12v DC Air Conditioning Conversion Progress
Well, I'm knee deep into my Spring camper project. I posted about this earlier about all of the work I plan on doing but this update is specifically to the AC conversion. As a recap for those that di...
Forum Discussion
So how are you planning to power it?
50amp is 600w. Even at noon with no losses, you are pulling 200w off the battery bank.
100amp-hr is 1200w-hr. Most of the day, solar will put out a fraction of the rating. In ideal condition you might get 3hr if you start with a full battery bank.
Well, there are a couple of factors at play here. Right now I have 200w of power but I'll be adding another 200w and maybe 500w to 600w depending on what the roof looks like when I remove the AC unit. Expanding the battery bank to 200AH or even 400AH isn't out of the question either.
Another factor to consider is the duty cycle of the AC unit. It isn't always running the compressor when the AC is running. Once the camper is cooled down it may only run 50% or less of the time. That differential is what will extend the useful run time with a small battery and solar capacity.
When at the RV park or campground with hookups, we are going to install a120v AC to 12v DC 100amp converter that will power everything. I am also considering a Honda 1000 for those times when we need more power and can't get hookups or the AC / Battery aren't enough.
We live on the West Coast and most of the camping we do is in mostly moderate temperatures. Most of the times we need the AC is if we are stopping for lunch while we drive and that is usually about 30 minutes or so. We haven't traveled parts of the country where full time AC is required and most likely if we do travel to those parts, we will be traveling in something else.
