Coleman-Mach49

About Coleman-Mach

The Coleman-Mach story begins with a bad night's sleep. In the summer of 1966 Sheldon Coleman, head of the Coleman Company, took his annual camping trip to test the next year's product line, and instead of a Coleman tent he tried a motorhome. He enjoyed the experience apart from one thing: it was too hot at night to sleep. On his return he told his engineers that before the following year's trip they needed to design an air conditioner to cool the coach. The result, the PolarPal, was debuted in 1967 as the first RV air conditioner.

Nearly six decades later Coleman-Mach has produced more than eight million units for RVs and specialty vehicles worldwide, and the Coleman name has stayed at the front of mobile climate control through its time under the Coleman Company and later as Coleman-Mach under Airxcel. Today the brand is known across the RV, boat and off-road vehicle industries with numerous applications in specialty fields.

The lineup has grown well beyond that single 1967 unit. Rooftop air conditioners come in a range of capacities and profiles, including low-profile units for garage clearance and models with soft-start capability for generator or inverter operation. Heat pumps add reverse-cycle heating for shoulder-season camping without burning propane, and heat strips provide electric supplementary heat.

Ceiling assemblies distribute conditioned air through ducted and non-ducted installations, and digital and analogue thermostats control the system. Conversion kits let owners change between ducted and non-ducted configurations or adapt a new unit to an existing roof opening, and replacement parts keep older units serviceable, which matters given how many are still in use decades after installation.

Coleman-Mach is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, where its corporate office and manufacturing plant are located, and is part of the Airxcel family of brands.