12 volt Airconditioners

a 12 volt airconditioner would'nt operate for very long with such a limited power supply....they use too much energy and would soon stop!

even solar power used in domestic situations (and they have plenty of batteries) would'nt be able to run an airconditioner...

Gen sets, unless its a big'n would also have trouble, but a solid state starter woudl assist with reducing size of gen set.

Get a 240 volt aircon fitted and use caravan park if you really want creature comforts.. like my wife.......she'll sleep under the stars......no less than 3 and no more than 5

Having said that you may get a 12 volt evaporative cooler type (have no idea where) and then you have to carry a good supply of water ...more weight weight weight

as nudey continually sais you can certainly get 12v evaporative systems - we had one on the top of a f100 campervan it had little trouble emptying a 20l jerry fairly quickly and I am unsure of powere consumption as well as just waiting to be knocked off the top. another cheaper option may be to look at an inverter and buy those wheel around evaporative coolers - they are cheap as chips 2nd hand but are of limited effectiveness go to a caravan accessory seller or 12 v shop if you want it someone has probablty created it (wheather it is worth buying is another matter)

Evaporative coolers use less than 100 watts. Therefore a cheap evap cooler which can be had for less than $100 new and 150 watt inverter for about $70 will work fine as long as your battery can power it and you've got water.

Have a look at the plate/sticker on the back of the cooler in the shop, they usually have the wattage detailed.

Jim.

Long distant trucks have 12 volt evaporater aircons fitted for the sleeper cab a must for long haul drivers, they will run for more than 12 hours and still start the big diesals these vehicles have, go to a truck stop and speak to the drivers they will give all the ins and outs. Col

Not sure if this helps, cos its looking at a 240V (low comsumption) option, but we have an older Jayco Dove. I love the heat of the WA north, my wife hates it. I want to be in remote red dirt or on the, she'd rather have her feet clean. I've been tossing up what to do to get her cool so I can be hot away from mains power. A small wallmount 240V less than 1HP (which is 750W) will run on a 1000W generator which can be purchased for under $400 now days. I am not yet sure whether the generator will handle the initial stratup though as this can require a lot more powere to get the compressor going. The big problem is taht the copper tubing inside will die while offroading - not having been built for the purpose.

My latest idea is to buy a 3/4HP portable refrig unit - you know the ones that roll around on wheels and have about an 80-100mm exhause pipe. I'm thinking of putting one of these in a padded box, putting a cat flap in the van door for the exhaust and hooking it up to the generator while off in the bush. Of course the big advantage is that I can point it directly at my wife so she's as cool as a cucumber while I'm catching a feed of whiting. I think my 1000W generator will handle the startup, the unit will handle the bumps while being transported in the padded box, and the box can be used as a seat in the annexxe while we're camped! They're lightweight. They're around $800 new (I hope to get 2nd hand) which is way cheaper that the $1800+ of the purpose built van splits. It won't cool the whole van, but the bit your can be cool (its sort of like having manual zone switching - just rotate the unit!). All round I reckon its a winner BUT I'm keen to hear any objections 'cos it seems too simple and surely everyone'd be doing it!!!! Have I overlooked someting???

Good luck. Grant.