Roof vs Cruise air

[Bill1170]

Some comments please on pros and cons of each type.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

That's a topic that has been widely discussed. Do a search to find all the posts on the topic. Each has its pros and cons. Cruise Air is typically quieter and works very well to cool the house when parked. It is a more expensive AC with the condenser mounted in the basement and the evaporator remotely located upstairs. It's shortcoming is when used for cooling when over the road there are times when the heat radiating from the highway does not provide sufficient cooling air for the condenser and the unit shuts down. A lot of buses with Cruise Air also have OTR so it is rarely used for cooling when traveling.

Roof airs may be noisier due to their location. The big advantage to roof airs is they will work well when the coach is in motion because the condensing unit is not picking up heated air radiating off a highway. The units are much less expensive than Cruise Air units and replacing them is easily done because they are readily available at almost any RV dealer. By having roof airs some bay space is freed up for other purposes. It is very rare to find a coach with roof airs equipped with OTR so they are the only source of AC whether in motion or not.

Both types have about the same cooling expressed as 13,000 to 15,000 BTU. Both types will draw about 13 amps when running and the converter decides whether they are run solely via shore or generator power or if they can run through invererters while driving.

The debates which have taken place in the past regarding OTR, Cruise Airs, and roof airs is all but over. As coaches are being outfitted with more than 2 slides OTR is impossible to provide because of the lack of a means for ducting. As more slides are being offered, bay space is being reduced as a result of the need for structural members and this makes the use of basement space for cruise air condenesers less available. Weight distribution also becomes an issue so I predict the days of Cruise Airs in coaches is drawing to an end.

[Bill1170]

Thanks Jon, 2 questions, how much space is used in the bay or bays and does the condenser draw air from under the coach?

[Coloradobus]

All three of our Cruise airs are behind the front bumper on out 40ft Beaver XL. But we also have OTR. Our previous 2 coaches had 4 Cruise airs, NO OTR, two condensors were behind the front bumper, and two were placed mid-body. The space the condensors take up is about the size of a 50 lbs bag of dog food.

[Bill1170]

Jim did the cruise airs keep you cool when driving in hot conditions?

[jack14r]

Dometic does not seem to want to be competitive with the price of cruise airs,just the compressor is over $500,and most roof airs are under $650,a new condenser from AAP is over $2500,but I love the cruise airs as they are very quiet and really cool great.I also think that not cutting holes in the roof is a real plus.I hope that Dometic gets more reasonable on their cruise air units.

[Jerry Winchester]

A couple of thoughts. Our prior two coaches had Cruisair units and aside from the drawbacks Jon mentioned, it was often difficult to find people to work on them until you know where to look. While I liked them for the "white noise" they provided, the air outlets were drafty. In the bedroom, my wife would sleep on the side close to the back wall where the air came out. It would ricochet off the front wall, so she's sweating like a fat chick going thru the time of life with the AC turned down to 68 and I'm freezing my nuts off covered in a blanket. And no, she would not change sides with me.

The roof airs are ducted such that the coach is cool with few cold spots. But you can hear the compressor running when it kicks on. Again, mostly a white noise thing for me, but during football season when I spend more time sitting beside the coach, I don't have the Cruisairs exhausting hot air out the side of the bus on me nor do I have to listen to them run since they were all behind the front bumper. I also didn't have three baffles in front of the front axle to drag off, so there are trade offs.

However, I could have bought 6 or 7 new roof air units for what it cost me to repair the Cruisairs in my '92 over the three years I owned it.

[garyde]

Like Jon said, the cruise airs are only used when stopped since I have OTR which by the way is great. I have four. Two in the Galley area for mid cabin, one in the bedroom, and one in front for the front cabin. Rarely do I run all four, two or three at most. They also can be used for heating as well as cooling.

[Coloradobus]

Bill1170, In our Marathon H3-45, our cruise airs were ducted thru the Prevost provided OTR ductwork, but we didn't have the OTR inner workings of condenser and evaporator, just the ductwork, which was something unusual. IN the early 2000 models H's Marathon did, the OTR ducting was retained and the cool or hot air whatever was needed eminated from the windowsills. It seemed to elininate the cold and hotspots. With the salon cruise air and the galley one on too, we were very cool at 105 degrees around Baker Ca, a few years ago.
Unlike Winchester's air flow issue freezing while the lovely Rae was roasting, ducting the cruise airs thru the OTR tunnels made for even temps, and even quieter operating white noise. This was our favorite set up between the 2 Marathons we owned and the current Beaver XL 40

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Bill, Cruise Airs and the amount of space they occupy (along with the space occupied by OTR) has often sparked debate. A salesman trying to sell a coach with roof airs and no OTR will make claims about how much more bay space is available due to the lack of OTR and Cruise Airs, but while there is a degree of truth the space both occupy is minimal.

My Cruise Airs are located behind the bumper and in the center behind the second bays ahead of the fuel tank. Neither space is prime real estate for storage although some converters use the bumper area for a large storage drawer. The key to determining if the space used is significant is to evaluate 2 coaches side by side and to determine if the converter does provide significantly more storage space that is useable. Like Jack I want minimal roof penetrations and if I absolutely had to have roof airs I would want no less than 4, and maybe five. I have 4 Cruise Airs now, but when combined with OTR I am unlikely to be uncomfortable. I gladly relinquish marginally useable bay space for that purpose. If we lived in the coach full time I might have a different opinion. Maybe.