Nice! Thanks for the info. Will be interesting to see how it works out for you. Keep us posted.
Integrated RV HVAC system with hydronic heating and 12V A/C
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Hi, any thoughts on how this is working out in terms of cooling capacity and power consumption. Does it seem that it was sized right in terms of cooling capacity and efficiency. The reason I'm asking is that I was planning a similar capacity system, but had an up-fitter tell me that I need a 3 ton unit for the van. That's the size of the one in my house! Seems like overkill and I think would cycle on and off too much, not to mention the power consumption and weight.
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3T is 36,000 BTU. That would be a freezer in an insulated van. The carrier Reefers uses for refrigeration put out less BTU's than that. I can't imagine this outfitter is well versed with A/C systems.
I'm not familiar with the carrier Reefers, but another benchmark is that typical sedan AC systems are about 3T capacity according to here's a paper I'm going to read to try and get some insight. It's not directly answering my question but it gives general ideas of automotive AC power consumption scenarios: https://www.sae.org/standardsdev/tsb/cooperative/mobile_ac.pdf. So bottom line is that I was skeptical when told I needed 3T but am looking for some "science" in the thought process. Benchmarks are a big help and actual results in real world systems are very useful.
By the way thanks for the link, looks like useful stuff. I have not had much luck in getting quotes for parts I need.
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Automotive A/C engine drive AC systems are designed to cool your vehicle very quickly after it has reached some really high internal temperatures, as a result once temp is achieved the compressors cycle heavily.
Standard 110V rooftop A/C are around the 15,000BTU/hr range and do not cycle very much on a hot day, they just run full blast.
It completely depends on what you are trying to achieve.
Thanks, this makes sense. I don't plan to cool the RV quickly as when you get into a hot car. The use case for us is that we plan on being outside usually during the day and using the vent fans to keep it at ambient or slightly above. The need for the AC will be mostly at night to have a reasonable sleeping temp in hot/humid climates. We also hope to use the AC to get the humidity out in cooler . rainy weather just as a car AC helps defog the windshield. The van is the silver ingot color so not as cool as white, but hopefully not too bad.
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Finished my install of Cruise&Comfort 8kBTU HD-12L, 12 Volt DC Air Conditioner split system and wanted to share some pictures and performance data.
The Condenser is where the spare tire was and the evaporator/compressor is on the rear passenger side over a 22 gallon water tank. The refrigerant lines run thru the passenger side walls down to the channel/cavity behind the bumper and I cut a 2" hole behind the condenser to route the connections. Added R134a refrigerant, needed to buy a set of manifold gauges, fairly straightforward with instructions from C&C and a YouTube video from Login • Instagram.
The dual fan C&C condenser can be wired in parallel or in series with parallel being high power, louder and series being lower power and quieter. I was trying to see if I could use a relay to switch between parallel and series; luckily a huge thank you to going_boundless for letting me know I could use a DPDT switch to accomplish the same.
This weekend we took the van out to northern CA and ran into some high temps (+95) during the day. The unit does a great job of cooling the back of the van and we had it on during lunch and it was very comfortable.
As far a current draw and noise, I did a test today comparing parallel and series. The dB readings are with the rear doors close; the sound meter is about 4 feet back from the van and waist high.
Parallel: Current draw ~50 Amps, noise level 70 dB
Series: Current draw ~ 40 Amps, noise level 55 dB
It is much quieter in series >10 times quieter vs parallel, a good option if you are in an urban area or have close neighbors.
Condenser in spare tire location
Final install - testing parallel and series options
Do you think the condensor could fit in other locations underneath the van without decreasing ground clearance?
I was hoping to keep spare tire underneath while putting a gray water tank under the driver's side and condensor under the passenger side.
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I think it will fit on the passenger side, the angle might need to be increased. Also the exhaust is on the passenger side so be careful not to get too close. When you place the compressor/evaporator in your design check how long the refrigerant lines need to be. I was able to use the standard size (I think it is 7 feet). If you need a different size I believe C&C will make custom length. Best is just send them your design and prosed line routing to ensure you get the correct length.
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Hi @eranrund, here are some details on running the refrigerant lines from the condenser fan up to the main C&C unit in the van using the default 7 foot long refrigerant lines. No holes were drilled in the floor, we have a LWB van and the condenser is as far back under the van where spare tire was. I accessed the "channel" behind the rear bumper and run the coolant lines internally through the back of the van up through the wall cavity into the van; no floor penetration necessary. Unfortunately I did not take pictures of the internal run, but the 7 feet did work with not much to spare.
- Condenser install, with protective screen (1/4" stainless steel mesh folded over once). The refrigerant lines are on the left protected with pipe insulation covered with aluminum foil tape.
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- Penetration for refrigerant line. Used a hole saw and widen with jigsaw, then protected edge with the same material used for windows. To seal the hole cut a "cover" of expanded PVC and sealed with silicone RTV ( had a tube of the red color). It is tough to keep the RTV application neat; but has held up through the past winter
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- Refrigerant lines over water tank. (BTW: Pos and Neg wires are 2AWG - ran from 70amp breaker)
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- Overall install - from last summer:
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Hi! I'm new to this forum as well and am contemplating my first van build. Have you seen this YT? The way he put it together is pretty slick.
I just watched this. Haven't seen it before, but I usually learn something every time. This is one of the better configurations I've seen for a AC powered split system.
Awesome, thank you so much!
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