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 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.
If using 6 volt batteries, at 200 AH, you will need about 12 to 14 of these batteries. Expect about similar overall weight, as these are heavier batteries. AGM Batteries – Look to getting between 14 to 18 of these batteries in 12 volt, 100 AH varieties, or about 8 to 12 in 6 volt, 150 AH varieties.
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.
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.
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.
Turning on the AC puts an additional load on the entire system resulting in the deficiency in the charging system further draining the battery.
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.
You Can Run an Air Conditioner on Stored Solar Power, if:
Proper design and sizing is essential to any solar PV system, but in the case of using solar energy to power your air conditioner, you will need to have enough energy available to cover the hottest days of the year.
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.
To figure out how many solar panels you need to power your fridge, simply divide the wattage of your fridge by the wattage of your solar panel system. So if you have a 300-watt fridge and a 5-kilowatt solar panel system, you would need 10 panels to completely power your refrigerator.
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.
How many solar panels do I need to run a refrigerator? The average refrigerator takes about three or four average solar panels to run. The average refrigerator found in the United States uses approximately 57 kWh per month while the average freezer uses 58 kWh. Adding those together brings a combined total of 115 kWh.
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.
The constant running of your AC unit will reduce pressure in the evaporator, or cooling coil until it freezes over, according to Cool Today. This is why in some cases, this constant running can be dangerous. The freezing of the coil can cause liquid refrigerant to flood back into the unit's compressor and damage it.
But while higher temperatures can make sleeping a struggle, experts warn against keeping the AC on at night. From health risks associated with poor sleep to increases in energy costs, both sleep and home energy experts suggest the few adverse effects of running your AC outweigh the benefits of keeping cool.
If you're only going to be gone for a few days, it's best to keep your HVAC around the same temperature you normally keep it at. For longer stints, you can go ahead and set your thermostat anywhere between 85-90 degrees according to the Department of Energy.
The short answer is, yes. Turning your AC on and off periodically will waste energy, as opposed to leaving it on all day and bumping up the temperature when you're not at home. That's because more energy is required to reach a thermostat setting after the system has been turned off and back on.
If your area is currently at the design temp, your AC should run the “average” 12-16 hours per day. If it is five degrees higher, it will run 14 to 20 hours per day. At 10 degrees over, it will run 16 to 22 hours per day. At 15 degrees over, it will most likely run all day.
1250 watts is all that is needed for a 14000 BTU air conditioner. With a 1000-watt generator, you can run a small to medium-sized window unit and be OK. You'll need at least a 2000-watt generator to power a large window unit. A larger generator can be a better option if you need to power many appliances at once.