Enthusiast III
Does anyone use this type of product? Is there a better one out there thst won’t break the bank? It is stupid hot in my rig at times and a little relief would be nice!
Portable A/C unit
- Thread starter highboy4x4
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Educator I
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- First Name
- Jim
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- Bro
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12989
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- USAF DAV
I am searching for a unit as well, I think there is a pretty honest review on these by Hobo Tech or something like that.....
If you get one post about it please.
Jim
If you get one post about it please.
Jim
Member III
I was looking at those also. A couple of my friends have the zero breeze and gawd are those power hungry. The zero breeze mark 3 is rated at 5200 btu compared to BougeRVs 3500. The Bouge should have a bit less on power draw. One of my friends spent some time in 90 degree with high humidity and said the Zero Breeze worked well but was almost not enough. He is in a very well insulated trailer. I'm not sure how a tent would work out.
I do have experience with BougeRV's customer service. Quick response to my questions but I have the opinion they don't understand their product very well.
I have their water heater and I'll say this, everyone else's is last generation, theirs rocks. Hopfully their ac unit is the same quality.
I do have experience with BougeRV's customer service. Quick response to my questions but I have the opinion they don't understand their product very well.
I have their water heater and I'll say this, everyone else's is last generation, theirs rocks. Hopfully their ac unit is the same quality.
ive looked at these and they do seem to be power hungry and apparently don't put out all that much cold from the reviews I've read. I did see a 120vac unit from Northern Tool that says the compressor uses 280 watts, so even though its 120vac, 280 watts would be pretty easy to do with a 12v battery and relatively small inverter. Would have to crunch the numbers to figure out the power used by each unit versus the BTUs of actual cooling you get, but might be worth looking into. A lot of a/c units are now going with inverters built in where they are more efficient and don't have the huge power spike when the compressor kicks in.
Advocate I
I saw the other nonportables on yer thread. This NT one though less expensive, doesn't seem as good as those. What do they mean by " with a temperature control range between 75°F and 89°F."? It won't go below 75 and won't help if it's above 89? I spent a miserable night in Saline Valley when it was 92 for the low. IMHO I'd go for the one which is AC/heater in the other thread. One could probably figure out a portable mount for it.
Member III
The general rule is 20 BTU per square foot. But that doesn't account for high humidity or poor insulation.
Using a BTU calculator, cooling 125 cubic feet (5w X 5L X 5H) of space will take 7875 (2307 watt) per hour, to maintain 75 degrees with poor insulation.
Half that btu will struggle but may work based on humidity and starting temp. That's most likely why, that system only claims a 10-15 degree drop in temp.
Will these blow cool air, Yes. Most people are happy with cool air blowing on them all night. Blowing 15 degree cooler air across you is better than not. The nice part is ac removes humidity.
Using a BTU calculator, cooling 125 cubic feet (5w X 5L X 5H) of space will take 7875 (2307 watt) per hour, to maintain 75 degrees with poor insulation.
Half that btu will struggle but may work based on humidity and starting temp. That's most likely why, that system only claims a 10-15 degree drop in temp.
Will these blow cool air, Yes. Most people are happy with cool air blowing on them all night. Blowing 15 degree cooler air across you is better than not. The nice part is ac removes humidity.
the 2 biggest problems with a/c units are that the ac motors running the compressors have huge current draws when starting up and then the other problem is getting rid of the heat in the condenser. an outside condenser unit blows ambient air thru the coils to remove the heat, but portable units will have to be ducted outside and will have to use the inside air to blow the heat outside. the inside air has already been cooled and then it is being blown thru the coils to dispel the heat outside. that is very inefficient. one reason some of the portable ac units went to a 2-hose setup...one hose to bring in outside air and blow it thru the coils and the other hose to direct the heated air outside and leaving the cooled inside air alone.
the solution for the power spikes is to convert alternating current into direct current and use the DC power to run a variable drive DC motor to run the compressor. instead of starting and stopping the compressor and creating the huge power spikes, the variable drive DC motor constantly runs and will just increase speed when needed, eliminating the huge start up amp draw and being more efficient by constantly running at lower speeds versus constantly shutting off and starting up when temp settings are reached. these are called inverter air conditioners and are how the mini split air conditioners are designed.
the 12v air conditioners with variable drive motors are essentially the same design except they do not need an inverter since they are designed to run on direct current. looks like there are a couple of these that were specifically made for RVs and being off-grid. if you can find an air conditioner that has the variable drive motor and a good method to get rid of the heat from the condenser, then you have found a good candidate for an off grid ac unit. the 12v rooftop units are nice because the condenser is outside and all you have to do is use a fan to blow thru the coils and the whole process is separated from the inside air. there are also 12vdc mini-split units which are very efficient.
so far, I have not seen any "portable" units that have addressed these issues properly and/or efficiently. the best I have come up with for a good "portable" would be to use a 12v rooftop and set it on a stand and then duct the cold air into the tent/camper/car or whatever.
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Member III
The technology is PWM or Pulse Width. I agree that most everything we need like that should be pwm controlled. Way more efficient, the connections are happier and no power surges that can overheat controllers. Too bad the technology is literally decades old. The manufactures just say "the consumer wont know any difference. this is good enough".
Why again do I tend to build my own stuff??
Why again do I tend to build my own stuff??
Member III
If you think these can draw a ton on AC, my friends Zero Breeze draws way more on heat mode. If it cant be plugged into shore power, he doesn't have enough battery to keep it going more than several hours.
