Inverter suggestions please!

[RandaOnTheRoad]

Hi all!

I just want to start off by saying how awesome you all are. I recently got my van and without some of your advice I would have been so overwhelmed!

Sooo. I'm trying to get power hooked up in my van. I have absolutely no electrical knowledge, and my Google searches have helped a little, but it mostly still feels like a foreign language when I attempt to compare different units.

Do the inverters charge off of the car battery when it runs?
Do different inverters fare better with different air conditioning units?
I need something reliable! It doesn't have to be the cheapest thing out there.

Once again, you guys rock! [emoji1]

 

[rvpopeye]

An inverter uses battery power (DC) to make house type power (AC).

A converter uses house type power (AC) to make battery type power(DC).
(usually these will power the lights etc and have a small amount left to keep your battery charged. but some bigger ones can have better charging capabilities)

An inverter that will power an air conditioner will be a big one , 2500-3000 watt range for an RV type unit and a little smaller if powering an small home type conditioner.
AND will require a massive battery bank to power the inverter.

Ask more questions as needed............

 

[RandaOnTheRoad]

An inverter uses battery power (DC) to make house type power (AC).

A converter uses house type power (AC) to make battery type power(DC).
(usually these will power the lights etc and have a small amount left to keep your battery charged. but some bigger ones can have better charging capabilities)

An inverter that will power an air conditioner will be a big one , 2500-3000 watt range for an RV type unit and a little smaller if powering an small home type conditioner.
AND will require a massive battery bank to power the inverter.

Ask more questions as needed............

I've seen inverters online that come with batteries/charging unit. So the way it works is.. as the car is running, it charges the batteries, and then the inverter converts that energy to A/C? Is that right?
Do you have any suggestions or know of anywhere I can find an all inclusive package? Batteries, inverter, air conditioning unit, any extra accessories, etc

 

[TMG51]

Do the inverters charge off of the car battery when it runs?
Do different inverters fare better with different air conditioning units?
I need something reliable! It doesn't have to be the cheapest thing out there.

An inverter doesn't charge. The battery charges, and the inverter turns its DC power into AC power so that you can use your 120v home accessories.

How that battery is getting charged is a very important step in this process. An inverter should run off a house battery bank and not your car starter battery so that you're not ruining your starter battery.

Air conditioners and electric heaters are two very high draw items that people often mistakenly believe they can just plug into an inverter because it has the right shape hole in it. The short answer is that it's not really feasible to run an air conditioner off grid. If you have a lot of solar and a huge battery bank, it is possible, though expensive and somewhat impractical. Generally speaking, to run an air conditioner you would need to be either plugged into shore power or running a generator. While some will choose to do either of those two, most of us here just don't use air conditioning. Depends on the lifestyle you want with your van.

For reference, I've been full time in my van for about a year and I don't use an inverter at all. It's more efficient to step up 12v DC power to meet DC appliances (e.g., laptop) than it is to run an inverter and use 120v AC. This is always what I recommend to people.

Ideally, to design an electrical system, you would figure out what your usage would be (the electrical accessories you can't live without and how much they draw), multiply that amount by 2 to come up with an amp hour rating of your battery bank (x2 because you should not deplete your battery bank beyond 50%), and then figure out how much solar/alternator/recharging you are going to need to keep that battery bank happy.

 

[29chico]

1) Inverters need to draw power from a battery(s) to function.  It would be possible to connect a large high power inverter to the vehicle's electrical system so that it produced standard wall plug power but I have never seen it done on the size vehicle that you are talking about. Also doing so would probably severely shorten the lifespan of the alternator in the vehicle.   A house battery bank that is charged by the vehicle's electrical system while driving, solar and shore power (plugged in at an RV park for example) is how most inverters are powered

2) Yes, you will need a large and expensive inverter to properly power an A/C.  How large and expensive would be determined by the A/C in question.  You will also need a very large, heavy and expensive battery bank to power an inverter that has adequate power output to power an A/C unit for a fraction of the length of time that most folks think of when they think of running an A/C. 

3) In my opinion inverters by Magnum Energy are very good.  Just recently bought one.  The fine folks at Arizona Wind & Sun made me a great price match deal on it.

To sum things up, running an A/C unit on an inverter is not very practical for most mobile applications.  A 12v inverter will pull around 11-12 amps from a battery bank to make 1 amp of 120v alternating current household power.

 

[RandaOnTheRoad]

An inverter doesn't charge. The battery charges, and the inverter turns its DC power into AC power so that you can use your 120v home accessories.

How that battery is getting charged is a very important step in this process. An inverter should run off a house battery bank and not your car starter battery so that you're not ruining your starter battery.

Air conditioners and electric heaters are two very high draw items that people often mistakenly believe they can just plug into an inverter because it has the right shape hole in it. The short answer is that it's not really feasible to run an air conditioner off grid. If you have a lot of solar and a huge battery bank, it is possible, though expensive and somewhat impractical. Generally speaking, to run an air conditioner you would need to be either plugged into shore power or running a generator. While some will choose to do either of those two, most of us here just don't use air conditioning. Depends on the lifestyle you want with your van.

For reference, I've been full time in my van for about a year and I don't use an inverter at all. It's more efficient to step up 12v DC power to meet DC appliances (e.g., laptop) than it is to run an inverter and use 120v AC. This is always what I recommend to people.

Ideally, to design an electrical system, you would figure out what your usage would be (the electrical accessories you can't live without and how much they draw), multiply that amount by 2 to come up with an amp hour rating of your battery bank (x2 because you should not deplete your battery bank beyond 50%), and then figure out how much solar/alternator/recharging you are going to need to keep that battery bank happy.

The difficulty is my worrying about my dog in the vehicle. I can't not have some kind of system in place. Not that I'll use it consistently, but I most definately need it, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't want the electricity for vain purposes such as a blow dryer, although I'm pretty sure they make low wattage versions.

It may be expensive, but I have a full time job and I'm preparing as best I can for off the grid living while still keeping certain comforts from home available. I just need to know what to buy.

 

[SternWake]

If you are planning on parking, and running an AC unit off battery power, you are misguided, as the bank of batteries would need to be huge and a very powerful charger and or lot of solar would be required to recharge such a huge bank of batteries.


If you are planning on running a window shaker while driving, as the Air Conditioner in the Van is not operational, this presents another continuous 50+ amp load to the alternator, which could easily overheat it and fry it, or at a minimum reduce its service life dramatically.

AirConditioning simply draws huge amounts of power. Very few, have enough solar or battery power to run one for any extended period.  If you want to run an electric  AC unit, you will need a generator or be able to plug into the grid.

If you really want to try to power one on battery power, JiminDenver, a member here, can do so, but he has something like 750 watts of solar and 750AH od AGM battery capacity, and I don;t think he would try to power one overnight, only when the sun shines.

Most van dwellers carry around 200Ah of battery capacity and 200 watts of solar.

Likewise, heating the interior by battery power is a no go as well.

 

[jimindenver]

We run the smallest window air conditioner I could find off of solar and battery. The system is reall too big for a van as it is three huge panels and three 160 pound batteries.

For a inverter I use a industrial model made to handle the stress of starting the air conditioner. The Tripp-lite 1250fc runs around $200 and runs everything we have.

So it can be done but the cost is roughly $5000 to do it and a lot of space and weight just to run a small air conditioner.

 

[Gigi]

Maybe you might want to start a new thread asking how people keep their pets cool in their vans.  Many people here have animals and are able to keep animals in a 70ish degree environment while parked.  That might be a more realistic answer to keeping your animal cool instead of going with AC.  

Gigi  :heart:

 

[RandaOnTheRoad]

We run the smallest window air conditioner I could find off of solar and battery. The system is reall too big for a van as it is three huge panels and three 160 pound batteries.

For a inverter I use a industrial model made to handle the stress of starting the air conditioner. The Tripp-lite 1250fc runs around $200 and runs everything we have.

So it can be done but the cost is roughly $5000 to do it and a lot of space and weight just to run a small air conditioner.

Sigh! That's rough

 

[RandaOnTheRoad]

Maybe you might want to start a new thread asking how people keep their pets cool in their vans.  Many people here have animals and are able to keep animals in a 70ish degree environment while parked.  That might be a more realistic answer to keeping your animal cool instead of going with AC.  

Gigi [emoji813]

Seems better for sure! Thank you

 

[ccbreder]

For the average poor van dweller, air conditioning is only an option while plugged into the grid or using a generator. Shading and exhaust fans for ventilation is a better option. One can build a battery bank of sufficient size, but not practical in a small camper or van. There is always the problem of recharging the energy used from the bank.

 

[Raven+Squid]

This may work for you.

White roof on van? If not then paint white.

Park in the shade knowing that it shifts over time.

Get a fantastic fan vent (you'll need an auxiliary battery setup for DC power) and window rain visors (to keep windows safely cracked)--this setup will move air through the van.

Buy a roll of reflecitx and cut sunshades for your windows (and always use them).

These things will buy you 20 degrees easy and much cheaper. You can add solar easily at first or later if you want.


Beware busybodies calling animal control anyway.

Good luck
Squid

 

[Raven+Squid]

Maybe add ice to the dogs bowl of water too.

 

[RandaOnTheRoad]

Update: I found this handy little thing! Should work well with a generator/inverter

http://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/arctic-air-portable-air-conditioner-52-qt-single-fan-12-volt.html

 

[TMG51]

Update: I found this handy little thing! Should work well with a generator/inverter

http://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/arctic-air-portable-air-conditioner-52-qt-single-fan-12-volt.html

You actually don't need either a generator or an inverter to run that, as it is 12v (just a fan and a pump). It should also be noted that this thing they're selling isn't the same as any air conditioner you might be accustomed to, that runs with refrigerant inside. This uses ice that you supply. It's a variation of something typically called a "swamp cooler," although in this design using a coil/heater core it is an upgrade to the normal swamp cooler in that it shouldn't add humidity. Some people here have made their own using a cooler, fan, pump, and heater core, for a low cost, instead of paying $500+ for one that somebody else built (that's all you're buying at that link, somebody else put one together).

See Off Grid's diagram of one here:
https://vanlivingforum.com/Thread-12-volt-AC?pid=141867#pid141867

 

[Matlock]

Update: I found this handy little thing! Should work well with a generator/inverter

http://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/arctic-air-portable-air-conditioner-52-qt-single-fan-12-volt.html

That's a swamp cooler. Fill it with ice, zip it closed and plug into a ciggy plug to blow air over the ice.... The add says it cools for 3 hours on low setting and does not add to the humidity..... Hummm
Anyway, for that price I'd keep looking. You can build one on your kitchen table for under $75.00

Just my 2¢

 

[VJG1977]

Update: I found this handy little thing! Should work well with a generator/inverter

http://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/arctic-air-portable-air-conditioner-52-qt-single-fan-12-volt.html

This runs on 12 volts.  No generator of inverter needed.  This is only a cooler that you add ice to.  A pump circulates water through a coil and a fan blows air through that.  This is way over priced.

 

[RandaOnTheRoad]

This runs on 12 volts.  No generator of inverter needed.  This is only a cooler that you add ice to.  A pump circulates water through a coil and a fan blows air through that.  This is way over priced.

I agree on the overpriced. Unfortunately I need the inverter, don't want to drain my van battery. I was planning on getting a generator anyway. It may be worth it for me to pay, I'm not mechanically inclined and this product comes with warranty

 

[TMG51]

Unfortunately I need the inverter, don't want to drain my van battery.

Let's be clear here. An inverter doesn't store or produce electricity. It takes electricity from your battery (12v DC) and makes something you can plug house accessories into (120v AC).

If anything, an inverter is more apt to drain your battery as there is efficiency loss associated with this process. You will still want to design a "house" electrical system of some kind with a second battery or battery bank. There is a lot of information on that subject that can be discussed.

Furthermore, that product you linked to will not run on an inverter even if you do decide to have one. It is 12v DC. It will plug into something like a car cigarette lighter, or, perhaps optionally be wired in.

It may be worth it for me to pay, I'm not mechanically inclined and this product comes with warranty

If it's worth it to you then it's worth it! Just understand you are going to have to buy ice and keep that thing filled, empty water, etc. It's not just a plug in and walk away sort of item.