13,500 btu air conditioner - how to power?
we have access to a Winnebago 1995 Itasca Passage 23RC. this has a 'roof mounted' 13,500 BTU central cabin air conditioner. the Winnebago does NOT include the 'specially-designed-to-fit' OPTIONAL ga...
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With our onboard Onan generator there is an 30 amp outlet where we plug our shorepower cord so that the entire rig can have power. We often run the generator to power the AC unit while driving down the road.
I don't believe any of the portable generators ( you will need at least 3000 watts for AC usage) are deigned to run within a rig's prepped onboard generator space, somebody else with experience would have to chime in on whether a portable can be used on a rear mounted carriage while driving down the road to power the AC.
You would have to carry a heck of a lot of batteries to power 13.5K AC unit (via inverter) and it wouldn't do it for long anyway, plus as you mentioned, there would be the issue of recharging them and alternator will be hard pressed to do the job.
Hope you can figure out a way to get it done. As you stated, onboard generators are quite expensive although it may prove to be the only reliable choice if required to run your AC while driving down the road. If you don't need that specific requirement, a 3000 watt (or higher) or a couple of 2000 watt (paralleled) portable generators would do the job nicely once at the campsite.
I don't believe any of the portable generators ( you will need at least 3000 watts for AC usage) are deigned to run within a rig's prepped onboard generator space, somebody else with experience would have to chime in on whether a portable can be used on a rear mounted carriage while driving down the road to power the AC.
You would have to carry a heck of a lot of batteries to power 13.5K AC unit (via inverter) and it wouldn't do it for long anyway, plus as you mentioned, there would be the issue of recharging them and alternator will be hard pressed to do the job.
Hope you can figure out a way to get it done. As you stated, onboard generators are quite expensive although it may prove to be the only reliable choice if required to run your AC while driving down the road. If you don't need that specific requirement, a 3000 watt (or higher) or a couple of 2000 watt (paralleled) portable generators would do the job nicely once at the campsite.
