Air conditioner

[jmacjgm]

I have searched for a while and haven't been able to find much information regarding a light weight, low power consumption AC unit for my FWC camper. I was curious if any of you have one or if you know of any out there. Right now I just have the 85w solar panel with dual AGM Batteries. They power the Engel fridge, LED lights, water pump etc. I did see that Global Expedition Vehicles uses the Carrier brand Air-V roof top unit and I think it draws somewhere around 300mA. Is this the best AC unit I have to choose from or is there something else on the market? I know adding this type of creature comfort defeats the purpose of the FWC but I am really just in the research phase right now. Thanks for any info you can give.
, Jason

 

[Northern Explorer]

Is this the one you are talking about? Carrier Air Conditioner It says 13.5 amps and I'm sure that's at 120 ac.

If you want a dc air conditioner your options are going to be very limited.

 

[Northern Explorer]

Here is one. DC Breeze 48 amps at 12 volts

 

[Northern Explorer]

Another one but it's not a condenser type. Swampy

 

[jmacjgm]

Thanks for the site recommendations; It looks like the DC Breeze AC unit is a viable option. Has anyone tried this unit before? The specs say in order to run at full power for up to 8 hours continuously one will need like 337lbs of deep cycle batteries:Wow1:? Seems like alot of weight to add on...curious how well my solar panel will compensate.

 

[jmacjgm]

This is the Carrier air conditioner I was looking at...

http://www.airv.carrier.com/Files/AirV/Local/US-en/customer_service/62-11037.pdf

Still, its quite large.

 

[Northern Explorer]

Thanks for the site recommendations; It looks like the DC Breeze AC unit is a viable option. Has anyone tried this unit before? The specs say in order to run at full power for up to 8 hours continuously one will need like 337lbs of deep cycle batteries:Wow1:? Seems like alot of weight to add on...curious how well my solar panel will compensate.

Your solar panel would bearly put a dent in that much of a power drain.

 

[Northern Explorer]

Here's a better one. DC Airco 12V Air Conditioner 4400RM C6201 At 25 amps it might be the one mentioned here.

 

[Northern Explorer]

This is the Carrier air conditioner I was looking at...

http://www.airv.carrier.com/Files/AirV/Local/US-en/customer_service/62-11037.pdf

Still, its quite large.

I think that 300 ma rating is power used by the thermostate. I'm pretty sure this unit runs on ac (shore power needed).

 

[Pskhaat]

Isn't that low-draw DC one water cooled, might be a challenge on a vehicle.

 

[NothingClever]

Isn't that low-draw DC one water cooled, might be a challenge on a vehicle.

If you dig around the website, you'll find they have some pretty small units.

Tempting...

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

Hey Jason

Unfortunatly we have not seen or found any 12volt air conditioners that would really work in any sort of practical situation.

They will draw TOO much power and will suck the batteries down in no time at all.

I think for example, one of those 12V AC units posted . . . <"48 amps at 12 volts ">> would kill your camper batteries in less than 4 hours.

Most deep cycle batteries have an amp hour rating of approx. 75 - 100 amp hours per battery.

<< 337lbs of deep cycle batteries >> . . . this would probably be 6 or 7 deep cycle batteries. :O The solar panel will never be able to keep up with that.

It seems like customers that get an actual air conditioner unit (not a swamp cooler) will be running the camper air conditioner on 110/120V shore power electricity or will have the camper plugged in to a generator when running the air conditioner. On a tiny air conditioner you might be able to get away running a 1000 watt generator, but most air conditioners will like a 2000 watt generator a bit better.

We can install a "rear wall air conditioner" in the Keystone Model ($ 700.00), but when we do this you will be loosing the inside shower connections. The small cabinet & inside shower water connections won't fit in the camper if we install the rear wall air conditioner on the Keystone Model. You would need a generator or 110/120V shore power when running this air conditioner.

(see attached sample picture of a camper that was on the production line awhile back)


We just installed a roof mounted TurboCool "swamp cooler" for a customer a couple of months ago.

It was the first one that I know of that we have installed at the factory so I don't have any feedback yet on how well it is going to work. After the next few months we will have some customer feedback to be able to report on if it was "good" or "bad" for actual cooling.

Even though it was a 12v swamp cooler, it seemed like it was drawing quite a bit of 12v power. When we turned it on in the shop, you could see the interior camper lights dim a bit.

Hope this helps.


.


.

 

[jmacjgm]

I think that 300 ma rating is power used by the thermostate. I'm pretty sure this unit runs on ac (shore power needed).

:mixed-smiley-030: LOL.

I guess I really have some more electric homework to work on. That, or air conditioning will have to be something I do without until there is a better design.

Yeah, I guess having to feed water to that other AC unit can be a pain. Unless you don't mind something like this that Carl did...
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9502&page=21

 

[jmacjgm]

Hey Jason

Unfortunatly we have not seen or found any 12volt air conditioners that would really work in any sort of practical situation.

They will draw TOO much power and will suck the batteries down in no time at all.

I think for example, one of those 12V AC units posted . . . <"48 amps at 12 volts ">> would kill your camper batteries in less than 4 hours.

Most deep cycle batteries have an amp hour rating of approx. 75 - 100 amp hours per battery.

<< 337lbs of deep cycle batteries >> . . . this would probably be 6 or 7 deep cycle batteries. :O The solar panel will never be able to keep up with that.

It seems like customers that get an actual air conditioner unit (not a swamp cooler) will be running the camper air conditioner on 110/120V shore power electricity or will have the camper plugged in to a generator when running the air conditioner. On a tiny air conditioner you might be able to get away running a 1000 watt generator, but most air conditioners will like a 2000 watt generator a bit better.

We can install a "rear wall air conditioner" in the Keystone Model ($ 700.00), but when we do this you will be loosing the inside shower connections. The small cabinet & inside shower water connections won't fit in the camper if we install the rear wall air conditioner on the Keystone Model. You would need a generator or 110/120V shore power when running this air conditioner.

(see attached sample picture of a camper that was on the production line awhile back)


We just installed a roof mounted TurboCool "swamp cooler" for a customer a couple of months ago.

It was the first one that I know of that we have installed at the factory so I don't have any feedback yet on how well it is going to work. After the next few months we will have some customer feedback to be able to report on if it was "good" or "bad" for actual cooling.

Even though it was a 12v swamp cooler, it seemed like it was drawing quite a bit of 12v power. When we turned it on in the shop, you could see the interior camper lights dim a bit.

Hope this helps.


.


.

Thanks for your help Stan, I definitely do not want to rely on shore power for the small convenience of an installed DC air conditioner. From my research so far it seems like they don't even remove enough BTUs to be worth it any way.

 

[dzzz]

First be sure to understand the big difference between evaporator (swamp coolers) and compressor units.
You will need a generator or shore power for a compressor-based unit. For these a small window unit will be the most economical.
Frigidaire makes some small units. These you would install/unistall as needed. DC or AC doesn't matter. There doesn't appear to be efficiency gains with DC.

If you can use a rooftop, one of the mainstream low profile RV units is just as good as something like a DC Airco.