portscanner wrote:
...did you block off the roof and wall vents to the outside? It looks like you did in the pictures.
Yes, I blocked off the roof vent... NO, I did not block the wall vent!
My existing wall vent is perfectly aligned with the Vitri's compressor and condenser (will post pics soon). In addition. There is a fan mounted directly to the condenser which maintains good airflow across it. I am in the process of making a partition in the cabinet which will ensure that only outside air is drawn in and that hot air is not simply recirculated. Of course if it is hot outside then, well... then it's hot, and the compressor is going to be running a lot. Anyway, with 320+ Watts of solar, I'm not worried in the least.
I don't see any benefit to me ducting heat from the compressor/condenser back into the TC (in cold weather), it's just not enough Watts/BTUs to make it worth the effort.
We have been in the Palm Springs / Palm Dessert area for the past few days and temps have been in the mid 80's. Fridge has stayed in the mid to upper 30's and freezer is in the low single digits. I've been burning about 50-55 A/h between sundown & sunrise, but that's
everything (lights, water pump, a few minutes of microwaving, phone & laptop charging, a little TV, etc). Batteries have been back to 100% by 1:00pm every day, even with some cloudy skies.
So far, so good!
-Mark
