of a way to retrofit the garage area to have AC? I know there are portable AC units but you have to vent to the outside and we do not want to leave the window open to do this....safety, mosquitoes, more heat, etc.

Thanks in advance!

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by nlp23

Hi, we have either a 2013 or 2014 XLR, and we did not realize when we bought it that there was no AC in the back garage area. There is one vent but I believe that is for heat only. Does anyone know of a way to retrofit the garage area to have AC? I know there are portable AC units but you have to vent to the outside and we do not want to leave the window open to do this....safety, mosquitoes, more heat, etc.

Thanks in advance!

If you have a vent 14"x14" in the garage yes you can add a second ac . some units are pre-wired some are not. if not you will have to run 120v service to the unit which can be done -

[TheWolfPaq82]

You say you have a vent in the garage area ?? If it's on the ceiling...it's a A/C vent, if it's on the floor...it's a furnace vent.

[nlp23]

Yes it’s furnace. It is low.

[ependydad]

Like MR. M said - if you have a roof vent, you have a space that will fit an A/C. Sometimes they're wired for a third A/C with power up to it and maybe even a thermostat wire coming off of it to a control panel. My Spartan was that way. Very easy for the dealer to add a 3rd A/C. We got one with a heat strip so we have electric heat in the ceiling because the furnace "vents" were a joke in mine.

If you don't have a ceiling vent, installing an A/C starts with cutting a hole. You might contact XLR to see if they can give you a roof schematic of that area. It'll tell you how far the joists are spaced and whatnot. If they don't offer a schematic, you'll need to pull ceiling panels down and start exploring on your own. Just pushing up on my ceiling, I can make a pretty good guess where the framing is.

You're easiest is likely to just run electric down the wall and then give the A/C its own 20amp cord that you plug in separately at the pedestal. Or you can run the line down the wall, into the under belly and back up to where the breaker panel is. You'll need to add a breaker (likely not room), take over an existing one, or add a sub-panel.

OR, add a portable. Your options are to A) drill a hole; the first hole is the hardest. Or B) reuse the breather vents that already exist in the garage. I saw a pretty neat homemade adapter for the furnace vent to the breather port - on Facebook on the "Toy Hauler Fans" group. If you want, I can go try to find those pictures.

Having the third A/C back there is amazing. On 50amp service, I've been able to run all 3 and *usually* still have enough juice leftover to run anything in the house want (microwave, fridge on A/C, water heater, washer/dryer, InstantPots). It's been a while, but we have tripped a 50amp breaker a time or two.

[Thurman]

Post #4 states that you have a vent on the floor which would be for heat. IF you do not have a 14" x 14" ceiling vent then yes you would have to cut a hole in the ceiling/roof to add an A/C unit. I added a 2nd. A/C unit to my TT using the existing vent over the front bed. I had previously changed out the original Dometic A/C unit when it quit cooling and found that the factory had add two boards between the roof rafters making a 14" x 14" square opening for the A/C unit to sit on so I did the same at the area where I removed the ceiling vent. I ran the wiring for the new A/C unit in plastic wire way along the ceiling towards the front of the TT and into the overhead bedroom cabinet. From there I went to the tiny closet on one side of the bed then down into the front storage space. I added a 6x6 electrical box inside the storage area so I could add a new 20 amp re-setable circuit breaker just for this new A/C. I added a male electrical plug, a "Marinco" brand with cover, on the outside of the TT. I use a dedicated 10 ga. HD extension cord and plug into the 120vAC receptacle on the power pedestal at CG's for the A/C power. This had been a tremendous help within my TT and I have had no problems with this set up.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by ependydad

You're easiest is likely to just run electric down the wall and then give the A/C its own 20amp cord that you plug in separately at the pedestal. Or you can run the line down the wall, into the under belly and back up to where the breaker panel is. You'll need to add a breaker (likely not room), take over an existing one, or add a sub-panel.

You can replace a current breaker with a "double breaker", an assembly of two breakers in a package the size of one. This is NOT a situation where the two breakers are tied together. They are independent. Here's an example.

Larry

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by Larry-NC

You can replace a current breaker with a "double breaker", an assembly of two breakers in a package the size of one. This is NOT a situation where the two breakers are tied together. They are independent. Here's an example.

Larry

Pretty neat. I might use that for some plans I have on my own rig!

[nlp23]

Thank you everyone! That's a lot of info and ideas. I did some research and we are only 30 amp, with no vent in the roof. So I like the idea of doing the portable and using the breather vent that is there since we only put non motorized toys back there in the first place.

So if we do that and I understand correctly, we could run an extension cord out for the portable AC and plug it into either the 30 or the 50 amp spot and then plug the rest of our RV into the other one? Basically we would always need an RV spot with two power receptacles? Not glamorous but anyone see a reason this would not work?

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by nlp23

Thank you everyone! That's a lot of info and ideas. I did some research and we are only 30 amp, with no vent in the roof. So I like the idea of doing the portable and using the breather vent that is there since we only put non motorized toys back there in the first place.

So if we do that and I understand correctly, we could run an extension cord out for the portable AC and plug it into either the 30 or the 50 amp spot and then plug the rest of our RV into the other one? Basically we would always need an RV spot with two power receptacles? Not glamorous but anyone see a reason this would not work?

Most but not all campground pedestals have a 20 amp plug in besides the 30 or 50 . so yes runing an extension cord to power the portable ac will work . I installed a 20 amp in my garage and run a extension for my portable ac . it was about 500 cheaper then installing a roof unit

[Slow Moon]

This does not answer the question you asked, but you may find it helpful.

For my purposes, simply opening the door between the garage and the living area adequately cools the garage. If it did not, I would simply direct a small fan to effect circulation through the door.