UPGRADE - Quiet A/C
- Dan Goetzman
- Jun 10, 2021
- 2 min read
Our original build used a Coleman Mach 10 roof mounted A/C, it kept us cool in all but the hottest weather down here in Texas. But it was loud inside when the A/C was running and we REALLY wanted a more efficient and quieter A/C unit. Coleman introduced an updated model, the Mach 10 "NDQ" that apparently is a great improvement in noise level, however the Houghton 3400 low profile A/C is known to be the quietest A/C available. So, we decided it was time to upgrade!
Low profile gained back a few inches of clearance and provides a more streamlined look as well!
And my wife loves the remote control provided with the unit.
It's REALLY quiet when running and appears to be both more energy efficient, by about 18% by my calculations, and colder at the same time.
Quiet, efficient and better performance!
It's like MAGIC!
I recorded both the noise level when running and the energy usage in wattage for both the old A/C and the new Houghton 3400.
A sound level of 80 dB is often compared to a freight train or car wash level, and that's pretty much how we would describe the old A/C unit. The new A/C run's much quieter around 57 dB, and that's comparable to normal conversational level. Making it possible to have a normal conversation inside the RV without having to raise your voice to be heard!
And energy usage is significantly improved as well...
The old A/C used ~1350 watts while cooling and the new A/C uses ~1100 watts. Consuming 250 less watts while cooling! If I do the math correctly, that's like 18% more efficient on energy consumed.
That should also result in more run time on our 4.8 kW lithium battery bank when running the A/C off the Victron 3000 watt inverter. We were able to run the old unit for about 3 hours if the battery bank was at 100%. We should now be able to run for an additional half hour giving us more run time on battery when running the A/C.
The quiet operation was the driving factor to upgrade to the Houghton 3400 A/C and it's really, really quiet. The other benefits of low profile, remote control, more efficient and what appears to be more intelligent operation are all simply a bonus.
Oh, and I should mention it's also a heat pump, which means it will provide heat as well. We normally use a small electric heater, so we will have to see if we use the heat pump feature or not?
We purchased our Houghton 3400 from RecPro and installed it ourselves, as we are the DIY RV type!
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