Dreiha Atmos 4.4 Home Install

[Steve Morris]

5 hours ago, jd1923 said:

Very quiet, very efficient and runs at 10A on 120VAC compared to 16A or greater for Penguin and Truma,

You keep repeating this, but I have no idea where you're getting this information. I don't watch my Amp draw constantly, but every time I have looked, the whole trailer has never shown more than 8-10 Amps, and that includes anything else that is running. I don't have a 30A receptacle at home, and need to run my trailer on a 20A circuit breaker though a 50 foot 10 gauge extension cord. So I typically set the grid draw on the Xantrax to 12A when at home, and have had zero problems.

Truma's rated load on the compressor is 8.8A, and the fan at 2.9A, so that maximum is should ever pull is 11.7

[jd1923]

20 minutes ago, Steve Morris said:

You keep repeating this, but I have no idea where you're getting this information.

I'm sorry Steve, maybe I'm wrong re Truma, but remember somebody writing a 15A number on this forum. It's hard to say with your setup plugged in. How many amps are being supplied by shore power and is it being supplemented by your Xantrex? Have you ever run it inverter/LiFePO4 only and measured amps from start-up to cool on a hot day?

Just looked and Truma advertises 12A on high with an asterisk which states 95F external temp and 80F thermostat setting. This likely means 12A to maintain 80F with fan high. It's not like turning the air on one afternoon when it's 98F outside, 92F inside and you want to get it down to 76F. How many amps when full on compressor, high fan in harsh conditions? I did this test on our Dometic P2 and at started at 15A, then 16A and closer to 17A an hour later when the unit got hot from working hard.

Truma is not a viable option for me and many owners who want to replace the Dometic Penguin II. They do not sell to the aftermarket, so given OEM installation, time and travel expenses puts total costs far out of reach for me and many others.

[Geronimo John]

On 3/4/2025 at 2:03 PM, jd1923 said:

I did this test on our Dometic P2 and at started at 15A, then 16A and closer to 17A an hour later when the unit got hot from working hard.

Interesting distinction with regard to the Truma A/C.  I am used to seeing a MFG posting a maximum current and sometimes a circuit breaker recommendation.  But not a amp rating that is qualified at just one set of interior/exterior run temperatures.  I can understand from a liability basis why they would do so.  But it really makes their info a lot less reliable for our real world operating conditions.  

[Geronimo John]

On 3/4/2025 at 12:53 PM, Steve Morris said:

need to run my trailer on a 20A circuit breaker though a 50 foot 10 gauge extension cord. So I typically set the grid draw on the Xantrax to 12A when at home, and have had zero problems.

Truma's rated load on the compressor is 8.8A, and the fan at 2.9A, so that maximum is should ever pull is 11.7

Steve:  So I better understand: 

Does your Xantrax 12A limit apply to the shore power into your trailer?  If so, why do you choose not to use a setting of or approaching 16 amps that a 20 amp circuit is rated to carry continuously??

Thanks

GJ  

   

[Steve Morris]

9 hours ago, Geronimo John said:

Does your Xantrax 12A limit apply to the shore power into your trailer?  If so, why do you choose not to use a setting of or approaching 16 amps that a 20 amp circuit is rated to carry continuously??

   

My house, built in 1976 with apparently no building codes observed, is severely under-powered and under-wired. It is an all-electric home with a heat pump for heating/cooling, and only has 150A service. The entire garage is on one 20A breaker, with two wall outlets, one ceiling outlet, and two ceiling light sockets (one of which has a screw-in outlet for four LED shop lamps.)

There are way too many continuous and/or intermittent loads on that one 20A breaker: the aforementioned LED shop lights, garage door opener, 40 year old chest freezer, dorm fridge, stationary air compressor, 3-4 Battery Tender Juniors, the Oliver, an extension cord to my truck to run the fridge/freezer at home, a buried extension cord to an outdoor weather station and security camera, occasional woodworking tools, two Makita 2-slot battery chargers, a Bose Wave radio w/Raspberry Pi attached, cable TV signal booster, and probably more that I'm forgetting.

So, I keep the Xantrax set low to limit how much it draws from the house. The only loads are the fridge, battery charger, parasitic loads, and occasionally the AC. The vast majority of the time the trailer isn't plugged in to the house at all. The batteries can handle any typical loads, and even AC if I'm not using it continuously.

Edited yesterday at 04:41 AM by Steve Morris

[jd1923]

6 hours ago, Steve Morris said:

The entire garage is on one 20A breaker, with two wall outlets…

Steve, you should add an electrical sub-panel for your garage. You can replace the 20A double breaker with a 60A. Run 8 AWG wire from there to an inexpensive 60A panel. Buy a panel kit that includes some 15A or 20A breakers.

Try to separate the wiring to freezer, etc. to separate breakers in the new panel wherever possible. You could add a 30A breaker and a 30A RV outlet on an outer garage wall. You have 150A service, so this is possible for about $200 at the Depot.

I’ve added sub-panels for 2 outbuildings, our spa, and one in the kitchen so that we can have the fridge, microwave and air-fryer all on separate 20A breakers.

You can bring your home out of the 70s. Ours was built in 1980, but I learned in the 90s, on my first project, a 1943 farmhouse with a pole barn that needed power. One new sub-panel is a good weekend project after some good planning. Best wishes, JD

[Geronimo John]

Steve:

In a former home in Houston, I had only a 100 amp service.  My home electrical panel only had 12 beakers, but was not terribly old, just too small.  Same situation as yours in the garage.  We needed more breakers and a larger service to the house.

I  removed the small panel and installed a MUCH larger 42 breaker space panel, kept the main as 100 amps.

Moved the old panel to the garage and ran wires to it for a 100 amps garage sub service.

Called the power company and complained that every time I struck an arc on my Lincoln welder the lights dimmed in the house, our clocks needed to be reset, and the A/C system would shut off.  They sent out a service tech and he determined we needed a 200 amp service.  They wanting to sell more power cheerfully installed new overhead at no cost.

I then proceeded with construction of a 900 SF addition and a bunch of new wiring throughout the house.

GJ

[John Dorrer]

14 hours ago, jd1923 said:

Steve, you should add an electrical sub-panel for your garage. You can replace the 20A double breaker with a 60A. Run 8 AWG wire from there to an inexpensive 60A panel. Buy a panel kit that includes some 15A or 20A breakers.

Try to separate the wiring to freezer, etc. to separate breakers in the new panel wherever possible. You could add a 30A breaker and a 30A RV outlet on an outer garage wall. You have 150A service, so this is possible for about $200 at the Depot.

I’ve added sub-panels for 2 outbuildings, our spa, and one in the kitchen so that we can have the fridge, microwave and air-fryer all on separate 20A breakers.

You can bring your home out of the 70s. Ours was built in 1980, but I learned in the 90s, on my first project, a 1943 farmhouse with a pole barn that needed power. One new sub-panel is a good weekend project after some good planning. Best wishes, JD

About 8 years ago I had an electrician add a 30amp box next to the fuse/breaker panel, and wire a dedicated switch on the panel box. Kinda like plugging into the shore power post and flipping the breaker

 He also added 2 twin 120 plugs, each pair with a breaker in the box. Been very handy.

[Ronbrink]

On 3/9/2025 at 12:35 AM, jd1923 said:

Steve, you should add an electrical sub-panel for your garage.

That’s what I did, self installed a 30A for the Oliver and 50A for my Son’s RV when he visited.