We just purchased a new Charleston 41' with Dometic 1,400- front and 1,200- rear BTU air conditioners. We used them for serveral weeks on the East coast in 80- to 90-degree weather and they worked OK, But not quite as well as a home air conditioner.
Then we traveled to Yuma, Arizona, in August and the motorhome was uncomfortable with the outdoor temperature of 112 degrees and 10 percent humidity. We were only able to reduce the inside temperature by 20 degrees from outside temperature. The front window was covered with heat-reflecting material and the air conditioners were blowing cold air but the motorhome could not keep up with the heat. We finally had to run the dash air conditioner to bring the interior down to 80 degrees.
Questions:
Are motor homes built for desert climate?
Would larger-capacity air conditioners make a difference and are a 8000-KW generator and 50-amp shore power sufficient to power larger air units?
Are swamp coolers a better solution?
"Don't travel to the desert in the summer" is not a solution.
Any help is appreciated!
Steve