Small A/C Unit (5000 BTU) For Campers and Vans

[roverlife]

After loads of research to find the lightest, smallest, and most efficient small AC and generator combo, here's what I found... thought I'd share my experience and install video for others. Been running this combo with great success for months.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Duua4EVesos

This combo of a 900W Yamaha inverter generator and the Fridgidaire 5000 BTU (350W) wall unit will get you 9 hours of cooling for only 0.6 gallons of gas. I doubt any kickstarter unit will be beating that anytime soon. I even worked with a Chinese rooftop AC company to get a 5000 BTU unit designed and manufactured, and for $700/unit they still were at a 500W draw. I'll stick with a tried and tested $120 wall unit... both are on sale on amazon right now too... can't beat this combo!

Frigidaire 5000BTU A/C Unit ON SALE @ $119:
http://amzn.to/2Aln0kp

Yamaha 1000W Inverter Generator ON SALE @ $790:
http://amzn.to/2y5ka1s

[roverlife]

jjrbus wrote:

roverlife wrote:
One other option I also looking into (just an added FYI) is gutting a standard 13500BTU roof unit and replacing the internals with a compressor from a 5000BTU unit so I can keep running my little generator for my small camper. A very trusted AC tech told me that was very possible.... but I stuck with a wall unit simply because I didn't have time, tools, and parts on my side once I crossed the mexican border heading south!

After doing my due dilligence and deciding that the 11k roof air was too big and noisy and that an 8K duct taped and bailing wired to my rig was adequate. I searched the web and found an article on converting a roof AC carcass to window ac!

I obtained a non working roof air and went at it. I did not have enough resources to pull it off and ran out of time. Access to a sheet metal brake and another brand of Window AC and I might have pulled it off!

Won't let me post link? https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/21943313/print/true.cfm

Dig it! Thanks for the share.

[jjrbus]

roverlife wrote:
One other option I also looking into (just an added FYI) is gutting a standard 13500BTU roof unit and replacing the internals with a compressor from a 5000BTU unit so I can keep running my little generator for my small camper. A very trusted AC tech told me that was very possible.... but I stuck with a wall unit simply because I didn't have time, tools, and parts on my side once I crossed the mexican border heading south!

After doing my due dilligence and deciding that the 11k roof air was too big and noisy and that an 8K duct taped and bailing wired to my rig was adequate. I searched the web and found an article on converting a roof AC carcass to window ac!

I obtained a non working roof air and went at it. I did not have enough resources to pull it off and ran out of time. Access to a sheet metal brake and another brand of Window AC and I might have pulled it off!

Won't let me post link? https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/21943313/print/true.cfm

[roverlife]

One other option I also looking into (just an added FYI) is gutting a standard 13500BTU roof unit and replacing the internals with a compressor from a 5000BTU unit so I can keep running my little generator for my small camper. A very trusted AC tech told me that was very possible.... but I stuck with a wall unit simply because I didn't have time, tools, and parts on my side once I crossed the mexican border heading south!

[jjrbus]

LenSatic wrote:

profdant139 wrote:
Link --this is worth watching

Thanks for creating that video -- this is very significant for those of us with smaller generators. Mine is a Honda 2000 and it will not run my existing A/C (which is way too big for my trailer). Well done!

I don't get that. Our Honda 2000ci runs our A/C just fine and I doubt that yours is larger. Is your water heater switch on AC? Ours was and we couldn't run the air conditioner until the water was heated after about 20 minutes.

The will run, won't run Honda debate goes on forever. One man talked about his Honda 2000 running his roof air with no issues. Turns out he had an old no longer available 7200 BTU roof air. I have run a 13.5k AC with a Honda 2000! It will not run it dependably under all conditions and is going into brown out conditions on start up which is not good for the AC or the generator.

My 2000 will start and run my 11,000 btu roof air when the temperature is in the 70's to low 80's. Somewhere between there and in the 90's with high humidity it will not start the AC. Yes I have a hard start capacitor on it. I am also almost at sea level which makes a difference.

So will a Honda 2000 run a roof air, maybe and probably not dependably under all conditions.

I have a 8000 btu window unit which the mighty little Honda has run at high elevation and into the 90's with no issues. Generators are rated at sea level and loose about 3.5% efficiency per 1000 feet as elevation increases. So what works at an ocean beach on a 90° day may not work in the mountains on a 90° day.

Hope this helps

I should add a disclaimer here, I am not an electrician or electronics guy, this is my take on what I learned while trying to sort through all the misinformation on the net and only my opinion.

[profdant139]

No -- we don't have a kit -- I will look into it -- thanks!

[LenSatic]

profdant139 wrote:
LS, to answer your question, we tried to run the A/C with the generator and it did not work. And no, the water heater was not running at the time. Our A/C is much more powerful than we need.

Does yours have soft start kit installed?

Here's a discussion on one of the Casita forums: https://www.casitaforum.com/invboard/forums/topic/20777-air-conditioner-soft-start/

Post #13 has a good explanation of the workings.

BTW, I think that ours is 9000 BTU and came soft-start equipped from the factory.

[profdant139]

LS, to answer your question, we tried to run the A/C with the generator and it did not work. And no, the water heater was not running at the time. Our A/C is much more powerful than we need.

[westend]

roverlife wrote:

westend wrote:
Rover,
Is that 350W measured or a plate rating?

That's measured. And backed by one other buyer on Amazon who measured the same draw on his unit. As I mentioned, it's the lowest I was able to find in a month or two of scouring the internet and emailing manufacturers in china (I was planning on designing and building a small capacity roof unit, but I couldn't find anyone who could meet a reasonable power draw... some were quoting me 700W for 5000BTU! You may as well just buy a Coleman 10,000+BTU unit at that point cause you'll need a big generator anyways.)

Thank you, I am also looking for the smallest draw possible with A/C.

I see you removed the water heater to accomplish carrying the small generator. If you would like some hot water, you could make a storage container on the roof and the Sun will heat that water. Some folks use a black ABS pipe for this and there are off-the-shelf camping shower systems that are available. With a few gallons of hot water, you could at least enjoy a hot shower.

Good luck with your camper!

[NRALIFR]

roverlife wrote:
Can you let us know the details on this inverter? I've had a hell of a time finding an inverter that actually lives up to the claimed specs. That thing is a beast!

Sure. I’m giving this unit a try:

Novopal 1500 Inverter

It’s performance so far has been very impressive. I haven’t looked at the wave form with a scope yet, but everything I’ve plugged into it that has digital controls has operated perfectly. The microwave in the camper has knob controls (did that on purpose), but I’ve run another microwave we have with touch-pad controls on it just fine. I’ve also run a heating pad with digital controls on it.

The biggest load I’ve put on the inverter so far is about 1000 Watts for 15 minutes at a time and it performs flawlessly. The cooling fans turn on and off while under load. The inverter’s idle current draw is .5 Amp, which is better than expected and better than the Xantrex Prowatt 600 that it replaced.

The closest I could get it to the battery required about 8-9 ft of cable, so I’m using 0 awg welding cable.

The only issue I had with this unit is that the DC posts on the back weren’t adjusted long enough to get a cable terminal, washer and lock washer stack under the nut. I talked to their customer support and they gave me the ok to open the case and readjust them. Even sent me pictures how to do it.

:):)

[roverlife]

NRALIFR wrote:

I recently installed a new 1500 watt pure sine inverter, and now we can use the microwave without having to start the big generator first. The Yamaha is usually running in the evenings when we’re out dry-camping anyway. The inverter needs about 93 amps of DC to run the microwave. When the generator is running, about 50 amps is supplied by the TC battery, and the rest is supplied by the generator through the campers converter/charger.

I’ve even run the microwave or coffee maker a few times off of the single group 31 AGM battery for 10-15 minutes with no generator running. The inverter is also used to run the refrigerator while we’re driving, and a heavy-duty charge circuit from the truck keeps up with the draw from the inverter.

:):)

Can you let us know the details on this inverter? I've had a hell of a time finding an inverter that actually lives up to the claimed specs. That thing is a beast!

[NRALIFR]

Thanks for the tips. That Yamaha is a good little genny, I have one myself. Our TC also has a built-in Generac 3600 LP gen that we use occasionally, but the vast majority of the time all we need is the Yamaha. It’s quieter, and more fuel efficient by far. Also, I expect the Generac is going to break someday, and it won’t be cost effective to fix it.

Like you, I have put in considerable time/effort/$$$ in making changes to my camper so that the Yamaha will meet all of our needs. I had given up on ever having A/C with this generator, so it’s nice to know it could be done if necessary. Most of the time we don’t need A/C when we’re dry-camping though.

I just recently went through the same search for a microwave that the Yamaha could handle. I bought a GE unit that had the smallest wattage rating I could find (600), hoping that it’s running wattage would be under 900. It was, but just barely. The Yamaha could handle the microwave in Arkansas at about 350 ft elevation, but couldn’t do it when we got above 1000 ft or so.

I recently installed a new 1500 watt pure sine inverter, and now we can use the microwave without having to start the big generator first. The Yamaha is usually running in the evenings when we’re out dry-camping anyway. The inverter needs about 93 amps of DC to run the microwave. When the generator is running, about 50 amps is supplied by the TC battery, and the rest is supplied by the generator through the campers converter/charger.

I’ve even run the microwave or coffee maker a few times off of the single group 31 AGM battery for 10-15 minutes with no generator running. The inverter is also used to run the refrigerator while we’re driving, and a heavy-duty charge circuit from the truck keeps up with the draw from the inverter.

:):)

[LenSatic]

profdant139 wrote:
Link --this is worth watching

Thanks for creating that video -- this is very significant for those of us with smaller generators. Mine is a Honda 2000 and it will not run my existing A/C (which is way too big for my trailer). Well done!

I don't get that. Our Honda 2000ci runs our A/C just fine and I doubt that yours is larger. Is your water heater switch on AC? Ours was and we couldn't run the air conditioner until the water was heated after about 20 minutes.

[profdant139]

Link --this is worth watching

Thanks for creating that video -- this is very significant for those of us with smaller generators. Mine is a Honda 2000 and it will not run my existing A/C (which is way too big for my trailer). Well done!

[roverlife]

theoldwizard1 wrote:
The data I found says max draw is 450W.

This is impressively low.

Yes, that's what the literature says. I was very happy with 450W, but super happy with 350W measured. Hitting the 30-40% capacity of an inverter generator is ideal for efficiency, so it was sweet to be in that band knowing I was getting as much runtime as I could out of each tank.