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Old 07-03-2022, 01:45 PM   #14
Judge
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: 2020 Magnitude SV34
State: Florida
Posts: 4,147
THOR #12751
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chance View Post
Judge, even the intermittent noise from my portable inverter generator as it loaded up with the compressor on each cycle kept me from sleeping well, so I now set the thermostat as cold as my A/C will go so that compressor stays on all night. It gets colder in van than needed but we rest much better overall.

With shore power I can hear A/C compressor cycling but it doesn’t disturb my sleep as much. Starting and stopping a generator would be a real problem I bet.

A better solution in my opinion is to have an air conditioner with inverter power for the compressor so it can run slower and hence at lower cooling capacity. Mini split and more recently window air conditioners have this optional feature. This makes it possible to run steady at reduced power and be more efficient at same time.

So far the only RV air conditioners I have seen that can reduce compressor speed and cooling capacity are the DC powered. In theory those work best with batteries as your system has, but are still too expensive for most buyers.

I expect RV A/C manufacturers will start offering dual inverter drive at some point for 120 VAC. If it can be offered on $500 window A/C, why not rooftop RV units?



P.S. — For overnight A/C, batteries over generator makes most sense to me. I saw first example in a custom-designed van in Houston 20 years ago and was sold immediately. I just could not justify cost because we stayed in campgrounds with full hookups. Boondocking is more recent for us.

I agree Chance…..

I was pretty happy with running the A/C last night on the Inverter. Much better than having the genny running at night.

It will be intersti g to see if the SoftStart softens the startup noise a little.

Last year I installed an RVAir Flow in the front A/C so it would push more air into the bedroom so we wouldn’t have to run the bedroom A/C at night. That worked out pretty well last season not having to run the bedroom A/C at night.

I may rethink my original plan of running the bedroom A/C on the Inverter at night with the bedroom door closed. I still may be better off just running the front A/C at night on the Inverter and letting it push the cool air to the bedroom as I do on shore power.

I’ll make a final decision after I install the SoftStart in the two A/C’s and whether the cylcing is a bit quieter.
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