Running AC on inverter

Hi,

Depending on the air conditioner it might or might not start.

If your motor home has two extra large high output alternators (one dedicated to the "house") you might be able to run the air conditioner while driving at highway speeds. It most likely will burn out a standard alternator.

If you have a rather large solar system (1250 watts and up) you might be able to run the air conditioner when there are perfect solar conditions.

If you have a LI battery bank with 20 kwh hours of storage you may be able to run off the inverter--but there will need to be a way to replenish the battery bank.

It is likely cheaper to run the generator for running the roof air while driving down the road.

Step one would be to try it and see. If the inverter shuts down then you have your answer.

I have a 3000 watt inverter powered by 6 batteries that gives me just over 400 amp hours at 1/2 full charge. With all of that I cannot run the air for any reasonable amount of time

answer is NOPE!

If you are an engineer
If you have a truck load of batteries
If you have a small 5000BTU a/c
Then you can cool the closed off bedroom for a few hours at night
And run the generator all day the next day to recharge them

In 99.9% of the time....It just ain't practical

Your AC units probably are not wired through your inverter so no you can't in your present configuration. Even if you changed the wiring, the inverter will not power the AC

smkettner wrote:
Sure.... for maybe 30 minutes assuming you have the proper 400+ amp hours of battery to properly run a 2000w inverter.

And want to take 4 times as long running your generator to recharge the batteries. AND don't particularly care about battery life.

As said, it is not practical.

Explain why you want to do that. Do you have a Genset? Doug

Sure.... for maybe 30 minutes assuming you have the proper 400+ amp hours of battery to properly run a 2000w inverter.

On edit:

My Prosine 1800 easily runs my 13.5 Dometic. Starts as smooth as utility power. I forget the amps but it was less than the microwave. Just ran as a test.

jorbill2or wrote:
The short answer ...No .. You'll drain almost any battery bank in minutes ..even if the inverter was large enough.

+1

(a) a 2000 watt power supply of any sort is marginal for the standard 13,500 BTU RV AC unit
(b) As @jorbill2or said, a realistic RV battery bank of 1 or 2 6v or 12 v batteries will be sucked dry in minutes. There just isn't enough energy in 'em to handle a useful AC run.

IMO Running 175 DC AMPS or more from your battery bank just doesn't seem like the wise thing to do.

This will run down a single battery is just a few minutes...

Roy Ken