Will your 400 watt system be enough for my AC whole boondocking? We are mostly in FL and need it always.

[Tom Lajeunesse]

Will your 400 watt system be enough to rum My AC while boondocking. We are mostly in FL and need it always. I have a 32 ft tow behind with one rooftop unit. Not sure the size.

 

[acdoctor]

No 2000 watts may be enough during peak sun hours.

 

[rmaddy]

An RV A/C unit likely uses way more than 400W. I have a tiny little 5000BTU window A/C unit and that uses 430W of power. Your A/C unit is likely 12000BTU or more.

You need to know how many watt hours your RV uses per day to properly determine how much battery and solar you need. It's not just the A/C. There is also the lights and the fridge and the water pump, etc.

See if you can find out how many watt hours of electricity you use over several days while connected to shore power. Make sure you do this while running the A/C and anything else like you would want to while boondocking. Then you will have a good starting point for working how much battery and solar you would need.

 

[4thHorseman]

AC BTU	STARTING WATTS	RUNNING WATTS
5000	1100 -1300 W	300 – 450 W
7000	1600 – 1800 W	500 – 650 W
10,000	1900 – 2050 W	600 – 750 W
13,500	2700 -2900 W	1000 -1300 W

*EDIT - Source: https://campergrid.com/rv-air-conditioner-watts-usage/

 

[MichaelK]

The 400W system parts are toy components for play solar.

If you want to create a serious solar system, you need to first itemize what it is you want to power, and audit the complete power consumption. One strategy I recommend is identify your single largest wattage appliance item, and multiply the running watts by two. So, if you have an air-conditioner that consumes 750W while running, I'd have at least 1500W of panels. If these panels are laying flat on a trailer roof instead of angled towards the sun, I'd multiply be three instead of two.

Starting with a certain system and finding out what it will power is most likely going to be very disappointing for you. Go in the opposite direction, and determine what you need to power your appliances.

 

[chrisski]

Not even close. Especially if you always run it. Use a generator for 24 hour usage.

My only high wattage load is an air conditioner And i used ac for 6 hours between 12 pm and 6 pm. I made 15 kwh of power that day with 2.5 kw of panels. that’s what it takes for 6 hours of use with the ac running with an inside temp of 70 and an outide high of 92 in a desert climate.

 

[RV10flyer]

I have a standard height/length Chevy work van with 1000 W of PV on top. It can be angled to optimize power. I have an Ameristar 22 SEER 9000 BTU inverter mini split heat pump installed on the bumper. I have a magnum 4024 inv. 560ah LFE battery. Those roof top units are power hogs and have high inrush amps compared to mini splits.

 

[chrisski]

I have a standard height/length Chevy work van with 1000 W of PV on top. It can be angled to optimize power. I have an Ameristar 22 SEER 9000 BTU inverter mini split heat pump installed on the bumper. I have a magnum 4024 inv. 560ah LFE battery. Those roof top units are power hogs and have high inrush amps compared to mini splits.

My thoughts are mini splits are good for smaller trailers, but not practical for bigger ones. Perhaps if ever installed from the factory, but not as a replacement.

I’m guessing that your mini split runs at 600 watts. The OP has a 32’ trailer which probably has 2 15k BTU units. My guess is he’d need two 8k mini splits to equal one 15k BTU regular unit. He’d save 1/3 the power that way but now where would they go? After 9k BTU, seems you go to 230 vac, which has its own issues.