Cheapest route to cool air ? (1 Viewer)

[Neil n Pat]

Hi....
I have been looking into all the options for a small aircon unit after enduring a few sleepless nights down here on the Costa Del Sol during summer.
Looking at the prices circa. £1500 upwards I starting looking at alternative options.
We do a lot of wild camping so 240volt is not readily available for the power requirements of even the smallest portable units. e.g 2.5Kw
I then started looking at those evaporator units which is a pseudo aircon where you fill a container with water or ice cubes. You get can get 12 volt versions from the US of A. Even the largest units only draw 100 watt at 240 volt. My line of thinking was to run one of these off a true sine wave inverter due to the inductive load for the fan motor connected to a 100Ah battery. The air cooler (aircon) costs around 135 to 165 UKP with the true sine wave inverter coming in at circa 200 UKP. Some of the specs quote very tongue in cheek at 30% reduction in temperature with a room 9 sq,M.
Any thoughts or experience ?
atb Neil

 

[pappajohn]

100watts via an inverter will draw 8.3amps per hour so the best you could expect from a 100ah battery would be around 6hrs continuous running.

inverters are around 90% efficient, 100% in, 90% usable power out, 10% wasted energy as heat. so it would be closer to 4.5hrs running.

you should never discharge a battery below 50% capacity or it may be damaged

 

[BwB]

Best if you have very low humidity so don't work great in the UK but might be ok if you have less than 50% where you are going to use it. There were some kits available for truckers and there were lots fitted but are being replaced with something which works. In best case internal air temp only drops 5c from ambient.

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[Reallyretired]

We've had some pretty hot nights (the weather I mean) and have always kept pretty cool with a thermostatically operated fan in the roof vent over the bed. Bought from Johns Cross and one of the most useful bits I've ever bought. Uses 0.3A-3A dependent on speed, we found near to lowest is best and is quiet, whereas top speed is too noisy if you want to sleep.

http://www.johnscross.co.uk/products/fiamma-turbo-vent-with-polar-control.html

 

[Spacerunner]

I second the roof fan.

Our moho came with a Fiamma turbo vent factory fitted over the bed.
Its reversible and doubles as an extractor fan when cooking. Its variable speed and at reasonable revs is fairly quiet.
In really hot weather just peel back the bedclothes and let the fan keep you comfortably cool.
I'm not a great fan (no pun intended!) of air conditioning as it prevents you from acclimatising to current conditions.

 

[slobadoberbob]

Fantastic Vent

Look at Fantastic Vent .. it is on a lot of American motor homes and fits in to the normal size roof vent... I know a few UK dealers sell them.

They are 12v and drawn air from outside via an open window through and up and out.. two speed motor.. very quite and boy do they work... only about £150 isn if I remember.

We often use it in the day time instead of the aircon.. they say to open a window on the side where the vehicle has shade to get the best results.

Bob

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[Neil n Pat]

Re cheapest route to cool air

Thanks for all the feedback.....the main problem down here during the summer the ambient temperature can get to 37 in the shade which doesn't diminish much during the evening. It really isn't to do with becoming climatised having lived here since 2006. You just cannot sleep in the lower thirties. I have tried fans... the only problem is you are just circulating hot air. The motorhome becomes almost unbreathable during the night even with all the windows open. Walking the paseo maritimo in San Pedro at three in the morning makes one focus on this issue
Taking onboard all the suggestions whilst also noting the cost of an installed dedicated aircon at 1.5k plus plus how about this idea.
What is the smallest portable aircon you can buy ? how many cube can it cool and what power requirement. If I can find one that can run off 1.5Kw I would investigate getting a Honda (silent'ish) 2Kw generator. Going this way I can kill two birds with one stone... have a cool motorhome and the benefit of the generator for other uses.

atb Neil

 

[slobadoberbob]

we have a 4 kw

Thanks for all the feedback.....the main problem down here during the summer the ambient temperature can get to 37 in the shade which doesn't diminish much during the evening. It really isn't to do with becoming climatised having lived here since 2006. You just cannot sleep in the lower thirties. I have tried fans... the only problem is you are just circulating hot air. The motorhome becomes almost unbreathable during the night even with all the windows open. Walking the paseo maritimo in San Pedro at three in the morning makes one focus on this issue
Taking onboard all the suggestions whilst also noting the cost of an installed dedicated aircon at 1.5k plus plus how about this idea.
What is the smallest portable aircon you can buy ? how many cube can it cool and what power requirement. If I can find one that can run off 1.5Kw I would investigate getting a Honda (silent'ish) 2Kw generator. Going this way I can kill two birds with one stone... have a cool motorhome and the benefit of the generator for other uses.

atb Neil

On the RV they fit a 4 kw generator to power the aircon... it needs around 2 kw for running and a bit more at start up.

I have a free floor standing one at home and they and noisy plus to get an air con to work you need to have everything closed up.. i.e no vents or windows open. The air con works on the windbag just fine, but the fantastic vent drags air trough.. but if you have that heat then I doubt it would be much use. We have used it in the South of France but it was about 30 degree there.

Bob

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

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