Hab aircon power drain

[Nick555]

I'm still specifying option for our new 6m PVC. I had excluded hab aircon, but with this weather, I'm starting to think about it. Even Scotland has been warm & problem in the summer is that it's difficult to keep windows open in the day due to the midges.

What sort of power drain does hab aircon have? I assume it uses hab batteries? Spec is 2x 160A lithiums, although I can upgrade that to 2x 200A.

 

[BillandHelen]

Hi Nick, we have a dometic freshlight fitted which runs off mains if connected or our 200amp of lithium when not through a 2000w inverter. Use it lots, abroad and home and wouldn’t be without it.

On battery it does use a chunky bit of amps though. On low/medium setting draw is 7/10 amps so not too bad, put it on full blast it toasting conditions it can cycle as high as 80amps. So you do need the means to replenish the power, we rely n our b2b.

I posted a recent thread, lithium and aircon, bliss ,where there are differing views!!

 

[Bessy765]

We have 700 watts of solar, Victron 12/2000/80 inverter charger and 2 x 100 amp Transporter Lithium batteries. Burstner Iexo 736 A class. If plenty of sun and set our Dometic Freshjet 2200 it will run for most of the day. The trick is I think is not to try and turn the van into a fridge. Given yours is a pvc you have a lot smaller area to cool. You will have more lithium than we have but being able to replace amps used is the answer.

 

[Nick555]

Hi Nick, we have a dometic freshlight fitted which runs off mains if connected or our 200amp of lithium when not through a 2000w inverter. Use it lots, abroad and home and wouldn’t be without it.

On battery it does use a chunky bit of amps though. On low/medium setting draw is 7/10 amps so not too bad, put it on full blast it toasting conditions it can cycle as high as 80amps. So you do need the means to replenish the power, we rely n our b2b.

I posted a recent thread, lithium and aircon, bliss ,where there are differing views!!

Thanks

I'm not too good with amps & watts. How long would a 10A draw last on your van please?

 

[BillandHelen]

So that would be 10amps off our 200amp total each hour it runs. We tend to have it on in the evening pre bedtime, so approx 3 hours (30amp) and switch it off overnight. Battery topped up by solar/b2b next day.
We don’t use our aircon all day, tend to be out and about or sitting in the shade! However, when it’s v hot nothing nicer than getting a cool blast of air when you need it!

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[Nick555]

We have 700 watts of solar, Victron 12/2000/80 inverter charger and 2 x 100 amp Transporter Lithium batteries. Burstner Iexo 736 A class. If plenty of sun and set our Dometic Freshjet 2200 it will run for most of the day. The trick is I think is not to try and turn the van into a fridge. Given yours is a pvc you have a lot smaller area to cool. You will have more lithium than we have but being able to replace amps used is the answer.

Thanks

We will have 2x 115W solars, but also an option to upgrade the Lithiums. There's a 3kVA inverter. I need enough in hand to charge my drone batteries which are capacity each 4280mAh, 22.8V, max charging power 180W. I have 8 of them & will need to charge at least 4 at once.

 

[Nick555]

So that would be 10amps off our 200amp total each hour it runs. We tend to have it on in the evening pre bedtime, so approx 3 hours (30amp) and switch it off overnight. Battery topped up by solar/b2b next day.
We don’t use our aircon all day, tend to be out and about or sitting in the shade! However, when it’s v hot nothing nicer than getting a cool blast of air when you need it!

Thanks, how often do you need the aircon, if you were just in Scotland?

 

[jezport]

Remember a PVC has a big sliding door and rear doors so is easily ventilated.
We didn't realise the benefit until we moved to one.

 

[Nick555]

Remember a PVC has a big sliding door and rear doors so is easily ventilated.
We didn't realise the benefit until we moved to one.

Indeed, but for longer trips than 1 day, we will be taking our pusscat.

 

[TerryL]

Alternative thought - I know that with lots of solar and expensive lithium batteries it's quite feasible to be able to operate an aircon unit, but for the amount of time you NEED it what is the weight penalty? Frankly I've always believed aircon without a mains hookup is pretty well useless and I speak from experience.
An aircon unit had been fitted when we bought our Bolero but due to our style of touring we had little opportunity to use it and I can count on my fingers the number of times we really needed it - and this includes our multiple visits to Morocco. So I had it replaced with a Maxxfan, a direct swap. This runs on the vans 12v system and over 2 years or so it's been used countless times, not only for cooling but as a very efficient extractor fan.
Okay, it's not a cooling unit per se, but as it's in the centre of the van by setting it to extract and opening selected windows we can get a nice cooling breeze. It has variable speeds, from an almost silent gentle breeze, ideal to leave running overnight as it uses little power, to a (noisy but no more than the aircon unit) 100% howling gale, which we find as good as the aircon ever was. You can leave it open in the rain and even drive with it operating if you need.
As another benefit I gained a bit of payload and also sold the AC for what I paid for the Maxxair unit!

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[Nick555]

Alternative thought - I know that with lots of solar and expensive lithium batteries it's quite feasible to be able to operate an aircon unit, but for the amount of time you NEED it what is the weight penalty? Frankly I've always believed aircon without a mains hookup is pretty well useless and I speak from experience.
An aircon unit had been fitted when we bought our Bolero but due to our style of touring we had little opportunity to use it and I can count on my fingers the number of times we really needed it - and this includes our multiple visits to Morocco. So I had it replaced with a Maxxfan, a direct swap. This runs on the vans 12v system and over 2 years or so it's been used countless times, not only for cooling but as a very efficient extractor fan.
Okay, it's not a cooling unit per se, but as it's in the centre of the van by setting it to extract and opening selected windows we can get a nice cooling breeze. It has variable speeds, from an almost silent gentle breeze, ideal to leave running overnight as it uses little power, to a (noisy but no more than the aircon unit) 100% howling gale, which we find as good as the aircon ever was. You can leave it open in the rain and even drive with it operating if you need.
As another benefit I gained a bit of payload and also sold the AC for what I paid for the Maxxair unit!

Thanks, I've already spec'd a Maxfan, just a bit concerned about midges in the summer getting through the fly screens.

 

[CazPaul]

Would it not be better to see how you get on with the maxxfan first then you could fit the air con at a later date, could they not prepare the wiring for the air in readiness then it will be an easy fit in future.

 

[Nick555]

Would it not be better to see how you get on with the maxxfan first then you could fit the air con at a later date, could they not prepare the wiring for the air in readiness then it will be an easy fit in future.

Very good idea, thanks!