Comfortable sleep: air conditioning for campers and caravans

Tropical temperatures in Southern Europe: wonderful. But those tropical nights, with temperatures approaching 40 degrees… they can keep you awake for a long time. Air conditioning is therefore one of the most popular accessories for campers and caravans.

Clammy, warm nights where you almost stick to each other – nobody wants that during their holiday. The comfortable heat on the beach can really bother you at night. A fan offers a solution and there are a few other measures to brave the heat in your caravan or camper. For example, it helps if your caravan is in the shade – many Spanish campsites therefore have shade cloth above the pitches. Another tip is to keep windows, doors and combi-blinds closed during the day. At night you open them and the fan provides a cooling breeze. But in the long run that doesn't help, because if eventually the outside temperature is also inside your caravan or camper, you can only get it out with air conditioning. For the recreational market there are special models, which are suitable for campers and caravans in terms of weight, power consumption and dimensions. This article is about that.

Sleeping like a baby

You can simply set a camper or caravan air conditioning to the temperature you want, but the most important thing is that it dehumidifies the air. Because the combination of drier air and a lower temperature: that is the secret of camper and caravan air conditioning. This is because our body dissipates heat more easily in relatively dry air. For an optimal climate in the camper or caravan, it should be 18 to 24 degrees, with a humidity of 40 to 70 percent. In countries like Spain, Italy and Croatia, it is still well above 30 degrees at night in August – if you then set the air conditioning to 27 degrees, you will sleep like a baby.

Noise level

When choosing an air conditioner, it is important to pay attention to the noise level. They used to be noisy devices that could keep your neighbors at the campsite awake. Meanwhile, that noise level has improved enormously. The air conditioners from Truma, one of the most important brands in this field, for example, are among the quietest on the market. Outside you hardly hear them; only inside you can hear the airflow, especially when the air conditioner is busy lowering the temperature. Once it is at the desired level, the air conditioner only switches on when necessary. Most air conditioners also have a 'sleep' or 'night' mode for the night, which means the internal fan runs at a lower speed. Then they are even quieter, both inside and out.

Three types

Modern air conditioners are compressor air conditioners and they work just like a refrigerator at home, with refrigerant that functions in a closed system. Warm air from your caravan or camper is passed through an evaporator that cools the air and immediately dehumidifies it. For the recreational market there are three types of air conditioners: the most important are roof air conditioners (on the roof of the vehicle) and so-called bench air conditioners, which are built into a bench box of the caravan, or in the garage of campers. There are also cheaper split-unit air conditioners on the market from, for example, Mestic and Eurom, where a large unit stands inside on, for example, the table, and an outdoor unit that hangs with hooks on the (closed) caravan window. The disadvantage of these split air conditioners is the noise level (inside and out) and the performance, which is significantly less than with roof or bench air conditioners. But this is offset by an advantageous price tag (approximately 500 euros). The advantage of the roof air conditioner is that it does not take up luggage space and that the cold air immediately falls down and spreads throughout the space. The installation of a roof air conditioner is also very simple. With a bench air conditioner you lose luggage space, but the advantage is that modern systems are even quieter than roof air conditioners. Another advantage of the bench air conditioner is the low center of gravity, which is important for caravans, because it affects the driving behavior the least. A disadvantage is that the installation of especially the air hoses is not only more work, but also at the expense of even more storage space. No wonder, then, that the roof air conditioner is the best-selling type.

What does that cost?

Truma offers roof air conditioners with various capacities. This starts with the Truma Aventa Compact, with a cooling capacity of 1700 watts and drawing 2.8 amperes. It is also the lightest on the market, at 27 kg (from approximately 1,700 euros). For a bench air conditioner (Truma Aventa Saphir), expect to pay 1,200 euros excluding installation costs. Truma's top model is the Aventa Comfort, with a capacity of no less than 2400 watts and an energy consumption of 4.2 amperes. A special feature of this model is that you can also use the air conditioner for auxiliary heating thanks to its heat pump technology. Some companies offer on-site installation with prices starting from approximately 2300 euros. You operate the air conditioner with the remote control, with an app on your phone, or via Truma's own iNet system, if it is already installed in your camper or caravan.

Tip: do not set the air conditioner lower than 8 degrees below the outside temperature. Otherwise, you might catch a cold.

Tip: due to the good insulation of campers and caravans, air conditioners do not need to run continuously. Turning it on an hour before going to sleep is usually sufficient.