Well...another project in the planning stage is adding another air conditioning unit to the SLC...I've found the unit- I want to stay with Dometic since everything else is Dometic (good reason, huh?!). I've still got to put a Amp meter on my genset to see if it'll pull it, but I think I can go with the 13,500btu unit (if not...they make a 11,000btu unit).

In looking for pricing and tech stuff, I happened across this handy liitle remote:



You can see it's specs Here On Dometic's Website. Because it's an infrared unit, it can be used to control both units- front and back- with what seems to be a simple wiring of a receiver on each.

There's not much else online about this unit- seems as though most are in the forums and have been added by the Mfrs in the higher-end coaches. Does anyone have one or know anyone who does? I've priced it out...about $133 retail. One if it's biggest features is that it will also act as the thermostat by reading and controlling the temp wherever it is.

Anyone? Pros and Cons (except the price- I'm alright with that)...

Thanks!
Sean

Some of the new model Dometic and even Carrier roof top units have a remote control as you have shown. I guess you have info on adding the remote to units that have a conventional wall thermostat. All you would have to have at the vent opening would be 120 volts for easy installation. Good luck and enjoy.

Mike:

Fortunately, Weekend Warrior has pre-wired for an additional ac unit- all I got to add is the UNIT! But I'm not quite sure what provisions they made to get back to the thermostat location- there is another unit...



...that will control 4 separate zones. What I'm afraid of is that they may not have supplied that control wiring (which is a $4 RJ11 telephone cable...go figure), so the remote seems to be an easier way to go.

Thanks for the info....I'll keep everyone informed.

Sean

Sean, I may be wrong but from what I understand the "prewired" means 120V available. There is not a connection to the thermostat, you deal with the temp up there manually.

Tom is correct, on all of the WW that I have seen with a front AC unit, the controls are on the unit, no thermostats.

Had a Carrier unit with the remote on my last trailer. The receiver on the unit was powered by 12V and 'remembered' your setting by creating a drain on the battery. Used to have to pull the fuse before I put it into storage, or when I came back both batts were dead (along with the electric front jack).

Tom & OCDUNE:

Correct-a-mundo...checked last night- the only thing in the pre-wired box was a 120v line. So now the remote is making more sense.....

nps: good point, but our SLC has it's own bed at home and is always plugged in, so this would be a moot issue for us. Other than that, did it work pretty well?

Is there a thermostat built into the remote or is it just controls? That is the downside to the standard install up front, if you fall asleep, it runs till you wake up....

Also, one of the upgrades I did on mine was to put a digital thermostat in place of the standard WW one. It is much nicer to set the temp instead of guessing and having to nudge it because you are cold or hot. The only function that I lost was the ability to run the fan speed on low or high, but I could get that back with a toggle if I wanted.

OCDUNE

quote:

nps: good point, but our SLC has it's own bed at home and is always plugged in, so this would be a moot issue for us. Other than that, did it work pretty well?

Worked great. As long as the coach batts remained up on the rig and the AAA batts were good in the remote, you could push the off button, push it back on the next day, and it was set on the same mode and temp. Works kinda like a TV remote with up and down arrows for the temp, up and down arrows for the mode (heat, fan, AC) and up and down arrows for the fan speed (low, high, auto, off).

The only downside is that you must be line-of-sight to make it work, and listen for the 'beep' of the receiver, because you can push buttons on the remote all day long and see things change, but if the receiver doesn't see the change then you think you did something when you really didn't.

Hope this helps.