Log In | Register
Skip to main content
Topic: Air conditioner? (Read 716 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
Re: Air conditioner?
Reply #25 –
What is the capacity in Btu\Hr. of the portable unit, and how much current does it draw? I would think that it can only be used when on shore power? And even then, it must be pushing the current carrying capacity of the electrical system.

Bill
Bill
2003 -- 23' FL
Re: Air conditioner?
Reply #26 –
"Ford and Tesla make nice AC units for their cars, that put out suburb AC, small, and will not rattle the roof. Couple of lithium battles and a few panels will run it during a sunny day."

It would be interesting to see the specs. In another thread, we recently discussed a 12V air conditioner used in a slide-in truck camper. The owner said she had a thousand watts of solar panels and (if I remember correctly) five or six lithium batteries... and even so, on a sunny day she was not quite breaking even, power-wise.

Now, this was an 8,000 BTU unit, and obviously a passenger car needs less cooling power than an RV. The Ford and Tesla units you mentioned are probably smaller and less power-hungry. On the other hand, a motorhome--even the front part of a motorhome--is larger than a car, so an air conditioner designed for a car may not do a great job in a motorhome.

As I said, it'll be interesting to see the BTU and power consumption specs for these Ford and Tesla air conditioners. Moving heat around is a power-hungry job any way you slice it, and I don't know of any magic solutions that will let you do it with minimal power.
Andy Baird
2021 Ford Ranger towing 2019 Airstream 19CB
Previously: 1985 LD Twin/King "Gertie"; 2003 LD Midbath "Skylark"
Re: Air conditioner?
Reply #27 –
Quote from: krmugn  - 
What is the capacity in Btu\Hr. of the portable unit, and how much current does it draw? I would think that it can only be used when on shore power? And even then, it must be pushing the current carrying capacity of the electrical system.

Bill

Good point. Not sure the details of the portable unit, but it is too powerful to plug into the LD plugs. Breakers trip.

 I plug the portable AC unit directly into a 120v outlet from the RV park pedestal. Also, I keep a 30amp and 50 amp splitter in one of the storage compartments at all times, as I have ran into a few RV parks/spots that only have one outlet to plug in for the RV. The portable AC unit needs a dedicated circuit/power outlet separate from the LD power outlets.

Good point- anyone considering adding a portable AC unit needs to consider.
-Joe
2005 26.5 RB
 
Re: Air conditioner?
Reply #28 –
The Carrier Air V 13500 btu/hr unit in my 24' Class C easily cools the RV on 100 deg F days, using the "Low Cool" setting, but with more noise and air movement than I like or need. I'd like to replace it with a variable speed unit to reduce both noise and air commotion, but the variable speed RV units I've found are the Aislu, which doesn't seem to have US distributors, or the Dometic Harrier, a 220VAC/50Hz unit apparently intended for Europe. Any suggestions for achieving lower noise and lower airflow?
2005 Jayco 24SS