Need Help. Roof mounted A/C or Heron Q split system.
- Thread starter seanparky
- Start date
Hi There, i have the wall fitted unit and the heater is not brilliant, warms up enough to take the chill off and you can leave it running at night without getting too hot, as for the AC part i am yet to try felt cold when i tested it but im in Vic, bought the van in May and no need to use it so far!!
Cheers
Cheers
Hi.
We have the Heron wall mounted unit. It warms up enough for us but we also take a small blower heater. As an aircon I have had it running at 44 deg in Adelaide and it coped very well.
Minuses - it takes up space that would normally be used for the microwave, so we put our microwave under the cooktop instead of an oven - we didn't want an oven.
Plusses - it is about $1,000 ish cheaper than the roof mount and keeps your profile lower for towing / storage. Some say they make a pop top heavier to lift but I can't comment on that cause I've never used a roof with an aircon on it.
Hope this helps - all comes down to personal choice and budget.
We have the Heron wall mounted unit. It warms up enough for us but we also take a small blower heater. As an aircon I have had it running at 44 deg in Adelaide and it coped very well.
Minuses - it takes up space that would normally be used for the microwave, so we put our microwave under the cooktop instead of an oven - we didn't want an oven.
Plusses - it is about $1,000 ish cheaper than the roof mount and keeps your profile lower for towing / storage. Some say they make a pop top heavier to lift but I can't comment on that cause I've never used a roof with an aircon on it.
Hope this helps - all comes down to personal choice and budget.
Our experiences are the similar as Bank of Dad.
We have used the heater a few times and the outside temp was around 0-2.c and it was comfortable in the Expanda with the heat it was putting out. Athough considering the outside temp I was impressed. We've only used the A/C on one trip to Moama and it worked a treat in 35.c heat.
We usually free camp so it doen't get used to often.
We have used the heater a few times and the outside temp was around 0-2.c and it was comfortable in the Expanda with the heat it was putting out. Athough considering the outside temp I was impressed. We've only used the A/C on one trip to Moama and it worked a treat in 35.c heat.
We usually free camp so it doen't get used to often.
We have the roof air. It added $650 iirc. It adds weight to your roof which you have to lift. All the other points above are relevant. I think it's a little quieter than the wall mount Heron and I thought being on the roof it might deliver the air a little more efficiently, but this is just a guess. Primary reason for choice was to gain storage space and I didn't want the microwave on the floor. Heater wise the Dometic is just a element heater like the Heron, not reverse cycle. I don't know about he other brand Jayco are now using. Good luck if I to replace the van tommorrow this would be one decision I would have to rethink.
I have the Coleman roof mount AC....only used it to heat the van...which it just did...actually moved the vents do they weren't blowing cold air at me although was warmer than below zero outside.
If I had Choice I would have upgraded to something bigger...haven't tried cooling yet but that's not far away....I
If I had Choice I would have upgraded to something bigger...haven't tried cooling yet but that's not far away....I
We have the Sparrow roof AC which is a true reverse cycle. Aparently heating is much more efficient than dometic but I cant compare. Our roof is too heavy for my wife to lift with both AC and solar panels.
Definately appreciate the extra storage by having it in roof and also it does not blow air in your face like wall mounts can (eg, mounted above sink)
Definately appreciate the extra storage by having it in roof and also it does not blow air in your face like wall mounts can (eg, mounted above sink)
We upgraded to the ibis. My wife has attained temperature equator with that. I myself prefer temperature sub tropical. Not sure if this is available on the pop top though...
Our old expanda had the dometic. Heated ok but on really cold nights only just. My parents had the heron. It was loud.
Our old expanda had the dometic. Heated ok but on really cold nights only just. My parents had the heron. It was loud.
We have the Heron in our new 16. When we ordered it we were just happy to have an ac to be honest. Didn,t even think we had a choice at the time. Used it on the weekend as a heater and it seemed fine. The thing I did notice is that there are vents everywhere in the expanda so it is always going to be a battle to heat the van.
We had the 2.2 heron in our 16-49-1, as mentioned above the heating is an element and will not compare to reverse cycle. Also the air blowing in my face when using sink was annoying.....yes I did use to wash up at times! This time around we went the ibis roof top.
Cheers.
Cheers.
we have the sparrow roof mount and found it worked very well and also like that fact we were able to move the microwave and put the bigger fridge in our 17-56-2
cheers Andrew
cheers Andrew