12v Roof mounted air-conditioner

I could sorely use it right now. It is 41° in the shade, and there ain’t no shade. I’d go for a plunge in the Meuse but it looks greener than Trumpski’s reflecting pool. I’ve got the roof fan going, extracting, and 3 other fans blowing hot air around inside. Hotter than Hell.

I’ll run the engine for 15 minutes and get the cab aircon on full. It’ll help for a while.
 
SimonM said:
I could sorely use it right now. It is 41° in the shade, and there ain’t no shade. I’d go for a plunge in the Meuse but it looks greener than Trumpski’s reflecting pool. I’ve got the roof fan going, extracting, and 3 other fans blowing hot air around inside. Hotter than Hell.

I’ll run the engine for 15 minutes and get the cab aircon on full. It’ll help for a while.
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If you are anywhere near Han-sur-Lesse, try to visit if you can. There is an aire for ~ €12 including electricity, grottes and an animal park with species native to the area.

We loved it.
 
My experience of air conditioners might be useful to share.

My 7.4M A-class Hymer had a 1300w aircon on the roof. It worked well enough, but it didn't claim to be powerful enough for a vehicle that size - and it wasn't.

It took ages to cool the van down, and very rarely turned itself down from full tilt.

I swapped it for a Freshjet 2200 and although that uses a little more power, it is easily adequate.

The van cools down much quicker and the AC can run a bit quieter once temperature is established.

The amount of power it uses in actual operation I don't know, but when sitting in the kitchen of my house (I tested it before lifting it all the way up to the roof), it used around 1000 watts.

Generally, we power it from the built-in LPG generator, but not all that often. The noise of the generator and the aircon are too high a price to pay unless open windows and fans really can't do the job.

I suppose you could run it off an inverter but 1000 watts is a huge continuous draw. Even with a roof covered in solar panels, the batteries are going to take a hammering. The wiring will need to be in excellent shape to avoid overheating.

Yes, you could run the engine to keep the batteries charged, but with the engine running, the cab aircon is easily enough to cool the whole van.

So in summary, for a van the size of mine, you need a kilowatt of available power for several hours on end to make aircon worth having.
 
Nabsim said:
That said I do see a lot of vids from yanks who are putting 'spliti' ac in, not 100% certain what they are but they look like small home units, 2 part type.
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My daughter has one in her caravan. It hangs through a window opening and seems to work well enough, but it is only suitable if you are on a site with hookup.

It seems quite heavy to lift into place, and disappointingly, won't fit in her house windows.
 
I’ve noticed more and more vans recently whilst in France and Spain with the roof aircon units. If we go to a site or aire now with electric I try and park away from them because of the noise especially when the are on all night! Last year I was speaking to an elderly couple who where asked to leave a site due to their aircon noise
 
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