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5th Wheel AC and furnace system noise


Sculptor

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Hi all,

My question is, are all base RV units built with "loud and louder" AC and furnace blowers?  Should we look for anything besides Dometic or Coleman brands in a used 5er?

To narrow this down, our 31 foot trailer with roof unit and ducts was very loud and woke us both up at night.  We were not living in it full time, and was only occasional use.  Now our unit has been totaled by hurricane Mike and we are getting serious about a used fifth wheel purchase and possible full time use.

I am pretty sure we will be forced to change the factory units out if we can't stand the noise.  I have done some light searching of fifth wheel topics this morning, related to this subject.  I see much has been discussed previously so please add any relevant links to said discussions.

I have contacted some of you who have units for sale, thank you for your responses.   

Kevin and June

2013 Volvo VNL 730    D13 Eco-Torque @ 425  Ratio 2.47 

2014 DRV 36TKSB3 

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I'm interested in this as well.  I'm practically deaf and inattentive so I couldn't care less but my wife is bothered by noises much more than I am.  I think we will have to get a fiver with a 'ducted' system but I suspect they are all a bit noisy.  I expect she will get used to whatever we buy but quieter is definitely better.

Also, are all 'ducted' systems about the same or are there significant differences in noise level between them?

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46 minutes ago, oldbutspry said:

I'm interested in this as well.  I'm practically deaf and inattentive so I couldn't care less but my wife is bothered by noises much more than I am.  I think we will have to get a fiver with a 'ducted' system but I suspect they are all a bit noisy.  I expect she will get used to whatever we buy but quieter is definitely better.

Also, are all 'ducted' systems about the same or are there significant differences in noise level between them?

Our Trail Lite was ducted.  We had very clean vents in ceiling and floor.  But the noise from the single roof unit right in the center overwhelmed any duct noise.  Since this is my only experience, I knew I would need more knowledge from others.

Kevin and June

2013 Volvo VNL 730    D13 Eco-Torque @ 425  Ratio 2.47 

2014 DRV 36TKSB3 

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In the three units we've owned all of the rooftop mounted A/C units were loud. The propane furnaces less so, and our current fifth-wheel has a two-speed heating unit that cannot be heard on low, which is where it runs 99% of the time.  

I've known a couple of folks with motorhomes that had basement mounted A/C units that were much quieter. Something like that may be available on a high-end or custom trailer, but they weren't available on our Hitchhiker. 

Mark & Teri

2021 Grand Designs Imagine 2500RL, 2019 Ford F-350

Mark & Teri's Travels

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I'm interested in going more quiet also.  My AC is ducted/overhead and I expected it to be a little loud, it did not disappoint.  It is a 2002 so I did not expect a newer semi-quiet unit.  What bugs me is the blower on the heater, yeesh, is it loud.  Any way to quiet those down, ability to replace blower (motor?) to tame it down?  I'm not a heating repairman so I would want something fairly easy/not complicated.

 

2002 Fifth Avenue RV (RIP) 2015 Ram 3500 Mega-cab DRW(38k miles), 6.7L Cummins Diesel, A668RFE, 3.73, 14,000 GVWR, 5,630 Payload, 27,300 GCWR, 18,460 Max Trailer Weight Rating(For Sale) , living in the frigid north, ND.

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Maybe not quiet but don't like to have to turn the TV volume all the way up when it is running.

2002 Fifth Avenue RV (RIP) 2015 Ram 3500 Mega-cab DRW(38k miles), 6.7L Cummins Diesel, A668RFE, 3.73, 14,000 GVWR, 5,630 Payload, 27,300 GCWR, 18,460 Max Trailer Weight Rating(For Sale) , living in the frigid north, ND.

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20 minutes ago, GlennWest said:

Mini splits are very quite. Low power use also. Never heard of a quite rv ac or furance

I found a lot of comments about mini-splits when searching.  It makes me think there is no IN-BETWEEN factory choice.  As in your comment, I haven't either.   I wondered if I was missing something.  :)

On a different level, there were some comments about the FREE STANDING type of AC.  This would place all the operation (noise and heat) right in the room with you, and would require an outside source of air to exchange.  (if I understand the comments correctly)

Kevin and June

2013 Volvo VNL 730    D13 Eco-Torque @ 425  Ratio 2.47 

2014 DRV 36TKSB3 

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They are not simple to adapt to most campers. But if you want quiet, that's it. Now one can, remove factory ac, enlarge hole, cut down to inside. Insert cassette unit. Build box to seal the top. Run copper lines down roof to unit mounted on back. That's not hard for some, impossible for some. This is what I'm doing soon.

2003 Teton Grand Freedom towed with 2006 Freightliner Century 120 across the beautiful USA welding pipe.https://photos.app.goo.gl/O32ZjgzSzgK7LAyt1

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I have a 2018 Cardinal 3825 fiver with three AC units that are all ducked together and they are not nosey. My last fiver, a 2012 Wildcat 327 CK, had two ducked ACs and they where not nosey. I did have a 2011 V-Cross fiver that had a stand alone AC unit in the bedroom and it was nosey and it had to run all the time to cool. In the living area the AC was ducked and not nosey. They were all Dometic ACs. As for the furnace we don't run it a lot because we head to warn weather.

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