Mini Split Air Conditioner / Heat pump

pnichols wrote:
As a lot of you probably know, Earthroamer campers are designed to use battery powered air conditioning (as they have no generators on board).

However:

1. Their interior coach volumes are considerably less than that of a lot of Class A/B/C motorhomes.

2. Their windows, floors, walls, and ceilings are extremely well insulated.

3. Their air conditioners can only be run 8-12 hours before their large battery banks need to be charged - via a lot of sun time and/or idling of their dual-alternator diesel main engines.

So non-generator, partially solar based air conditioning is possible ... but it takes a lot of things to be set up just right ... including a main engine that can be idled for long time periods of no sun ... and maybe a hefty bank account.

There is possibly one best way to have sustainable self-contained, anywhere/anytime sun or no sun, quiet, and non-engine-idling RV air conditioning: Install onboard a large battery bank in conjunction with a built-in high amp hour recovery rate propane fuel cell system.

I prefer to air condition an RV with a generator - believing that it's (or should be) easier and less expensive for RV manufacturers, or us owners, to come up with a quiet diesel or gas generator way to handle it.

I would argue putting big alternators on the giant propulsion engine is effectively equivalent to a horribly inefficient generator. You can do that with just about any pickup out there but if you are going to do it with any regularity, it makes far more sense to get a dedicated generator and be done with it.