AC question

Many people tie together a pair of 2000 watt portable Honda generators. This is two easy to carry 47 pound packages. Most 3000+ watt generators are more than 150 pounds!

The Honda 2000 is very quiet. Problem is that the 120 volt air conditioner will consume about 1,400 watts per hour, and most run them from 2 pm to 7 pm, or later. Each battery might hold as much as 1,000 watts, but really you should only deplete a battery by about 50% before recharging it. So it would take a minimum of 4 heavy golf cart batteries to power a inverter that can run the rooftop A/C unit. Then even 4 golf cart batteries will only hold about 4,000 watts, or enough for 3 hours of use.

To recharge the batteries, most people who camp a lot without hookups are now buying solar panels. I have a 400 watt system that cost me about $3,000 back in the 90's. Now I could replace that system for less than $800.

140 watt 12 volt solar panel from this place is about $229. SunElec.com

The biggest problem to running a rooftop A/C from a inverter is cost. To buy a 2,000 watt rated pure sine wave inverter, you might be spending $900 and a additional $300 in wiring and other things to install it. And you would need space on your roof for those 10 panels to keep up with the 1,400 watt load, and also some more for the in-efficiency of the inverter and batteries.

So much easier to charge the batteries with 1 or 2 solar panels, and run the A/C with either a 150 pound generator or pair of Honda's. Mayberrys.com has them, and has sold many to RV'ers who have 30 amp RV style plug in. They are also quiet, about 60 Db.

If you buy a typical generator from Home Depot, it might come with a 30 amp plug, likely twist lock, not the kind that you can plug in the RV directly to it. Also that Home Depot generator will be heavy and loud! More than 85 Db is typical!

Good luck!

Fred.

Hi,

items needed to do this:

a large battery bank
a 3000 watt hybrid inverter
a 2000 watt generator

If you need to use the air conditioner it is far cheaper to go to an inexpensive campground than to power it with the generator.

dedspace wrote:
Is it possible to use an ac unit with the 12v battery that comes with a trailer? If so why buy a big generator to run it? Could you not just run it with the dc current and the hook a smaller generator to the battery to keep it charged?

thank you in advance for enlightening my ignorance.

OK then. I guess I'll be getting a generator too then.

Thank you

RV A/C Units like the one at your house use AC Power to run. 120V AC for RV (240V for House).

They need a good steady AC power source above 104V to run properly (I don't like running mine below 108V).

A 3000W generator can provide enough AC power if the RV A/C Unit is 13.5btu or smaller unit.

12V DC power from battery (or converter when on AC power source) will power the lights, water heater/fridge on propane and furnace.

AC is probably the biggest energy hog in the RV - small generators and sometimes even house 115 have a tough time keeping RV generator running.

As far as I know all RV air conditioners are 120 vac. They require too much power to run off 12 volts.

No, continuous power requirement is too high.