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Old 07-09-2012, 11:58 AM   #1
chowder1974
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Default AC or no AC?

I'm considering ordering a new trailmanor 2720 and considering whether or not to order it with the roof AC.

I live in the pacfic northwest and probably would never need AC except mabye once in a while when camping east of the cascades.

I'm considering going with no AC and no awning due to cost, but I also want to consider resale.

Any thoughts on the AC?
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Old 07-09-2012, 12:24 PM   #2
Scottie Dogs
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Hi-

Get every thing they offer, you will never regreat it, swing hitch both cabinets, the good antena for direct TV, solar panel, awning that is very important.

2 years from now if you sell, you will not have a striped down TM to sell.

I would never buy a TM without AC, awning, I would keep shopping till I found what I liked. People travel all over the country with TM, and if they go to Florida with no AC, awning, I can hear the wife

Dave
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Old 07-09-2012, 12:39 PM   #3
rvcycleguy
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I would agree with Scottie. Without A/C, and awning, you would be limiting the potential buyers if and when you decide to sell. Used units with the added accessories are in demand in most areas of the country.
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Old 07-09-2012, 12:50 PM   #4
chowder1974
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Scottie,

I was thinking of getting just the tv atenna but not the inclusive satelite. Is that what you mean. Where we camp there are lots of trees and i need the flexabilitiy of moving the satelite away from the camper, sometimes 100 feet or so.
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Old 07-09-2012, 12:59 PM   #5
Digger
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Like you said, it depends on where and when you will be camping. Our TM has no AC and in the over 5 years we’ve had it there is not once we would have tuned it on if we did have one. We camp summers in Alaska and have spent the last few winters in AZ and FL. You may not get as much for it when you sell it but you hadn’t paid as much for it either. There is also the extra weight and wind drag while towing to consider. We do have an awning that we don’t use very often but it sure is nice to have when it’s raining. Not trying to tell you what to get or not get, just giving a different viewpoint. Something you may look into if you are buying it new is to see if you can get it wired for AC without the unit installed so any prospective buyer can have a new one easily installed.

Ed
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Old 07-09-2012, 01:45 PM   #6
Scottie Dogs
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chowder1974 View Post
Scottie,

I was thinking of getting just the tv atenna but not the inclusive satelite. Is that what you mean. Where we camp there are lots of trees and i need the flexabilitiy of moving the satelite away from the camper, sometimes 100 feet or so.
Yes, the regular atenna is fine, the satalite dish is the way to go.

Once you have the nice extras on the TM you will be happy, especially down the road if you want to sell.

We purchased a La-Z-Boy for our TM (the back comes off for travel) and it is wonderful, the wife can kick back read a book and turn on the AC. Then I go outside and sit under the awning, life is great in the TM when it is just like home

We are in the White Mountains AZ. now till Oct. and we use the A/C in the afternoon almost every day. Then in the morning I have a jacket on to walk the dogs, very neat weather here.

Dave
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Old 07-09-2012, 03:15 PM   #7
grakin
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I wouldn't ever consider a camper without A/C. That said, I camp pretty much anywhere, and often do so in summer in places with high humidity. Even if I only used it once or twice during the time I owned the TM, I'd still consider it worth it - I can't sleep in hot, humid air.

Think about how long you'll keep it. If you'll keep it for a long time, are you *SURE* you'll never go anywhere hot in 5, 6, or 10 years? It's not an easy retrofit on these campers (you need to swap out the torsion bars on the front shell, at a minimum, not to mention you need to create the hole, wire it, etc). Basically, anything roof-mounted (solar panels, awning, TV antennas, A/C) is something you'll want to buy with the TM when it's new, unless you are sure you don't want the thing. Any change of weight on the top shells requires changing pretty important parts of the camper out (the torsion bars, which is NOT a job that most of us would want to do in the backyard).

As for awning, TV antenna, etc, I'd do what you want for those. If you think you might want them, I'd get them. But I wouldn't do it for resale value - they won't add enough value to the unit once the unit is used to cover the purchase price. Certainly your TM will sell for more and quicker with the accessories, but you will not get what you pay for them out of it. New campers (even TMs, which are better than most) are a really bad investment - you absolutely lose money on them - so don't buy them for investment purposes. Buy what you want, not what some future owner might want.
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Old 07-09-2012, 03:24 PM   #8
chowder1974
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I guess being an accountant has its disadvantages...

I think about things way too much.

My thinking on the AC was as follows...we purchased property in eastern WA, I have a Honda 2000 generator to run everything. I could spend $300 - $400 on a room AC and bring it along on trip where I would need it and my generator would run it and I could use it in my house on the 1 or 2 days a year that we need AC here in Seattle.

Any thoughts on this...I know there are those on this board that use room AC units.
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Old 07-09-2012, 03:24 PM   #9
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Out of the ~150 nights we've spent in the TM, less than 10 of them have been with the AC on. However, those 10 nights would have been unbearable without the AC. Comfort vs. misery.

As mentioned above, I wouldn't worry about resale value so much. Yes, you'll get less for it if you resell without AC, but I don't think that loss will be more than what you would pay for the AC new. So you still save money. But keep in mind that if, for example, you decide to drive cross country sometime in anything but winter months, there's a good chance you'll use it. Just depends on how much you don't want to sleep in your own sweat on occasion.

Dave
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Old 07-09-2012, 03:28 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chowder1974 View Post
My thinking on the AC was as follows...we purchased property in eastern WA, I have a Honda 2000 generator to run everything. I could spend $300 - $400 on a room AC and bring it along on trip where I would need it and my generator would run it and I could use it in my house on the 1 or 2 days a year that we need AC here in Seattle.

Any thoughts on this...I know there are those on this board that use room AC units.
Our TM has a window unit. It's not as effective cooling as the roof units, but it can cool ~25 degrees, which can turn 110 down to a manageable 85 degrees and remove humidity.

To retrofit, you would need to cut a hole in the wall, and probably run some new wiring. Not too challenging if you are handy and know how to wire an outlet, but it's a fair amount of work and time. IMHO, it's not worth the ~$500 or whatever savings of doing that vs. getting a roof mount. I'd either get the roof mount or not get one at all.

Also consider that the roof units also have built in heat strips, so if you need heat during the winter and you have hookups, you don't have to use propane to heat the TM.

Dave
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