No AC, No Problem!
If you are a California camper and/or can be flexible with your travel plans like us, then you might chose to forgo the installation of an air conditioner unit on your small travel trailer. When ordering our 2020 Scamp 13’ small travel trailer, we strongly considered adding the rooftop AC option. We thought it would be great to be able to cool the trailer if we ever stayed in hot weather. And we didn’t like the idea of going to a location reserved months in advance and being surprised by an unexpected heat wave. Ultimately, though, we ended up not ordering AC because our goal was to store the new Scamp in our home garage and the factory rooftop AC would eliminate that option.
We decided to travel with our new Scamp 13’ without AC for a year and then make a determination if AC was really necessary. I did some research and found a couple of possible options if we did think we needed AC that could be added on later (e.g. slim rooftop model, small back window removable AC). Since California has varied geography, including ocean, mountains, and deserts, trip planning to avoid uncomfortably hot weather would focus on these regions based on the seasons. First, we tried to avoid travel during any type of heat wave since this condition can affect any location. For summer and warmer conditions, we avoided valley and desert areas since they can be devilishly hot. This meant planning summer trips along the coast and in the mountains, which are typically cool areas year round. In the late fall, winter and early spring, the deserts make for great trip locations – often offering warm sunny days and cool nights.
Our first Scamp trip was to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in late February 2020. The weather overall at this desert location was perfect – sunny warm days (low 80’s) and cool nights (50’s). It was a little warm on our first day however, reaching into the mid 80’s, but our powerful rooftop Maxx Fan was enough to keep the air moving and comfortable. In June, we travelled from San Diego up the coast and onto Lake Tahoe. We made stops in Santa Barbara, Paso Robles, and Oakland before spending several days at D.L. Bliss State Park in Lake Tahoe. Once again, the weather was great on most of the stops, with the exception of our overnight stay in Paso Robles (an inland location that we needed to pass through on our way to Oakland). We arrived at the Harvest Host location (an olive oil farm) in the late afternoon and it was still 95 degrees outside! Fortunately, we were able to make camp in the shade behind the barn. We opened all the windows and ran our Maxx Fan. It was fairly windy outside and, with all the air blowing around, the temperature was tolerable but not comfortable in the Scamp. Fortunately, the temperature dropped quickly (into the 60’s at night) as soon as the sun set. Our other Scamp trips in 2020 (Observatory Camp @ Palomar Mountain, Mammoth Lakes, Coos Bay Oregon, Joshua Tree National Park) were also very comfortable experiences, none requiring AC (some were very cold at night, but the Scamp furnace is fantastic and kept things cozy). So after a year of travel in our Scamp (7 trips, 23 locations, and 33 nights), we could have enjoyed using AC only a couple of days. Given these experiences, we have decided for now to hold off on installing an aftermarket AC solution.
Although we really didn’t need AC much in the past year, we were still a bit tempted to have a low profile unit installed just in case. However, after doing some more research we decided the benefit of AC just wasn’t there for us in the way we travel when also considering the disadvantages of having AC installed. First, a rooftop AC costs a bit of money. The one that would likely work for us is a Coleman Mach 8 Plus low profile unit which runs about $900 including tax and hundreds of dollars more to install. And, having an AC likely will mean additional costs down the line for maintenance and eventual replacement. Additionally, a hole needs to be cut into the roof which can possibly introduce leaks if the AC is not installed correctly. Side note: we ordered our Scamp 13’ “AC Ready” (at no extra cost) so all the wiring is there and the roof is supported in case an AC is added later. There’s also the issue of additional weight (close to a hundred pounds) and drag an AC adds to the trailer which can potentially reduce trailer handling quality and fuel mileage. Noise can be another complaint people have concerning running an air conditioning unit right above their heads in a small travel trailer. And, possibly the biggest elephant in the room for us regarding a rooftop AC (beyond not fitting in our garage), is that it cannot be run when dry camping without a generator!
The last point above (ACs require hookup electricity or a generator) turned out to be a big deal breaker for us in considering adding a low profile AC unit for occasional use. Most of our trips involve a high percentage of non-hookup locations (e.g. State/National/Regional parks and Boondockers Welcome locations). In turn, we would need to haul around a generator and fuel to use the AC at most of the places we visit. Scamp recommends the Honda EU2200i which runs around a thousand dollars and weighs almost 50 pounds. It is recommended never to haul around a generator in your car because the gasoline fumes (even from an empty tank) can overwhelm you. For those, like us, without a pickup truck, a tongue box is often used at the front of the trailer to house the propane tanks and the generator. These are often custom built and can be expensive. There’s also the issue of how to safely haul gasoline without a pickup truck. Lastly, exhaust fumes (carbon monoxide) from a running generator are deadly and the generator itself can be a potential fire hazard. Carbon monoxide is a colorless and odorless gas that can cause sudden illness and death. So, it’s recommended that a generator be downwind of the trailer so the exhaust fumes don’t blow into the trailer and some say to keep it at least 10 feet away from any windows on your travel trailer. Side note: a friend of ours got so fed up with dealing with generator issues and hauling fuel that he got rid of it and told us that if the weather ever got hot he would just go to a campground with hookups to run his AC.
Now that we’ve had a year of experiences, and considering the type of travel we like to do (mostly non hookup locations), we are very happy we ordered our Scamp 13’ without an AC unit. We would have ordered AC had the garage height not been an issue. It just turns out that this height restriction worked in our favor. We are still glad we ordered our Scamp 13’ “AC Ready” though, because if our goals change and we decide we would like to take different types of trips, we might possibly add an AC unit in the future. For example, if we were planning a cross country trip then having an AC would probably be a must. Or, if we frequently crossed certain “hot zones” like California’s Central Valley on our way to mountain lakes, then the AC also would be very good to have. So, for many, AC still is very desirable or an absolute must. But, for people like us, having no AC is no problem!
Update July 2022: we’ve still found that strategically planning trips has eliminated the need for AC over 95% of the time. However, when heading to mountain lakes in the summer months, we have either needed to make stops a bit out of our way or drive non-stop to cross the hot parts of California (e.g. Central Valley or Mojave Desert) to beat the heat. These heat avoidance workarounds have meant taking less efficient longer routes or very long rides straight to our destination. So, we’ve recently added a temporary window mounted mini AC solution!
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