How to Make RV AC Quieter in Simple 7 Effective Ways?

The average air conditioner is noisy. That doesn’t matter as much when it sits on a slab outside of your brick home. This creates a difficult conundrum for RV owners. The air conditioner cools things down at night, but the typical noise level may make it impossible to sleep.

An RV AC running during the day may make it hard to speak, and the noise from it on top of engine noise can be unbearable. 

Fortunately, there are things you can do to quiet it down other than turn it off. Here are seven tips make RV AC quieter.

Let's Address Each of These Options in Greater Detail.

Tip 01: Lower the fan speed.

A simple way to quiet the RV AC is to turn down the fan speed. The slower fan motion will reduce overall vibrations in the system. This may result in the AC not cooling things down as much as if the fan was on high, but it is better than turning the air conditioner off.

This is a temporary solution if the noise is bad but may allow you to sleep or be heard when you speak.

Tip 02: Maintain the AC.

An air conditioner is a mechanical device. Any number of issues can make it louder. Replace the air filter when it is grey so that the unit doesn’t have to work as hard and long to get air. 

Clean the coils so it can exchange heat more efficiently and won’t run as long. Give the AC enough space so that it can bring in warm air and vent cold air.

Clean the fan of dirt and debris. Tighten the bolts on the housing. In older ACs, the bushings may be loose. Tightening them may solve the problem.

Turn up the AC fan and see what the new noise level is like.

Tip 03: Clean the ducts.

You may want to open the AC up and clean the ducts. This is a good idea if you’re always getting a dusty or musty smell from the AC anyway. Depending on the RV model, you may want to check the rest of the ducts and air vents, as well.

For example, don’t rip apart the AC if the noise keeping you up at night is a rattling air vent inside the AC. Open that up, clean it, put it back in place, and secure it with screws. 

Just don’t glue the screws in place to limit noise, since that prevents you from being able to remove the screws to perform other maintenance later.

Tip 04: Dampen the noise.

An air conditioner that is too tightly mounted to the top of the RV roof will vibrate tightly against that surface. This generates a lot of noise. You may be able to reduce the noise level by loosening the mounting hardware, though you don’t want it to be able to vibrate loose.

Another solution is putting sound dampening pads under it. This might be foam or a blanket, though you need to take care not to let it become moldy. After all, any mold spores growing there will be sucked into your air conditioner.

Put a noise-dampening shell around the AC

In some cases, you can put a noise-dampening shell around the air conditioner. This is a variation of the noise dampening shells you see around residential air conditioners and generators.

Unfortunately, these shells add weight and drag to the average RV. On the other hand, you can check the RV AC shell for issues contributing to poor air flow. Perhaps you need to tighten a few screws or remove debris that’s flapping around in the air flow. 

Cracks in the shell may need to be glued shut so that plastic doesn’t vibrate as well as increase the air noise. If you can’t find an obvious source of excess noise and you’ve maintained the RV, then you’ll need to take more drastic action.

We’ll discuss this in greater detail further in the article.

Tip 05: Repair the source of the noise.

An air conditioner is going to be noisy because of the various motors inside of it. However, the noise level will go up when these motors are wearing down. You’ll hear more vibration and friction related noise as they wear out. You may want to replace the fan motor if the fan is generating increasingly levels of noise.

The buzzing in a compressor occurs as it loses refrigerant. That needs to be repaired, and you’ll want refrigerant added to the system, as well. 

Fan blades that are dirty and out of balance may be solved with a good cleaning. A bent or damaged fan blade just needs to be replaced.

Tip 06: Buy a noise reducing kit

What if there is nothing mechanically wrong with the AC? What if it is just noisy? You’re not the only one who wants to make rv ac quieter. This is why AC noise reducing kits are available on the market.

These kits often come with an air conditioner silencer. Try to buy one that fits your air conditioner and that specific make and model. It will reduce the noise without interfering in air flow or creating newly annoying vibration.

A side benefit of an AC silencer is that it is something the average do-it-yourselfer can install in fifteen minutes. They’ll lower the noise level by 8 to 10 decibels.

Do not try to make your own noise reducer. Do it yourself solutions like adding extra air filters or covering the ducts will interfere with proper air flow to the AC. You’ll wear out the moving parts faster and could cause the AC to overheat.

Tip 07: Replace the air conditioner.

This is an expensive last resort. However, it remains a potential solution. You could buy an air conditioner that is significantly quieter than the current one. And the odds are that it is much more energy efficient.

Select a properly sized unit, since an oversized unit both costs more and weighs more. However, you don’t want to buy an AC that is too small for the BTU you need, since it will run long and hard to cool down the RV. That will not only result in continual operating noises but wear it out far faster than expected.

Summary

While air conditioners are always going to generate some noise, there are steps you can take to lessen the noise level no matter what brand of AC you have. We’ve shared do it yourself tips you can follow before you start buying hardware or taking the AC in to be serviced.