Air Conditioning Without Shore Power - Battery Only A/C Opt

[yzubkov]

Would someone with more RV experience please tell me if I would be totally crazy trying to get air conditioning in the travel trailer without shore power. I have researched a little and found two products that offer DC voltage air conditioning, but I am not sure if Oliver's batteries will handle such a load especially at the initial A/C startup phase (1-10 minutes). I know that both of these products are useful for the truck/semi cabs without having to run the engine, so the idea of battery-only A/C operation is nothing new. Just wanted to get some opinions with regard to this issue. How feasible is this? Please share your experiences.

 

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Product: DC TopCool

Power Supply: 12V-DC

Power Use: 480W/40Ah and 81Ah startup draw for 10min

Cool BTU: 6000

EER BTU/W: 12.5

Dimentions: 41.4 x 29.1 x 10.4 inches

Weight: 126 Lb

Website: http://www.dcpowersales.com/ac-vehicles.htm

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Product: DC Airco 4400

Power Supply: 12V-DC

Power Use: 360W/30A peak - 25A continuous

Cool BTU: 4400

EER BTU/W: 12.2

Dimentions: 36.2 x 27.5 x 10.4 inches

Weight: 66 Lb

Website:

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[technomadia]

Air conditioning is WAY too power intensive to be practical off of batteries. Even with a huge battery bank, by the time the trailer started to cool down the batteries would be dead.

 

You really need a generator or shore power for air conditioning.

 

Or... You can use a small water mister, and spray into the airflow from the ceiling fan. We used a "Misty Mate" that would run for 15m or so per fillup with water. In dry climates, the water instantly evaporates and can dramatically cool things down.

 

Good luck staying cool,

 

- Chris // http://www.technomadia.com

[yzubkov]

After reading further the DCarco manual I found that they recommend having a 250Ah battery, given that maximum consumption rate is 25Ah on the 12V system. They also recommend having a 60A/12V alternator. Given this additional info, will this work in Oliver?

[tumbleweed]

Hi there!

Back in the 80's, I had a VW Camper made in Fort Bragg CA with a fiberglass hitop and a RecAir kooler. It was a 12v swamp(evaporative) and worked quite well. This was before "shore power" You carried xtra batteries and a charger!

They're back as turbokool at http://www.turbokool.com and may be the answer for you. The old model worked great in the desert but not so well in high humidity area. Hope the info helps, plse keep us posted!!

Chuck

[Oliver Travel Trailers1571927901]

Well I was very interested in this and went to the site. It can drop the temp 20-30 degrees in less than 75% outside humidity. In my neck of the woods we have high humidity but not sure what percent. Now for a question that I did not find an answer to from my brief visit to the site. What is the water cunsumption rate? Water is valuble commodity in dry camping.

 

Inquiring minds want to know.

[earthdancer]

Buffalo Bob, this info was on their website, these are the owners phone number, might wanna give them a call.........

a lot of inquiring minds want to know!

 

"Not having a background in manufacturing evaporative coolers, we believe in this product and we've had great fun putting it all together. If you have any questions we can help you with, please give us a call and we'll do what we can to help you. Stay Cool with TurboKOOL!!

 

Ben & Barbara Bachman

775-265-3003 "

[technomadia]

Yep - an evaporative "swamp cooler" is the only power efficient way to keep cool on battery power. Sadly, the efficiency drops rapidly in humid environments. But in the desert, this sort of AC can work great.

 

Our little hand-held Misty Mate works on the same principle, on a much smaller scale.