Aircon for habitation

[Mr porky]

We have just added lithium battery's to our motorhome as our gel battery's died.
Does aircon added to the roof only work whilst on hookup or can you do a bit of aircon whilst freedom camping.
Thoughts please.

 

[Langtoftlad]

I was watching one of these YouTube vloggers review of an Anker power pack - effectively 100Ah which he mentioned powered his caravan aircon for a couple of hours.

So the answer to your question is yes you can have aircon offgrid but for how long will depend on your onboard battery bank and how effectively you can replenish it.

 

[Figaro]

I'd doubt it's a realistic prospect unless you have an exceptionally large solar array / battery bank and spend your time in southern Spain.

 

[Guigsy]

With a lot of pv and a lot of lithium to back it up, aircon is just about viable off grid. But your van has to look like a rolling solar farm.

 

[Jake Royd]

Consider fitting a Maxxair fan instead. Works off 12v.
I have found it much better than my previous 240v Dometic Aircon.

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[Guigsy]

Consider fitting a Maxxair fan instead. Works off 12v.
I have found it much better than my previous 240v Dometic Aircon.

I fitted a MaxxAir last summer. Along with sensible things like closing the blinds when the sun's on them, the van stayed comfortable during the August heatwave.

 

[EuroTrotters]

You would be looking at a Generator

 

[Reallyretired]

Another vote for Maxxair. Kept us cool at night in Spain. Set to air out during the day to evacuate the hot air at roof level, and air in at night when the outside air is cooler. Also at low speeds they are almost silent unlike some aircons.

 

[dpsuk999]

Mr porky If I’m correct in thinking the question you’re asking is whether you can run your air con from your lithiums on the current way your Morelo is wired up? The quick answer is probably no because of the way Morelo do the wiring but it’s a simple change to make in your 230v distribution box. If you need further info let me know

 

[Lenny HB]

I think Martin funflair does it.

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[dpsuk999]

And me

 

[daveclare]

To give you an idea of AC consumption. We have a Truma Aventa running through a renogy 3000w inverter. We have a 230ah roamer, whilst waiting for delivery of another soon. We're in the south of France and had it on for four hours (battery only) for the dog, whilst we went to pick up our son from the airport. It took 180 amps in that time, whilst on low.

Battery back to normal a while later, thanks to 500w of solar.

 

[funflair]

I think Martin funflair does it.

Indeed he does but a bit late to the party as dpsuk999 says it partly depends how your van is wired Gareth Mr porky but again it is easy enough to change, when we ordered we specified that the air con was to run off the batteries but again we just specced the Freshjet 2200 but long story cut short it didn't work but nothing to do with the batteries so we now have the latest Freshjet 3000 variable speed inverter drive unit, we had 320ah when we ordered but now have 640ah so there is no problem at all running it and a few hours might only take 10% or 15% from the batteries, this trip the evenings have been cooler so not used it but when it is really hot on the road it is nice to run it alongside the cab air.

What air con unit do you have and what battery capacity now?

 

[funflair]

You would be looking at a Generator

Not with a decent lithium and solar package

 

[herald_400rl]

How loud are those Maxxairs? Our van is older and we have some form of fan in the roof and it moves a hell of a lot of air... but at the cost of noise.

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[Guigsy]

How loud are those Maxxairs? Our van is older and we have some form of fan in the roof and it moves a hell of a lot of air... but at the cost of noise.

Ours is above our overcab bed, so very close to us. At 10%, it's a whisper. We had it on 20% most nights in the summer. In the day, you start to hear it at 30%. It's shifting a good volume at full chat.

 

[herald_400rl]

Ours is above our overcab bed, so very close to us. At 10%, it's a whisper. We had it on 20% most nights in the summer. In the day, you start to hear it at 30%. It's shifting a good volume at full chat.

We use a fan in our house bedroom in the summer, is it comparable to that say 2-3m away on the first setting?
I'm more concerned about being away in heat than in the cold as the heating is tremendous.

 

[Ridgeway]

You mean to say that you don’t have a punkhawalla

 

[Jev88]

Advert in CMC magazine for new 12V Aircon system. I don't have any more details

 

[Guigsy]

We use a fan in our house bedroom in the summer, is it comparable to that say 2-3m away on the first setting?
I'm more concerned about being away in heat than in the cold as the heating is tremendous.

We ran ours all the time on extract. With the larger skylight further down the van open as the fresh air inlet. So the air wasn't even blowing directly on us, just being pulled gently over us. So very low disturbance.

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[funflair]

Advert in CMC magazine for new 12V Aircon system. I don't have any more details

I guess it will need some pretty hefty cables to run it

 

[BillandHelen]

We have a slightly more modest arrangement than others, 200amp of lithium, a 2000w inverter and we run our freshlight 2200 no problem at all for an hour or so before bedtime to cool the bedroom down.

 

[Jev88]

12V air con.
I have no experience of them or their power consumption.

https://www.roadpro.co.uk/catalogue/01l-12v-24v-air-conditioning-systems

 

[Guigsy]

12V air con.
I have no experience of them or their power consumption.

https://www.roadpro.co.uk/catalogue/01l-12v-24v-air-conditioning-systems

The technicals says 1kW, 80amps. It's going to be roughly the same efficiency as a mains powered one as it's using the same technology. So you're still going to need a massive battery and a barn door of solar panels.

 

[daveclare]

Truma themselves say that it draws 4amps when cooling. I can honestly say I've never seen it less than 45amps when at it's lowest. I'm hopeful that one day it might show 4 on the shunt.

But realistically I've added it to number three in my motorhoming hard facts:

1. Dealers lie about payload.

2. All motorhomes break, no matter how much you pay for them.

3.Truma lie about 'real life' current draw.

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[Mr porky]

So if we got aircon it's only going to give us a bit of chilling time unless we are on hook up. Bummer.

 

[funflair]

Truma themselves say that it draws 4amps when cooling. I can honestly say I've never seen it less than 45amps when at it's lowest. I'm hopeful that one day it might show 4 on the shunt.

But realistically I've added it to number three in my motorhoming hard facts:

1. Dealers lie about payload.

2. All motorhomes break, no matter how much you pay for them.

3.Truma lie about 'real life' current draw.

Are you not mixing amps at 12v and amps at 240v ? Truma’s 4 amps would be 80 at 12v on full wack.

 

[funflair]

So if we got aircon it's only going to give us a bit of chilling time unless we are on hook up. Bummer.

What batteries did you go for? I know SuperB but capacity and what solar?

 

[Mr porky]

Without looking at interior/exterior of the vehicle we couldn’t guarantee it would fit space wise, the battery would happily cope with the air con through an inverter as can output 300amp continuous and 900amp burst which would be fine for when the compressor cycles in and out but obviously only until it ran out of power. The 1700w a/c would draw 146.09 amps per hour and if you allow for the compressor cycling on and off might get you about 4 hours ish but this doesn’t take in to account other power draws in the van or solar input etc . Main issue is the inverter, truma’s smallest a/c unit is 1700w rated and your inverter if I remember rightly is 1800w so right on the verge of powerful enough, enough so I couldn’t guarantee it would run the a/c unit

 

[Mr porky]

From my dealer