I'm in full agreement. unless your going away for an extended period of time, caravans don't really make sense.I suspect your AC works in cooling too, as others have concluded before me. Guessing your indoor setpoint is around 20deg, so your AC won’t come in until temp is north of that number (say 21/22 as there is a deadband for control purposes.)The nearest this gets to be being automotive related is that it is installed in my caravan/camper.
My Coromal camper/fold-down caravan has a very neat Heater/Air Conditioner installed under a bed with 3 x 65mm ducts to 3 outlets in the van.
It's a nice unit, in my opinion, brand is Truma Climaster, this is the installation & owner's manual if you are interested:
This van is about 16 years old but has had very little use, and been in storage for about 10 years. (Might I add that buying this van is the probably the worst financial decision I have ever made, not because it's a bad unit, but because we just never got the opportunities for extended holidays and various family commitments. I bet I'm not the only person to ever say that about a caravan purchase!). But I am now restoring it to a good saleable condition, and finding that most of the built in units are working OK which is a bonus.
OK, my query is with the reverse cycle unit as above. It is only designed to work when connected to 240v AC, not 12v or gas. Now when I first checked it last week, I concluded that the fan was working (blowing good air) but the compressor/gas system had failed/leaked, because it was not cooling - I had a thermometer at an outlet as one does in a motor vehicle, expecting it to drop to under 5°C, but nothing after 15 minutes or so. Same with switch set to Heating - just cool air.
THEN I READ THE OWNERS MANUAL!! (What?, I hear you say)
Interesting - (a) the air conditioner will not operate below 20°C, and (b) the heater will not operate below 4°C (which is when you would really need it - but fortunately in our climate - not often).
As it was probably about 15°C when I was testing the air cond - I may have concluded incorrectly.
So I tried the heater again and after about 10 minutes I did note a slight warmish air at the outlets, so I left the van closed up for an hour with the heater running - and voila - 26°C in van with 18°C ambient - that took me by surprise - so the heater is working fine, it's just a small unit (1.9kw heating) and took a while to heat up the room.
I finally get to the question of the day, for the knowledgeable among you.
It's a reverse cycle unit, so if the heater system works, am I to presume that the air cond should also work when the ambient is in a range that it will operate (ie, over 20°C)? As far as I can see, the same compressor works as a heat pump or an air cooler, so I am hoping that it will.
Hoping for a 22/23° run over the next few days so I will give it a go, but it might be a while before we get an actual "hot"day.
Obviously if the air conditioner/heater works, and I have already confirmed the 3-way fridge works well at least on 240vAC, then it bodes well for a good price when I sell the van hopefully in the next few months, and less expensive repairs.
And hey, I don't need any comments on the fact that a camper has an aircondioner!
Cheers.
Hmm we did similar things back in the day. I remember having a Subaru hatchback about a 1975 model. When we left the first site the missus decided to pack it properly so it all fitted in well. She spread it all out in heaps and tried various combinations. An old couple were watching from their tent while I amused the 3 kids. When she was finished they came over and said they never thought she would get it all in that little car, but she did !
The boot was very square and deep. No phone or internet to waste time on then.