Tips and buying advice for Truma stowage box and roof-mounted air conditioning systems at a glance.
Awards for Truma air conditioning systems
Is there a better reason to get a Truma air conditioning system? For the second time in a row, our air conditioning systems have topped the Promobil readers’ poll. The winners of this coveted award are chosen through a customer satisfaction survey in which campers rate their favourite camping brands across various categories.
Which Truma air conditioner is right for me?
To quickly find out which of our Truma air conditioners is best for you, click through our short buying guide now:
What should I consider when buying an air conditioning system?
The key factors are equipment, intended area of use, and your personal needs. The choice of air conditioning system depends on your vehicle’s size and equipment:
- How long is your caravan? Larger caravans require a more powerful air conditioning system or, in some cases, multiple units working together.
- How well insulated is your caravan? For a well-insulated new vehicle, a lower-performance air conditioning system is usually sufficient.
- Where can the air conditioning system be installed? On the roof or in the stowage box of your caravan or motor home.
Before choosing a caravan air conditioning system, you should also consider your future holiday destinations – after all, you’ll need more cooling in the Mediterranean than in Scandinavia. But your personal preferences are also important:
- How many people will be traveling with you?
- Do you often cook in the vehicle, causing steam to build up?
- Do you shower regularly in your motor home, increasing the air humidity?
- Do you prefer air conditioning throughout the entire vehicle or only in the sleeping area?
- To what temperature would you like to cool the caravan?
How do compressor air conditioning systems actually work?
Compressor air conditioning systems work like a refrigerator. A refrigerant circulates in a closed system. Pressure from a compressor liquefies the gaseous refrigerant and feeds it to an evaporator. There, it absorbs thermal energy from the environment, causing the room temperature to drop. Moisture is also absorbed from the air. All Truma air conditioning systems operate using the compression principle.
The use of a compressor in an air conditioning system means that a certain amount of noise is technically unavoidable. The compressor is essential to its cooling power and generates noise during operation. Our air conditioners are optimised to keep the noise level as low and pleasant as possible.
The comfort zone
The right balance of temperature and air humidity has a direct impact on your wellbeing. As the room temperature rises, air humidity should go down. Rooms with a temperature of 18 to 24 degrees and a relative air humidity of 40 to 70 per cent are considered comfortable.
The air is cooled particularly efficiently and also reliably dehumidified. The required cooling power – and thus the right choice of air conditioner – depends on the following factors:
- Size of the interior
- Temperature and humidity
- Vehicle shading
- The best way to cool very long vehicles is to use two Truma air conditioning systems.
- Roof-mounted and stowage box air conditioning systems can be combined with each other.
Does your caravan have large panoramic windows? If so, it will heat up faster and therefore require more cooling than a caravan with small windows.
Particularly large vehicles may need to be cooled with two air conditioning systems. Stowage box and roof-mounted air conditioning systems can be combined for this purpose.
Roof-mounted air conditioning systems
Roof-mounted air conditioning systems from Truma are particularly light, silent, and powerful. They are available in various sizes and operating levels and can be used in many different vehicle types, from transporters to motor homes.
The Aventa comfort 2nd generation is suitable for vehicles up to approx. 7.5 metres long. It quickly cools the inside of the vehicle to a pleasant temperature. Thanks to the integrated heat pump, the air conditioning system in the caravan can also be used as an additional heater in spring and autumn.
The Aventa compact 2nd generation is particularly suitable for vans and small motorhomes thanks to its compact design. Its small dimensions make it particularly suitable for conversion and retrofitting, as it leaves space for solar panels, a satellite dish or a roof box.
Just like the Aventa compact 2nd generation, the Aventa compact plus 2nd generation offers the perfect combination of compact size, low weight and low background noise. But don’t let its small features fool you: the Aventa compact plus 2nd generation packs 500 watts more cooling power, making it ideal for medium-sized vehicles.
Stowage box air conditioning systems
Truma offers suitable stowage box air conditioning systems for all vehicle sizes. These can be installed in a space-saving way and offer flexible options for distributing cool air throughout the entire vehicle. This is achieved with flexible cold air ducts that distribute air evenly and without drafts to where it’s needed.
Saphir comfort RC is the most powerful Truma stowage box air conditioning system. It also has a heat pump mode, so it can be used as an additional heater in spring and autumn.
Saphir Compact is slightly less powerful than Saphir Comfort RC, but still cools efficiently and reliably. It is particularly suitable for small to medium-sized caravans.
What is the most effective way to cool my caravan or motor home?
The following tips will help you keep a cool head in any heat:
Park your vehicle in the shade if possible.
Darkening the interior with blinds reduces heat insolation.
Clean your roof regularly, as dirty roofs heat up more.
Ventilate your vehicle thoroughly to remove any accumulated warm air from the interior before using the air conditioner.
To maintain a healthy room climate, avoid creating too large a difference between the inside and outside temperatures.
During operation, the circulated air is cleaned and dehumidified. Dehumidifying damp air creates a pleasant room climate even with small temperature differences.
Keep all doors and windows closed while in cooling mode to prevent condensate from forming on the air distributor.
Why doesn’t a Truma air conditioning system provide the same cooling power as a car air conditioning system?
Cars are often only used for 20 to 30 minutes at a time. A comfortable temperature of approx. 23°C needs to be reached in a very short time. As cars often have dark colours inside and outside as well as angled windows, such as the windscreen, they heat up very quickly. That is why car air conditioning systems have a high cooling power (6 to 8 kW). They can offer this significantly higher power because the air conditioning system’s compressor is driven by the car engine. This explains why the car’s engine loses power when the air conditioning system is switched on.
A caravan, in contrast, is often used for several hours. The air conditioning system is also used for longer periods (while driving or while parked at a campsite). Light external colours and steep windows reduce heating of the vehicle compared to cars. Air conditioning systems in motorhomes or caravans usually have a much lower cooling capacity because they run on electricity and have a limited power supply. This is why a high level of energy efficiency is essential to ensure optimum cooling performance with low power consumption.
Our air conditioning system can produce a maximum temperature difference of 10°C under optimum conditions, such as when the vehicle is parked in the shade, the blinds are closed, the windows and skylights are shut, and air humidity is low.