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Furrion Chill Cube?

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1.1K views 17 replies 10 participants last post by  boatguy  
#1 ·
Anyone install a Furrion Chill Cube in a Transit?
We want to replace the MaxxFan in our 5th (extended) bay with an A/C and with DIYVAN Hein's suggestion narrowed it down to 12v Dometic RTX-2000 but have been looking at 110v Furrion Chill Cube.
They both appear to fit in the 14 inch square hole of the MaxxFan.
We would rather not cut a second hole in the roof and take away valuable solar panel space.
Reasons for the Furrion:
1) The RTX is 6800 ish BTUs but the Furrion is 18k BTU...
2) The wiring is easier for us with the 110v unit.
3) We'd likely be connected to shore power in the conditions that require A/C anyway, although we have 900 Ah of 12v LiFePo4 and Victron 3000VA MP inverter
4) Price is about half for the Chill Cube over the Dometic

Having a hard time finding a Chill Cube installed in a van, but plenty of videos showing replacement in an RV.
 
#6 ·
For a rooftop AC, I'd only get the RTX 2000 even though it's expensive. It's the most efficient and quietest rooftop air conditioner available.

rackupgo.com

Heat Chamber Test Results: DC Powered Rooftop A/C Units

------------------- One Year Update: Our Response to Nomadic’s Rebuttal After a year of legal intimidation and, more recently, a direct attack on the credibility and integrity of our team, we feel compelled to respond to Nomadic’s latest rebuttal article. We continue to welcome transparent...
rackupgo.com rackupgo.com
 
C
#7 · (Edited)
I'd really encourage you to avoid a 120V AC solution. You're going to be plugged into shorepower all the time?

You won't be able to effectilvey run that off your Multiplus 3kva. The Multiplus 3kva peaks at 3,000 watts, but can only do 2,000 watts continuous. Furrion chill doesn't mention an amp draw, but even if it is "only" 16 amps (2000 watts) you'll be running that Multiplus at 100% of stated capacity, which isn't a good plan.

You won't ever want to supplement the Ford air-conditoning while driving? (it gets hot in the back of the van)
You won't ever want to run it while you leave the van in full-sun, like when you're in an urban parking lot, and you're running into a store for 20 minutes?
You won't ever want to sleep in the van without having shorepower?

There are a lot of 120V units available, if I were to put a 120V one in, I'd probably stick with the major RV brands like Dometic, because Dometic units are extremely common, spare parts are very easy to get, and every RV service center knows how to fix them.

That said, I can't imagine putting a 120V A/C into a van today. The advantages of the DC ones are just too good.
 
#8 ·
For the record;

I have 120V Houghton 3400 (Rec Pro) roof top air conditioner.

I have a Multiplus II 120-3000.
I have supplemented the ford air conditioning while driving.
I have run it for hours while parked in an urban parking lots, keeping my dogs cool.
I have also used it while sleeping at night with out shore power.


All these have been done on multiple occasions.
 
#10 ·
Scalf77 said:
All these have been done on multiple occasions.
Click to expand...
I've looked back at you post on configuring the Mutiplus for pass through to run AC and charge shore connection.
Do you have any info on the loads when connected to 15A and 30A shore power.

Back of a napkin ... seems like ??? :rolleyes:
15A shore power may? require dipping into the batteries a bit when AC is cycled on so net charging depends on cycle %
30A shore power woukd allow for the full 120A x 12V battery charging even when the AC is cycled on.

Also, any info/opinion on perfomance of the "Dry" (dehumidifier) mode?

TIA
 
#9 ·
I second what Scalf77 said.
I also have the Houghton 3400, same victron inverter, and 600ah of 12v batteries. This setup is perfectly fine running a 120v AC unit. Its a cost/use case balance. Extra batteries are likely cheaper than the added cost of the DC powered air conditioner. Having the extra battery capacity is nice for other loads when you do not need the rooftop AC. For instance, I recently used the van to power my house fridge and some lights during a power outage.

I get between 5 and 8 hours of AC runtime without much attempt to conserve energy (same use case, gotta keep the dog cool). I don't run the batteries below 25% SOC. With your 900ah of batteries you should get 50% more runtime than we do.

We have run it overnight before and the biggest issue was short cycling due to reaching set-point before actually dehumidifying the van. Dry camping this weekend, it was great having the AC to knock down the initial temperature in the van then we switched over to fans and ventilation once the sun was down.
 
G
#13 ·
what is efficiency of these AC units now ? SEER2 / EER2

when I was looking into AC units 6 yrs ago
from memory cheaper AC was 12 SEER and better units were 20 ish -

back then built battery bank using 2 Tesla battery bricks = 10Kwh x 24 volt
seems like was going to get 9 ish hours set on high cool -
Not counting solar input --
Mini Split
 
#15 ·
GROOVY2 said:
what is efficiency of these AC units now ? SEER2 / EER2

when I was looking into AC units 6 yrs ago
from memory cheaper AC was 12 SEER and better units were 20 ish -

back then built battery bank using 2 Tesla battery bricks = 10Kwh x 24 volt
seems like was going to get 9 ish hours set on high cool -
Not counting solar input --
Mini Split
Click to expand...
Take a look at the video I posted above. He gets into some good measuring at about the 25min mark.
He also gets into how much they lie about the BTUs.
 
#16 ·
Thanks @njvagabond for posting that link...
From the YouTube video description:
"UPDATE. The BTUs I calculated did not include latent heat or the energy required to remove humidity... I reran tests at an 80 degree inside temp at 60% RH on the installed unit (Psychometric calc) and found, Total cooling: ~10,900 BTU/hr Sensible: ~7,950 BTU/hr Latent: ~2,960 BTU/hr (moisture removal).... Thus add 20% to my BTU calculations in the video tests at max

Key Takeaways:
  • Non-ducted unit = super quiet, insane airflow, best for open layouts
  • Ducted unit = higher static pressure, slightly better efficiency, traditional layout
  • Both units: Variable speed, almost no startup surge, extremely efficient at low power (good enough for solar & lithium batteries!)
  • Innovative design re-uses condensate for cooling = less roof dripping & more efficiency"
Obviously we are considering the non-ducted Furrion...
But still on the fence between it and the 12v RTX-2000.
I think either would work great in the dry desert southwest... But not sure how well the Dometic would perform in the humid Southeast.
Roof space is the most important consideration and don't want an A/C unit hanging over the rear of the roof and only want to use the existing 14" hole the MaxxFan currently occupies.
 
#18 · (Edited)
I am running a Houghton 2801 9.5k 120v A/C in our low roof . LOVE this A/C. , Actually have 2 - 1 in our Transit , and 1 in our RV . Very quiet , low amp draw , no heavy initial compressor surge , low profile, light weight and fairly small footprint . The new models even have the heat pump optional .
We run this with NO problem whatsoever on our LiTime 3000w inverter . Wattage draw while cooling is showing about 800 watts . Victron says I have about 12-14 hours run time on our 900AH battery bank (thats when its actively cooling) , when it reaches temp , the fan is only pulling about 60 watts (we keep the fan istead of "eco" for the white noise) . Unit is approx $1200 depending on options. 9.5K seems to be under rated a bit , it puts out plenty of cool in our transit , and our 20' RV . Its meat locker cold !
GREAT A/C unit , and I couldnt be happier or have any reason to look for another option .

We had The Furrion model in our RV , and there is a night and day difference !

Picture of inverter screen with unit running while actively cooling.

Image


Image
 
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