Question:
I don't have a camper or RV but I'd like to be able to have air
conditioning for situations where I'd pull over and sleep a few hours
or overnight on the road in my car or truck. What I'm thinking of is
either mounting the equipment in the truck bed or on a receiver hitch
carrier behind the car. I would like to get one of those 5,200 BTU
window air conditioners and hook it up to a Honda EU1000i generators.
I don't need a generator for a refrigerator, lights, or TV, only the
A/C.
Does the air conditioner have to PHYSICALLY be mounted either
inside or partially inside the vehicle in order to get the thermostat
to respond properly and enable the A/C to cycle on and off repeatedly.
Most importantly, presuming the A/C unit cycles on and off, "how
long will the unit run"? The unit is rated on their website at running
on full load for about 4 hours and about 7 hours on partial load. Can
anyone with any experience with this type of unit in either a boat or
RV give me any info?
Answer:
You would need to mount a thermostat inside the vehicle in order to get the
proper temperature regulation. Even though the A/C unit would cycle on and
off uisng the built-in thermostat, you'll want to have access to the
thermostat in order to set the desired temperature. You'll need at least two
air ducts--one for the supply (cold) air, and one for the return (warm)
air--and I don't think that 6" ducts are large enough.
The question is whether or not a 5,200 BTU will get the vehicle cold
enough. A typical car air conditioner is in the 20,000 BTU range, and a
typical RV air conditioner is in the 9,000 to 15,000 BTU range. An air
conditioner *dries* the air as it cools it, and so you'll have no need to
allow humidity to escape. Instead, the humidity will increase every time you
open a window or door.
