For example, a 100 Ah lithium battery will power a typical 15,000 BTU RV AC unit for about 30 minutes. If you're RVing in hot weather, running your AC for 30 minutes likely won't do much to increase your comfort. However, if you had a bank of eight 100 Ah batteries, it would run for about four hours.
This unit is the most widely purchased brand, and highest rated portable AC unit in the 5,000 BTU range. Four (4) 100 amp hour lithium phosphate batteries (also known as “LiFePo batteries”) will keep this AC unit for running about four (4) hours maximum. This is assuming these batteries are fully charged to begin with.
You cannot run the AC without the engine running. The air conditioner compressor and clutch are operated by the serpentine belt that runs your other accessories (your alternator, for instance). If the engine isn't running, then the belt isn't turning.
Since you can only run your batteries down to about 50% capacity before low voltage shutdown, that would give a ballpark figure of 2400 amp hours needed. A group 24 deep cycle battery has about 80 amp hours. So that would give us a battery bank of 30 group 24 deep cycle batteries to run the AC overnight.
An air conditioner requires a lot of electricity just to start up. It also requires a lot just to run for an hour. It is possible, however to run air conditioning on batteries. You just need a lot of battery power, along with a lot of solar panels, to help offset your battery draw.
For example, a 100 Ah lithium battery will power a typical 15,000 BTU RV AC unit for about 30 minutes. If you're RVing in hot weather, running your AC for 30 minutes likely won't do much to increase your comfort. However, if you had a bank of eight 100 Ah batteries, it would run for about four hours.
Four 12 volt batteries is the very minimum needed to run a rooftop RV air conditioner. But then, that will only run an air conditioner for about 1 hour maximum. Of course, it depends upon the type of battery.
The short answer is yes, it is cheaper to leave your air conditioner on all day. But this does not mean that you should leave it on full blast, keeping your home so cold that you need a sweater or jacket to be comfortable.
Modern air conditioning units are designed to run 24 hours a day. There is no harm in having it run to keep your home cool all day long. If you wanted to, you could have your AC unit running 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If your thermostat is set on “auto”, your AC compressor does not run 24 hours a day.
How Many Hours Should AC Run Per Day. There is a general answer to the question of how many hours per day your AC should run: Between 12 and 16 hours on an average summer day. However, the actual number will depend on some specific factors, including the ones below: The temperature outside.
You can leave your car running while you sleep but it is not safe to do so. Running your car's AC while you sleep can be damaging to your health and can cause the engine to overheat. It is strongly advised that if you want to sleep in your car you should turn the engine off.
As long as the engine is running and you aren't running low on fuel, you can keep your car idling with the AC on for as long as you'd like. . Running the AC with the engine off will also not produce cool air, since the compressor uses engine power to function.
You can leave your car idling with the air conditioning on for however long you'd like as long as the engine is running and there isn't a fuel shortage. However, you should avoid doing this when the engine is off because you will quickly exhaust practically all of your battery power and require a jumpstart.
A portable solar-powered air conditioner needs batteries and solar panels as well. For a 5,000 BTU portable AC unit, 800 watts of grounded solar panels and 4 100-amp hour lithium phosphate batteries are required.
Typically, a 500-watt small window air conditioner might only need one to two solar panels to run. Four panels may be sufficient for a medium 900-watt air conditioner, while six panels will likely be able to power a 1440-watt large window unit.
Even if the 100-watt solar panel reaches its peak output for the day, which usually happens around mid-day, it still won't produce the wattage needed to power most air conditioners. Powering your home air conditioning system or medium-sized RV conditioning system with a 100-watt solar panel is a no-go.
As we said, an air conditioner should run for about fifteen minutes- if your ac runs all day long, especially on hot days, it's time for some maintenance! This is bad for your air conditioner and bad for your electricity bills. That's why we recommend an annual tune-up to keep your AC in tip-top shape.
Conclusion. For most homeowners who are going on vacation for a week or two, it's probably best to keep your air conditioner on. But there's no need to cool your entire home the same way you normally do—so turn your thermostat up.
Give your Air Conditioner a Rest
When air conditioners are constantly run, they tend to wear out quicker. It is important to turn the air conditioner off if you plan on leaving home for any length of time. You can turn the thermostat a minimum of 5 degrees to allow the unit to stay on, but not cool the air.
According to the Department of Energy1, 78° Fahrenheit is the sweet spot for air conditioners to balance energy savings and comfort when people are at home and need cooling.
Your best approach is to leave the AC on while you're away. Set it to 85 degrees. That won't break the bank and it will help keep extreme temperatures and humidity at bay.
A single 12V 280 Amp Hour Dakota Lithium battery will run a 14,000 BTUs air conditioner for 2-3 hours. 4 of the 12V 280 Amp Hour Dakota Lithium batteries linked in parallel will allow you to run large air conditioning systems continously and is a good fit for large boats, big motorhomes, and off grid cabins.
You should buy a battery that can run the AC unit for at least six hours. This means that you need to purchase at least four 100-amp-hour lithium-iron phosphate batteries. An AGM battery, on the other hand, requires eight 100-amp-hour batteries.
An average estimate would be to divide your AC wattage by the solar panel wattage you intend to use. Using the average household AC wattage of 3,500 watts, and a standard solar panel wattage, this formula would look something like 3,500 (w) / 250 w (panels) = 14 panels.