Is Air Conditioning necessary in Northwest?

[ahiburger]

I am shopping for a 22-26 foot travel trailer, our first, and i was wondering how necessary AC is in Washington and Oregon.? We plan on travelling mostly to the coast, but sometimes to warmer areas.? I never needed it in the past, with tents, pickup canopies, and Vans.

And how much does it cost, as an option?

 

[Tom]

The time of year will affect the answer. In practice, we rarely if ever used our AC on the coast during our trips up there during the summer months. Further inland is a little different. I don't really know what the option cost is for the AC.

 

[John From Detroit]

Well, they say history repeates itself, 

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/cag3/cag3.html 

Is a NOAA (Government) site where they have over 100 years of climate history

 

[Tom]

Should we get ready for the next ice age?

BTW I just got through watching a TV news slot talking about the temporary "shacks" used to house survivors of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Folks were allowed to take the shacks with them when they left (on a hay trailer). Similar shacks were available for Katrina survivors at half the cost of FEMA trailers.

Maybe we should park the coach in some earthquake, tornado and flood-free area as our survival home  ???

 

[Jeff]

I am shopping for a 22-26 foot travel trailer, our first, and i was wondering how necessary AC is in Washington and Oregon.  We plan on travelling mostly to the coast, but sometimes to warmer areas.  I never needed it in the past, with tents, pickup canopies, and Vans.

And how much does it cost, as an option?

Ahiburger:

You will want a/c to use your trailer east of the Cascades-typical summer temps in WA and OR on the east side is in the 90's and reaching for triple digits. Even in the eighties without a breeze RV's get stuffy and a/c cools things down.

Sorry but I haven't been offered a new RV where the a/c wasn't standard.

 

[Karl]

While a/c may not be necessary for your planned trips, there may come a time when you wish you had it, in spite of the region. Plus, it's a lot easier and less expensive and less hassle to get it right off the bat, then to add it later. Thinking into the future, you may want to sell/upgrade, then having it already installed will make it that much more marketable.   

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

A lot of the "need" depends on you and your tolerance for heat and humidity.  Since you are used to doing without, it's probably not necessary in your region, but might be nice on warm humid nights when sleeping is uncomfortable. And eastern Washington definitely gets hot, with bright sunny days and temps in the low 90's east of the Cascades.

I suspect you won't see many trailers offered without air these days.  A/c may be an option, but most dealers will order their display units with that option, since most people feel it is desirable. And it will definitely make your rig more desirable in resale value.  I doubt if it adds all that much to the discounted sale price, tho the sticker price for a basic roof a/c option is probably $1000-1500.

 

[Ron]

Personally I would not recommend NOT having air conditioning but that is just my opinion.

 

[Carl L]

I am shopping for a 22-26 foot travel trailer, our first, and i was wondering how necessary AC is in Washington and Oregon.? We plan on travelling mostly to the coast, but sometimes to warmer areas.? I never needed it in the past, with tents, pickup canopies, and Vans.

And how much does it cost, as an option?

Hottest weekend I ever spent was in a RV park near Bend, OR..  NOAA said the temps got up to 108?.  Out in our sorghum field it was more like 115?. 

A/C is an almost universally installed option on TTs in the size range you specify.  Kinda like it is on a car.  It would be hard to find a unit on a dealer's lot without it  Get it.  Bargain for it as a part of the whole trailer that the dealer needs to unload to make money.

 

[ahiburger]

Thanks for all the input.  The reason I ask is that I was looking at the Rainier trailers, specially made for Poulsbo RV by Dutchman.  They look like a good value, and come without AC.  At least the small one does.  That is the only one I have seen without AC.

 

[Ron]

Thanks for all the input.? The reason I ask is that I was looking at the Rainier trailers, specially made for Poulsbo RV by Dutchman.? They look like a good value, and come without AC.? At least the small one does.? That is the only one I have seen without AC.

Now if they cut back by not installing the air conditioner what else did they eliminate to save a buck.  Do they have a furnace, a water heater? Think I would tend to just walk away from that outfit.  If they are special built for a particular dealer what problems would you have getting something fixed under warranty or out of warranty if you are not at your dealers area.

 

[Jeff]

Thanks for all the input.  The reason I ask is that I was looking at the Rainier trailers, specially made for Poulsbo RV by Dutchman.  They look like a good value, and come without AC.  At least the small one does.  That is the only one I have seen without AC.

I tried to negotiate buying a m/h from Poulsbo without luck and then thanked our lucky stars! We had 3 or 4 members of the Puget Sounders Chapter of FMCA buy from Poulsbo and not one ended up satisfied. They have had changes in financial backing among other things and are not satisfying their customers.

If it were me I would try another dealer, there are a lot of them around the Sound.