Yet Another Generator Discussion!
I know how much you folks love generator discussions. Here's another one. I have fallen from heaven. I have ordered a generator. During my nearly 20 years of RV'ing I have sworn at generator-users,...
Forum Discussion
Since I have nothing better to do today I'll present my little tutorial on generators and a/c.
I've found, after 15 years of doing a lot of dry camping, that very few RVers bother to run a generator to run air. I'm at the Q right now, it's heading up to 80 degrees, which means it's over 80 in here, and I am the only camper in this very large LTVA area who is doing that. Maybe I'm just a wuss, but anything over 80 is quite uncomfortable to me. I've also been in much hotter weather where peeps don't run their air. Perhaps it's like propane, where folks would rather do just about anything to avoid buying propane. Gas is expensive, it's messy, it's heavy, and you have to have a handy, nearby station. So it seems running a generator to run your air must happen at only select locations, like Nascar. Or when it's really, really hot. I don't know.
For you folks who have a large battery bank and a large inverter on a whole-house installation, consider running your generator to charge the batteries while the batteries and the inverter run the air. Batteries/inverters are much better at handling surges than generators. Charging typically draws less power which means less noise. I recommend you be on a 24v or higher system due to the huge amp draw at 12v which can heat things up over time.
I've found, after 15 years of doing a lot of dry camping, that very few RVers bother to run a generator to run air. I'm at the Q right now, it's heading up to 80 degrees, which means it's over 80 in here, and I am the only camper in this very large LTVA area who is doing that. Maybe I'm just a wuss, but anything over 80 is quite uncomfortable to me. I've also been in much hotter weather where peeps don't run their air. Perhaps it's like propane, where folks would rather do just about anything to avoid buying propane. Gas is expensive, it's messy, it's heavy, and you have to have a handy, nearby station. So it seems running a generator to run your air must happen at only select locations, like Nascar. Or when it's really, really hot. I don't know.
For you folks who have a large battery bank and a large inverter on a whole-house installation, consider running your generator to charge the batteries while the batteries and the inverter run the air. Batteries/inverters are much better at handling surges than generators. Charging typically draws less power which means less noise. I recommend you be on a 24v or higher system due to the huge amp draw at 12v which can heat things up over time.
