air conditioning question
- Thread starter dvorocks
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freshlikesushi
Free Candy
why arent you looking for a vehicle ac system?
freshlikesushi
Free Candy
it will be a much better idea.
freshlikesushi
Free Candy
5000 btu will cool a bedroom.
mhiscox
Expedition Leader
I understand about the desire not to add an aftermarket AC. Makes a lot of sense if the top or back of your cab is suitable for mounting the evaporator.
Sad to say, but the fact that a 5,000 BTU air conditioner will cool a bedroom is not really relevant. Freightliner had their ads make the point that their cab ACs put out enough to cool a 2,000 square foot house. Most automobile AC units provide 10-20,000 BTUs of cooling, and most over the road trucks are 20-40,000. Also, figure that one 13K BTU roof top unit is routinely used to cool about a 25 foot motorhome, two for a 35 footer, three or four for a 45 footer. Also, it takes about 10,000 BTU to cool an insulated Sprinter van, and most of the units sold to cool truck sleeper cabs overnight are 7-10K. The smaller Red Dot rooftop unit is 16K.
A lot has to do with the size of the cab and the amount of windows. For something the size of a regular cab pickup or the cab of a LCF truck, 5,000 BTU it might work in reasonably temperate climates with assuming not much solar gain. For something like a big crew cab pickup, or something with a lot of sunlight getting in, it'll probably fall short.
The other issue is the difference between keeping a reasonable temperature and getting there in the first place. Leave the cab in the sun for a couple of hours and you could end up with the inside getting to 130 degrees. It would take a 5,000 BTU AC many hours to get the space cooled off.
So depending on the vehicle, the ambient temperature, the amount of solar intrusion, how long you need to keep it cool and so on, 5,000 BTUs could possibly do the trick, but it seems much more likely to me to be too little than too much.
freshlikesushi
Free Candy
based on him saying a 2seat cab
not saying a 2 seat with sleeper, or other variation, id imagine its a bare bones cab
also, add some insualtion and it will help quite a bit to keep it cooler
not saying a 2 seat with sleeper, or other variation, id imagine its a bare bones cab
also, add some insualtion and it will help quite a bit to keep it cooler
mhiscox
Expedition Leader
A good point, for sure. It sounded to me, though, like the cab is bigger ("Just the front two seats") and there wasn't any information about if/how the rest of the space got blocked off.
BTW, since a 5K BTU AC home window unit could be had for $100, and would probably have a secondary use if it didn't work out, I don't think it'd be the worst idea to stick it through a side-window-shaped plywood frame, plug it in, and see if it does the trick. If it seems to cool enough in the conditions to be encountered, then the OP could move on to a more suitable unit and installation.
I guess I probably should explain a little more. I have a 1990 e350 4x4 with a 12ftbox on the back. The box is converted into my living quarters. Above the cab I have a 5000btu ac that is used for cooling the box when I stop. It works perfect up till about 85 and humid. I have 2 air conditioner problems to solve. First is to cool the cab while driving and second is to add a little more cooling to the back. I was thinking of putting one of these http://www.climaterightair.com/products/climateright-models.html on top of the cab. The plan would be to use an inverter to run it while driving. I was thinking of making pvc piping with ball valves so i could direct the air either to the front or rear depending on what I was doing.
I just dont want to go through all this work and have 5000btu not be enough to cool the cab
I just dont want to go through all this work and have 5000btu not be enough to cool the cab
