Since we shared our very first RV solar video we’ve been asked the same question over and over:  Can I run my air conditioner with all that solar power? We’ve always responded with a “NO” since we felt it wasn’t realistic based on the battery banks and inverters we’ve had in our previous motorhomes.  With our current RV, we installed some serious Off-the-Grid technology and for the past several months we kept thinking, maybe we can run our a/c without being plugged in?!? An opportunity landed in our laps as we unexpectedly crossed paths with our friends John and Peter The RV Geeks near Joshua Tree National Park. It’s almost like the stars aligned: The Geeks are RV DIY install gurus, the desert temps were rising, the sun was brightly shining and the wind was calm so we could actually talk to the camera. So, we decided to put the question to the test! Will we really be able to run our RV air conditioner off our solar setup? Please remember we’re not RV Solar or Air Conditioner professionals. 

We’re simply sharing our experiences and I’ve done my best to explain our test results and I hope the information below makes sense. Oh yea, and don’t forget the most important part of this equation: We’re only discussing running 1 A/C unit in full sun.  If your RV so large you have to run 2 or 3 A/C units to effectively cool it, or you wish to park the RV in the shade, well…I think you’ll need to tow a trailer full of solar, battery and inverters to handle it.  Or you could just run the generator or plug-in to shore power and say “fahgettaboudit”. The missing link for us is the Soft Start. After making this video the Micro Air people decided to offer a $50 discount coupon if you use the code “GWTW” at checkout. We think that’s pretty nice so we’ve passed it along to you. What do you think?  Any plans to install a giant off the grid kit to run your air conditioner?  Think we’re crazy for even suggesting it?  Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below because I know you’ve got an opinion on this RV mod.

Disclaimer – This video and post are solely based on our testing experience. We were not sponsored by or swayed by the mfrs of these items. The soft start discount was offered by Micro Air after we created this video, we receive a small commission and you get a discount so we think everyone wins. « Corporate CPA and Designer Turned Self Employed Nomads Resurrecting Dinosaurs – Influencing RV Design Changes »Last week's brutal heat wave may have prompted some of us to panic and bust open a fire hydrant, but it looks like Mayor Bloomberg has taken his own approach to beating the heat with a bizarre contraption to cool down his SUV. The New York Post caught members of Bloomberg's security detail on Monday plugging a standard, home air-conditioning unit into one of the mayor's SUV windows, utilizing a handful of extension cords plugged into electrical outlets in order to cool down without running the vehicle's own AC unit. A spokesman for the mayor defended the unusual approach as a mere spark of innovation, "This is an experiment to be used on extremely hot days like the types we saw last week.

Even with the vehicles parked in the shade, the temperatures inside can quickly rise to more than 100 degrees." how to make a window ac unit work insideBut really, if you were the second richest man in New York (and its mayor) would you hop into a hot car on a summer day? how much do new air conditioner units cost The effort follows Bloomberg's wrist-slapping in 2009, when the mayor's city-owned SUV's were caught idling for periods of at least 8 times from anywhere between 10 minutes to an hour.ac units for business The Associated Press called out the mayor for the not-so environmentally friendly antics considering Bloomberg himself has loudly touted a strong green agenda specifically with an anti-idling law he himself pushed for.

In May, Bloomberg was also exposed routinely breaking the city's strict helicopter curfews, when a man recorded the billionaire mayor repeatedly flying in and out of a city-owned heliport during off-hours designated to protect residents from excessive noise and exhaust produced from helicopters. Let's just hope Bloomberg figures out this whole charade prior to the next heat wave, expected to arrive as early as Thursday. Bloomberg Bloomberg Anti Idling Law Bloomberg Suv Bloomberg Suvs Mayor-bloomberg-helicopterBack to product families Nominal input voltage: 125–375 VDC Output power 3 W and 9 W Operating temperature: –40 °C to +125 °C Clearance and creepage distance 6 mm min. Isolation voltage 4 kVAC Designed for Tiny Switch ICs from Power Integration and NCP101x or 105x of ON Semiconductor For SMPS with universal input from 85 VAC up to 265 VAC 9.5 : 1 : 1 19 : 1 : 1 1 posts, read 993 times 14,228 posts, read 40,679,354 times