Firstly, thank you for the Aroundoz site and the interesting items from other A'vanners. We have had our A'van for just over two years and covered some 25,000 kilometres in that period. We purchased it in Perth and took delivery in Victoria from there we zigzagged to Bundaberg before heading for home - Geraldton W.A. This ten week trip is the longest we have undertaken. Our Van is A Liner 3 Series 2000 with the Adventure Pack with 10cm higher sides for the larger refrigerator.

Installing a Home Style Budget Air-conditioning

Nowadays one would not purchase a vehicle without air-conditioning, we feel the same goes for a caravan. So one of the first items planned, was to air-condition the van without it taking up valuable storage space. We settled on using a household air-conditioner placed on a frame to fit through the sliding window over the cook top. (You can purchase four and a bit household air-conditioners for the price of one fitted in a Caravan not to mention the loss of space).

We used a 1 HP Fujitsu model AKT7A - cooling only. Weight 27 kg.  This model leaves 10mm clearance at the top and sides with sufficient room for 400mm double draw sliders at the bottom.

Caution: As a household air conditioner is not designed for a caravan the vibration of the compressor will cause the tubes to fracture. To reduce this vibration while traveling I made a stainless steel bracket with a piece of rubber on top to support the fans motor (see photo). The manufacturer of the air conditioner placed a hole in the base plate below the compressor for support packaging it fits up against the top nuts to prevent vibration while traveling. This made it easy to replace the packaging with a block of wood.

The support platform was made with folding timber legs down to the bench so that  the weight is carried by the bench. On the outside there are support brackets. The top one has  a backing plate on the inside similar to the closing latches for the roof. The lower bracket is bolted to the underside of the van with the refrigerator vent removed to tighten nuts (take care not to damage refrigerator components).