A/C-- Cool in Phoenix? January 01, 2005, 02:00:57 pm Yahoo Message Number: 48538We are former fulltimers who downsized from a 40' Country Coach to a 19' Roadtrek when we decided to settle down and buy a home in the Phoenix area. Although there's much about the Roadtrek we like, we're currently thinking of upsizing some-- my wife's recent knee surgeries have made it difficult for her to access the bed in our Roadtrek. There are a couple of Lazy Daze floor plans that we think would work well for her.In all our years of RV'ing, we've met a lot of people that were unhappy with their coaches-- but we cannot recall ever having met an unhappy Lazy Daze owner. Surely there are some? And if so, what were their complaints? Ie, do the Lazy Daze coaches have a common "achilles heel" of any sort?Which brings me to the subject of this post: the achilles heel of our Roadtrek is cooling-- the functioning of both the air conditioning, and the refrigerator, is abysmal. This is not an individual problem with our rig, but a common complaint amongst those that operate Roadtreks in hotter climes. Despite deep tinted windows all around, the a/c in our Roadtrek cannot keep the rig cool for much of the year here in Phoenix, even when temps are relatively moderate (90 degrees). On that same 90 degree day, the refrigerator rapidly rises from the 35 degrees it holds at night, to 50 degrees or more. On really hot days, of course, the problem is substantially worse.I attribute the a/c problem to the lack of double pane windows, and the minimal insulation in the rig; the frig problem is usally attributed to the fact that it's side vented instead of roof vented.So, tell me-- would we, and our food, be kept cool in a Lazy Daze? Anybody ever been in 110 degree temps with one? How'd it do?Thanks for any info you can provide!Denny
Re: A/C-- Cool in Phoenix? Reply #1 – January 01, 2005, 03:30:58 pm Yahoo Message Number: 48542Hi, For family reasons, we spent this last August in the Palm Springs area in our LD. The temps were routinely 110* and hit 117* for quite a few days. We have the smaller of the AC units offered by LD and it was tough for it to keep up completely. We averaged about 25* to 30* difference inside to out. This meant that it reached 80* a couple of times inside the rig. We closed the cab off with a blanket as Linda mentioned, put reflextix on all the windows and the overhead vents and sat a high powered fan on the floor aimed at the door. We found this helped a lot at keeping the inside cool when opening and closing the door. We also had a reflextix shade cover for the refrigerator. The refrigerator was on 5 (highest setting) but it maintained the proper temp inside both reefer and freezer, I checked it frequently. We found that it was the number of times the door was opened that had the largest effect on how hot it got inside, limit the in's and out's and it stayed quite cool even in the 117*. It makes sense since there is such a small volume of air inside the LD that swapping half of it for really hot air kept the AC in catch up mode and it didn't do so well at that. If we had had shade over the top of the LD, we would have been in much better shape. Since we are there often, we are going to install a shade cover over our parking spot when we get back in the spring. I think that will make all the difference and allow us to take the reflextix off the windows. It makes it a bit dark inside to have everything covered like that, dark and cool vs hot and bright though and I'll take the dark and cool everytime!So, bottom line, I think you would be able to keep your LD quite liveable in Phoenix in the summer if you #1 get the larger of the AC's offered and #2 provide some type of overhead shade during the hottest part of the day. We did fine without those two things but it would have been more pleasant with them.Jonna, in San Miguel de Allende
Re: A/C-- Cool in Phoenix? Reply #2 – January 01, 2005, 03:41:55 pm Yahoo Message Number: 48543The only problem we had with high temps was for our grandkids
Re: LD complaints Reply #3 – January 02, 2005, 10:18:08 am Yahoo Message Number: 48563"In all our years of RV'ing, we've met a lot of people that were unhappy with their coaches-- but we cannot recall ever having met an unhappy Lazy Daze owner....do the Lazy Daze coaches have a common 'achilles heel' of any sort?" Yes, and it's a real social handicap. When you're sitting around the campfire and the usual gripe session is in progress about shoddy construction, inadequate payloads and lack of storage space, you can't participate! ;-) If you did say anything, you'd just sound smug, because there's nothing to complain about. Seriously, the only thing that could be classed as a common complaint from LD owners falls into the "Why can't I have...?" category. People who want extensive customization are sometimes disappointed to learn that the LD factory will not change the floorplan for you, or mount four solar panels, or install sealed AGM batteries instead of standard flooded- cell batteries. LD offers a fair number of options, but they don't build custom coaches.Aside from that, though, there's not much to gripe about.Andy Baird
Re: A/C-- Cool in Phoenix? Reply #4 – January 02, 2005, 03:40:32 pm Yahoo Message Number: 48572Quote from: Kathleen Smith" (snip) "If LD made a 30 footer with a rear bed like the MB, and on a chassis with a larger load capacity, it would be real interesting.....best, paul"Ohhh yeah! Amen to that. We would then spend the rest of our children's inheritance for that one.Anne
Re: A/C-- Cool in Phoenix? Reply #5 – January 03, 2005, 11:11:18 am Yahoo Message Number: 48603Thanks to all for the replies! We lived in Usery Park (outside of Phoenix), in our Country Coach Intrigue during the summer in '99-- and if we hadn't been parked under a cover (that time of year, we were able to get a Campground Host spot), even the dual massive a/c units on that rig couldn't have kept up. Consequently, we're under no illusions that any RV air conditioner can routinely cope with 110 temps without some compensations being made (and, absent a family emergency as we had in '99, we won't be trying to do so). But, we do want to be sure that whatever RV we get next can at least make a good run at it. Sounds like the LD will do that, so we'll keep heading in that direction... probably visit the factory in late January.Thanks, again, I'll lurk and learn for awhile!Denny [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: A/C-- Cool in Phoenix? Reply #6 – January 03, 2005, 04:56:55 pm Yahoo Message Number: 48618QuoteSo, tell me-- would we, and our food, be kept cool in a Lazy Daze? QuoteAnybody ever been in 110 degree temps with one? How'd it do?Thanks for any info you can provide!Denny We live in Phoenix and have a 26MB with a 15,000 BTU AC unit. If you go with the optional 15,000 BTU unit, you will stay plenty cool in a Lazy Daze. The tinted dual pane windows also help keep things cool. We have never had a problem with our refrigerator keeping the food cool once we are under way. However, if you have stored your motorhome in the summer heat of Phoenix and are getting ready for a trip, I recommend that you plug in and run the refrigerator for at least 24 hours before you pack it with food. It takes a long time to cool down in the Phoenix summer heat.
A/C-- Cool in Phoenix? Reply #7 – January 01, 2005, 02:30:31 pm Yahoo Message Number: 48539QuoteSo, tell me-- would we, and our food, be kept cool in a Lazy Daze? Anybody ever been in 110 degree temps with one? How'd it do? We spend the winters in Quartzsite. Usually we're gone by the end of April; however, in 2004, we had to wait for the delivery of our Lazy Daze which was on July 1. When we brought it home, we plugged it in, turned on the A/C, closed all the shades, and put a blanket up between the cab and the living area. We then spent the next few days (until after the July 4 holiday) loading it up. The Lazy Daze remained cool inside (this, in temperatures of 110-degrees or more). I don't remember exactly what the refrigerator did, but we did have to keep it at it's highest setting. However, I don't remember it getting overly warm -- and it had the afternoon sun shining on it.Linda & Earl 2004 23.5' Red TK From Quartzsite, AZ
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