• Click here to access some of the presentations made during the 2022 National Rally

Swap of Coleman AC to Chill Cubes

SlimJim

Member
The current Avenue 29RL's now come with Furrion Chill Cubes but our 2024 model had the Coleman Machs. They actually weren't terrible AC's, relatively quiet for the old style, but they simply couldn't keep the trailer cool. I had done the RV Airflow upgrade, replaced all of the vent covers, taped all of the vents, it was as good as it could get with those models. We camp a lot in Texas and needed something that could handle the 100 degree days, so it was either new ACs or a new trailer. The ACs were cheaper. :)

Did quite a bit of investigation (with the help of Claude) to narrow down the exact part numbers I needed. This 29RL came with a 15k Coleman that is ducted in the living room and a 13.5k unit that is non-ducted in the bedroom, both with wired thermostats. The current 29RL's went with an 8k ducted for the bedroom which seemed kind of silly since it only added two ducts over the bed, but maybe they have it ducted to the bathroom too, not sure. Either way, I ended up replacing my units with two Chill Cubes rated at 18k and kept the original ducted/non-ducted layout. After price shopping online and locally, surprisingly the cheapest source I found to get these was with Alliance directly. Since what I needed wasn't standard to what they are using now they worked with Lippert to order the models I needed and then had them freight shipped to me.

When spec'ing the AC units, there are part numbers for white/black, with heat pump or without, ducted/non-ducted, with wall thermostat or remote. It's a fairly lengthy list of options. For this install I originally was going to replace the thermostat in the living room with a Furrion one and have the bedroom remote only, but I ended up doing remote in both locations. The remote holder is mounted where the original thermostat was so it looks clean and fits well. I also decided to get the heat pump models even though that will be rarely used since they were just a little more than the non-heat pump versions.

Here are the parts and prices I ended up with:

Living Room (Ducted Heat Pump)

Item #PartDescriptionPriceMatch
39248FACR18HEDA-PS18K Chill Cube Ducted w/Heat Pump, White$977.16
32427FACT18VSDA-PSDucted ADB w/Remote, White$92.74

Bedroom (Ductless Heat Pump)

Item #PartDescriptionPriceMatch
39264FACR18HEPA-PS18K Chill Cube Non-Ducted w/Heat Pump, White$954.00
35272FACT18MA2-PSManual ADB w/Remote HP Control, White$79.34

Shipping to Texas was $265 for both units. I think I could have done the install myself, but we were about to hit the road and I was out of time, plus hauling 70 lbs to the roof didn't sound fun. Found a mobile tech who installed them for $200/ea and had it done in less than a day.

Overall extremely pleased with the upgrade. Tested during July in Texas, these units have no problem keeping the trailer cool (70-72). I had to fiddle a bit with the vent direction for the bedroom unit so we weren't blasted all night, but got it dialed in and the bedroom stays ice cold. If you're on the fence about whether the cost is worth it I'd recommended it without reservation.
 

Ox262

Active member
Excellent write-up. All my previous RVs had Coleman/Mach and they were all very loud. Watching TV was an issue since we had to turn it up really loud to get over sound of the AC. But my 262 has two Furrion ACs and the sound difference is remarkable. Extremely quiet and we can run the TV at normal volume. Definitely a great upgrade over Coleman/Mach and I don't think I'd consider another RV without Furrion Chill Cubes.
 

RoadJunkie

Active member
Nice report. For those that are Coleman loyalists, they now have a model to "compete" with the CC called the Coleman-Mach "Everest" VS-18. I really don't know much more other than it's too new to have many, if any, efficiency evaluations.
 
Top