I just installed a 9000 btu mini split in my 38’ travel trailer. It has been a game changer for my solar system. In my case the choice for size was easy as the only location that I could put a inside unit was only 30” wide. Only a handful of companies make a inside unit less than 30” wide and senville was the most readily available so I went with that. If I had the option to go larger I would have had trouble choosing what btu to go with because the size recommendations are so ambiguous especially for campers. If you use a mini split in your camper could you share how it is working for you. I think that would be helpful for those considering such an installation. Here’s my experience so far
I installed a 9000 btu Senville Leto mini split. It’s the 20.5 seer version.
I use it in my 38’ travel trailer the cabin measures about 35 feet long I have 2 slides and the ceilings are about 7’ high. The trailer was built in 2000 and I rebuilt it so the walls are 1 1/2” polyiso insulation 2” in the floors and 1” in the ceiling plus a bit of original fiberglass. We have a central living room with a bunkhouse at the front and bedroom at the rear. The living room is about 144 square feet when the slide is out. The 9000 btu mini split cools this area very well in spite of the fact that we don’t have tinted windows. If it’s in the 80s outside the living room will be around 70 even with the bedroom doors open. Once the sun is down the bedrooms are comfortable so it works for us. We replaced a very old 15000 btu roof unit with this mini split it was 22 years old and pretty well warn out it used about 1400 watts of power to operate and maxed out my 3500 watt inverter starting up. The roof top unit was slightly better at cooling the bedrooms but much worse in cooling the living room and even at 80 degrees the compressor would never shut off. The unit was loud enough to interfere with conversation in the camper on the inside and about as loud as my inverter generator on the outside. The mini split uses less than 800 watts on full blast and tapers off to about 250 watts overnight when it is mostly dehumidifying the air and not doing much cooling. Start up amperage is not an issue as this mini split gradually increases power consumption until it reaches the watts required for the cooling load placed on it. You can’t hear the unit inside unless it is on high and you are close to it and the outside unit is only slightly louder. One downside with this unit is that it continues to use over 200 watts of power when it is turned off using the remote so when it is not in use we turn off it’s breaker.
I installed a 9000 btu Senville Leto mini split. It’s the 20.5 seer version.
I use it in my 38’ travel trailer the cabin measures about 35 feet long I have 2 slides and the ceilings are about 7’ high. The trailer was built in 2000 and I rebuilt it so the walls are 1 1/2” polyiso insulation 2” in the floors and 1” in the ceiling plus a bit of original fiberglass. We have a central living room with a bunkhouse at the front and bedroom at the rear. The living room is about 144 square feet when the slide is out. The 9000 btu mini split cools this area very well in spite of the fact that we don’t have tinted windows. If it’s in the 80s outside the living room will be around 70 even with the bedroom doors open. Once the sun is down the bedrooms are comfortable so it works for us. We replaced a very old 15000 btu roof unit with this mini split it was 22 years old and pretty well warn out it used about 1400 watts of power to operate and maxed out my 3500 watt inverter starting up. The roof top unit was slightly better at cooling the bedrooms but much worse in cooling the living room and even at 80 degrees the compressor would never shut off. The unit was loud enough to interfere with conversation in the camper on the inside and about as loud as my inverter generator on the outside. The mini split uses less than 800 watts on full blast and tapers off to about 250 watts overnight when it is mostly dehumidifying the air and not doing much cooling. Start up amperage is not an issue as this mini split gradually increases power consumption until it reaches the watts required for the cooling load placed on it. You can’t hear the unit inside unless it is on high and you are close to it and the outside unit is only slightly louder. One downside with this unit is that it continues to use over 200 watts of power when it is turned off using the remote so when it is not in use we turn off it’s breaker.