Living in my GD Solitude in Las Vegas

**crayner** · 06-11-2022, 07:33 AM

Anyone out there in the Las Vegas area that can share some advice on how to endure the summer months in Las Vegas while living full time in our 2019 GD Solitude 372WB with two rooftop AC units, front and back? We are considering a move to the area next year and have some concerns about the AC and refrigerator functioning properly in the 110 degree heat. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

**Grandesigner** · 06-11-2022, 08:15 AM

Park it under a reflective shade structure?

**sunshinenv** · 06-11-2022, 08:45 AM

I live about 1.5 hours west of las Vegas.

My RV is laid out like the following from bumper to hitch:

Kitchen, living room, walkthrough bathroom, bedroom. Barn doors close the bathroom off on both sides.

I open the cold air dump valves on my one and only AC, close the door leading to the bathroom from the kitchen living room so that the majority of the cold air stays in this one area.

Hang a blanket over the entry door to reduce the frame of the door heating up my kitchen living room because it faces west and it's a massive heat sync! I should do it to my bedroom door, but I haven't yet.

I don't have an RV carport or shade trees (yet). We just planted some Palo Verde trees but it'll take a few years for them to start providing shade.

I wish I had a way to shade the air conditioner housing, but so far I haven't rigged something yet. I don't want to block airflow.

Big takeaways for living in this extreme heat and sun:

Reflectix your windows! Perhaps also use it in the cupboards. My pantry is very warm even though on the east side.

Use pillows or something to block light and heat from they skylights.

Avoid cooking with propane during the heat of the day! It quickly heats up my RV by as much as 10 degrees during the summer.

Try to shade your fresh water hose from the sun because it is intense and will make the white hose leech chemicals into the water. I use the blue premium camco hose and it resolved that chemical grossness.

Hang blankets up along the walls and doors that get the most warm from the sun to help reduce transmission of heat.

Keep your rooftop air conditioner clean. Regular maintenance will keep it running more efficiently.

Unless you have a job in Las Vegas I would advise to stay several hours north of Vegas in higher elevations. The heat is so bad out here; I want to move but I can't.

Side note: if you're going to be on municipal water you'll probably still want to filter it for drinking and cooking. The chemicals in tap water are harmful. If you're going to be on well water definitely filter your water with a sediment and also a normal RV water filter. I just bought a Clear2O kit. Clear2O dirt guard sediment prefilter, and RV inline water filter.

It has reduced the minerals and dirt coming from my well water. My skin is less dry, dishes less spotty, and water tastes much better instead of the gross dirty mineral taste.

In the hot months you'll need to use more toilet chemicals because the heat makes the black tank contents kind of simmer and amplifies the smell.

Good luck!

2018 Grand Design Imagine 2250RK

**Gronk1** · 06-11-2022, 12:42 PM

Originally Posted by crayner

Anyone out there in the Las Vegas area that can share some advice on how to endure the summer months in Las Vegas while living full time in our 2019 GD Solitude 372WB with two rooftop AC units, front and back? We are considering a move to the area next year and have some concerns about the AC and refrigerator functioning properly in the 110 degree heat. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

What type of fridge? On our gas/elect. in hot weather, we put a couple of freezer bags into the fridge compartment (frozen water bottles work too), rotate them out with fresh ones when they are about thawed out, have two 12v fans in there, have two computer fans in the outside exhaust vent.
We also use a mesh shade tarp over the outside vents, clamped to the top of the slide & staked out a couple of feet to the ground when we are in a spot where the fridge vents are exposed to the sun.
If I was stationary I'd put a 110 beer fridge in the basement-to keep the doors on the Nevercold shut as much as possible.
Slide awnings will help keep the coach interior cooler also.
I have some foil tape & took it to the ac units-factory tape jobs are not the greatest. Clean the ac radiator fins a couple of times a year with coil cleaner, straiten any bent fins with a fin comb.

Hope some of this helps...but you still may bake