Anyone with 12v Air Conditioning Experience?
Having spent the better part of a week in a hot, dry and smokey campground that doesn't allow generators to run (I posted previously about this issue in another thread) it got me to thinking about som...
Forum Discussion
S Davis wrote:adamis wrote:
To add to the discussion, I found this chart that gives an estimate of the BTUs needed to cool a particular square footage. Looks like ~5000 BTUs is enough to cool 150 square feet which is about what a truck camper is I think.
The Dometic Coolair 1000RTX provides 4,094 BTUs so I think it would be a bit undersized for the job. The RTX 2000 however looks like a better contender with 6,824 BTUs of cooling capacity. I know in my original post a mentioned the RTX 3000 but in light of this information, it seems overkill. I also didn't realize there was an RTX 2000 until someone mentioned it earlier in this thread.
Be careful using a residential heat calc to gauge what you need, I just took 10 min and did a heat loss calc with the lowest R-value in my heat loss program which is R-11, also this does not account for any air leakage through storage compartments or other penetrations in the exterior.
This is figured with the cab over facing north, no shade on south wall. Single pane windows with blinds.
8'X10' area(80 square feet)
R-11 walls, ceiling, floor.
20sqft windows.
15sqft door
8sqft dual plastic skylight.
98 degree outdoor
74 degree indoor
Heat loss:4265btu
Heat Gain:3932btu
I would bet actuals are at least 30%-50% higher depending on the insulation and air leakage of your camper. Also if the larger wall was facing south it would increase the heat gain.
Aye for RVs, you'll need to use R4 for the insulation in almost all the mass produced units (Standard rating of Polystyrene insulation at 1 1/2" thick), as few to none use Polyisocynaurate insulation.
