Jackery instead of generator
I was wondering if anyone is using a system like the jackery instead of a generator. If so, how is it in national park campgrounds that don’t have electricity?
Forum Discussion
We have an Anker F2000 solution (no expansion packs) that works well. We put in a softstart for our A/C & it can run that all night on a charge. To parrot what others have said though figure out what you want to run with it & your overall power needs. Having that will help determine what type of connection you will need (do you need a 15a, 30a or 50a output option), then determine how long you want to run the item(s) so you get something with enough output capacity to drive it (the A/C for us) & have a recharge plan or buy enough expansion packs to cover your needs & recharge plan. It is nice to be able to use the 120v outlets without having to run the inverter which is typically a big drain on the battery bank plus we get to run our A/C when others would have to shut their gas generators off for quiet hours. Lots of vehicles are coming with 120v outlets these days so you have the option to charge it up while driving around or using a solar recharge option. There are pros & cons for whichever "generator" route you go though so as with anything with camping/RVing, find what works/fits best for you & your needs & then just get out there & enjoy!
What size is your air conditioner? Is it a roof air, mini-split or window type unit?
Coleman Mach 8 roof top 13.5k unit. The softstart was needed to keep that initial amp hit low enough to be able to run the A/C with the Anker unit.
Per the manufacturer: 2kwh of storage and max output of 1440w (12amp @ 120v) with a price of around $1600 ($2400MSRP).
Must be a small air/con as a basic rooftop unit will draw around 12-15amps @120v when running and need around 3 times that to start.
Also, with only 2kwh of storage, at 12amps, you've only got around 1hr 20min of run time. If it's actually hot, that's your max run time if you run nothing else. If there is only a marginal need for cooling, you might get almost 3hr at a 50% duty cycle.
A much cheaper option is to buy 3 - 100amp-hr 12v lithium batteries. Assuming you limit use to 90% (pulling them below 10% regularly can damage them), you have 3kwh of usable storage. These batteries are running under $200 each. Then get 3000w pure sine wave inverter (probably enough to kick over a full size air/con) for around $200-300...cheaper and 50% more storage...plus you can expand by adding more batteries if you want more than a couple hours of air/con.
If you are worried about the inverter draw when not under load, simply turn it off. Flipping the switch is less effort than dragging out a separate battery box and hooking it up.
So while it can work, it's an expensive option that might work, there are better and cheaper options.
The Anker output is 2400W for 120v with a max of 3600W for 120v surge. The 1440W is the max input wattage for charging not the max output wattage. We ran the A/C all night & the unit lasted 8hrs through the night because the max draw for the A/C was when the compressor was running which cycled based on the temperature in the camper so it wasn't a constant high draw.
We looked into upgrading the battery bank & inverter as you mention but that requires a bit of wiring changes to support the higher inverter from the factory 1000W inverter as well as connecting it up to run the A/C off the batteries so while it can be cheaper there are these aspects we took into account. The other aspect is that we can use the Anker to power other things not just the RV so that versatility also played a factor in our decision.
