DC Air conditioner worth it?

Thank you for all of the insight. I think I am going to go solar just to keep the batteries up. I don't think it will be practical for my current needs to try for ac. I do have a generator, looks like I'll just be using it more often. Thankfully it's getting to to look like fall.

FYI. You don't say what size RV you have but a Coleman Mach 3 PS 13.5 BTU or a Polar Cub 9200 BTU will run on a Honda 2000.

Swamp coolers have their advantages. We had one on our last house for 12 years. The upside is that they use less energy to run and can cool a place down fast within their abilities.

The downsides are the size needed for area cooled. The amount of water they go through. (something to consider as a boondocker) It feels great when you first turn it on and stand in front of it but since it evaporates water to create the cooling, the house would become humid and and even though the temperature was lower, the added humidity counteracted it some.

Over the years we noticed that the house and everything in it was absorbing that humidity and suffering from it. When it is hot out those wet batts tend to grow fungus and eventually the house smelt musty in between uses.

Last thing is they have limitations as far as how hot it can be and still provide acceptable cooling. Even when it is very dry you don't get much in the 90's and in the 100's you are just pumping hot humid air. When it is humid they are better off as just a fan.

So just as I'll make sure you know how expensive and heavy it is to run a A/C, I think you should have your eyes open with swamp coolers too. In our case we are limited to 60 gallons of water but the power just keeps coming.

In the OP's climate a swamp cooler is a great idea

Example

JiminDenver wrote:
Setting up the solar and batteries JUST to have A/C is impractical. Setting up your rig with solar and because of it being able to run a A/C is not. We do much more with the power than just run the A/C occasionally. We use it for cooking, water heating, cooling, TV/sat, etc, etc. it also is enough power and battery to keep us going for a week of bad weather while on the road.

So if you are installing solar and want to be able to do things, keep that in mind while you design it. even if someone says you can't,

Totally agree. Not everything is done for the practicality and certainly not RVing. These things are for the most part a hobby. Throwing a few grand at solving a cooling or at least a partial cooling problem in an RV would probably be kinda fun. The side benefits are complete independence of shore power when AC is not available. JMHO

Setting up the solar and batteries JUST to have A/C is impractical. Setting up your rig with solar and because of it being able to run a A/C is not. We do much more with the power than just run the A/C occasionally. We use it for cooking, water heating, cooling, TV/sat, etc, etc. it also is enough power and battery to keep us going for a week of bad weather while on the road.

So if you are installing solar and want to be able to do things, keep that in mind while you design it. even if someone says you can't,

Clarification, I said IMPRACTICAL.

5000btu in a 28' trailer on a 90degree day is going to do next to nothing. 15000btu roof units will often struggle to keep up in those conditions.

Likewise, a 1/4ton of batteries and 1000watts of solar are expensive, heavy and use up a lot of the limited space in an RV.

If you want to run air/con away from shore power, get yourself a nice generator.

One thing to consider is how much CCC do you have. My batteries weigh close to a quarter of a ton. Add in the solar, wiring, controller and inverter PLUS our 60 gallon of water and we have used up half of our 3000 lb CCC.

Reading the above posts, it seems it can be done. The question asked was "is it worth it?"

I guess that depends on you.

Totally doable but you need to expand your solar array to something a little better matched to your needs. Your roof real estate should be able to support a 1 kw solar system without a problem. I would also consider going to 8 X 6 volt to give you a little better coverage during cloudy stretches etc. Obviously when the sun goes down you need to switch to fresh air ventilation. Component selection will be important in order to make it work but can't see why you couldn't make it happen. I would strongly suggest a 48 volt system.

Good luck. Let us know how it turns out.