I mentioned last week that the temperature in Vermont in June is unpredictable.   Case in point: last week we had several days of days so cold that I had to run the furnace to keep the trailer warm enough for me to type, and now for the past four days it has been between 85 and 90 degrees at the lake. It’s the temperature equivalent of “feast or famine,” except it’s “roast or freeze.”

The current “roast” phase means the people inland, and especially up in Vermont’s “Queen City” of Burlington, where pavement abounds, are really suffering.   It’s always hotter away from the lake.   We’ve got 55-degree heat sink about three miles wide and 400 feet deep right in front of the house, and it takes a bit of the edge off.   Lots of cool green lawns help too, but the humidity is horrible.   People talk about Florida humidity, and I agree it’s intense, but try a summer in northern Vermont sometime.   I have to be careful not to inhale too deeply, lest I drown.

So today I finally broke down and tried to fire up the air conditioner.   (I’m working in the Airstream all day because it is quiet and free from distractions.) The problem is that we are on the end of a 50-foot extension cord from the garage, and that garage outlet is probably at the end of a long line of electrical code violations.

The Dometic air conditioner installed in our Airstream, and most other late-model Airstreams, requires a minimum of 103.5 volts.   Any lower than that and you’ll burn out the compressor motor, and that’s an expensive mistake.   Last summer I bought a digital voltage meter which stays plugged into an outlet on the wall, specifically so I can watch suspicious campground voltage and find problems before they cost me money.

You might be surprised how often campgrounds have inadequate electrical service, but far worse are the courtesy parking situations.   After all, most people don’t build their homes to with dedicated electrical circuits for visiting RVs, and that means low voltage is often a problem.   Since homeowners rarely have a clue what sort of power they can supply, it’s sort of a “moocher beware” situation.

The problem with the voltage meter is that it can only tell you what the voltage is at that exact moment.   It can’t predict what the voltage will drop to when you put a load on it, like an air conditioner.   Think of voltage like water pressure from a hose.   There might be lots of pressure in the hose when the faucet is closed, but when you open the faucet, the pressure could quickly bleed off and leave you with barely a trickle. Turning on an appliance that uses electrical energy is just like opening that faucet.

So my technique to avoid expensive problems is to switch the air conditioner on and watch the volt meter carefully.   When the A/C compressor fires up, the voltage will drop.   If it drops to no less than 104 volts, you’re theoretically OK (although I am always leery of getting even close to that number; my personal limit is 109 volts to allow for variations in line voltage).     If the voltage is unacceptable, I snap off the A/C switch immediately.

No surprise that today the voltage was ridiculously poor, in fact the worst I’ve ever seen.   The moment the compressor started the voltage dropped to 89 volts, struggled up to about 95 volts after a second or two, and then I shut it off.   No air conditioning for me!

Considering that we are coming here annually and staying for weeks at a time, I could see installing a 30-amp dedicated plug for the Airstream, as we did in Arizona.   But the location of the power meter would require us to bury a new line under the driveway and install a subpanel on a post.   Beside the mess and expense, it would be a big psychological step for our fiercely independent family, since having our own power outlet would almost akin to moving back into my parents’ house. It’s probably asking enough that we are leaving an antique Honda next to their garage for the winter.

And really, all that trouble for air conditioning just for a few days each summer?   Maybe I should just go jump in the lake to cool off.   I’m sure that’s what Dad would say.   He’s probably right.