Anyone heard of a Combo AC/DC Air conditioner?

[Chaisama]

We have two Lab dogs that travel with us in our truck camper. When we’re out and about and the weather is hot we can’t leave them in the truck. The alternative is to start the generator and turn on the camper AC. I’m not crazy about leaving the generator run unattended. Would like to find some small auxiliary cooling device that could run off my DC. I’ve got great Solar Panels and very big batteries so I don’t think I will draw down too fast. I was looking at “personal, portable cooling fans” which some claim can lower room temp by 10 degrees. They basically are blowing air over a water reservoir or dampened filters. Any ideas on how to keep our pups cool?

[jaycocreek]

Leaving dogs in the camper can lead to some bad experiences..

We were up Elk hunting in a TC and left the Wave heater on to keep the dogs and camper warm..Well,they got to playing grab azz and knocked a cushion off the dinette right up against the heater..We were on the hill just above the truck camper and saw smoke coming out the top vent and thought oh chit..Literly ran down the hill and opened the door as the dogs flew out..The plastic on the seats was smoldering and just a small open flame.. We lucked out on that one..

Another time someone started shooting near the camper and our Australian shepherd tried to chew his way out the dinette window with tooth marks on the window trim with blood..I could not believe he had the power to do what he did to the window trim....

We seldom leave our dogs in a camper anymore because of our experiences doing so..

[bobbolotune]

It concerns me leaving a dog in the camper with the A/C running, even if you have shore power. What if the A/C fails, or there is a shore power outage? Then the dog is locked in a camper with the windows closed and no A/C. I would rather leave him in the camper with a window open and the fantastic fan running. Then if the fan failed there would still at least be ventilation. Unless it is really hot the fantastic fan is enough. If it is too hot for that it's just too bad I can't leave him in the camper.

[mkirsch]

theoldwizard1 wrote:

Rscconrad wrote:
Seems to me someone should make a 12volt thermoelectric peltier style dog bed.

Peltier cooler are very energy inefficient.

Plus all they do is make one side of the device hot and the other side of the device about 30F cooler than ambient. What heat the cool side pulls out is expelled right back into the camper by the hot side. Overall you end up making it HOTTER inside the camper through the addition of the energy used to operate the device. You'd have to have a way to expel the heat out of the camper cabin in order to make it work, such as installing the device through the wall. I've never seen a peltier device that had the two sides mounted any distance from each other.

Cooling is one of those things that just doesn't translate efficiently to DC.

[theoldwizard1]

Rscconrad wrote:
Seems to me someone should make a 12volt thermoelectric peltier style dog bed.

Peltier cooler are very energy inefficient.

[Rscconrad]

Komfortpets.com sell them as crates prebuilt

[Rscconrad]

Seems to me someone should make a 12volt thermoelectric peltier style dog bed.

Put on of these on a dog crate.

thermoelectric Cooler, 12V 6TEC1-1270 420W 6-Chip Thermoelectric Semiconductor Cooler Air Cooling Device for Small Space Cooling,Pet Bed Cooling
Brand: Yanmis

[KKELLER14K]

I bought my first one when it was Back in Black...still works today!!

[otrfun]

Kayteg1 wrote:
KINGTEC makes DC air conditioners.
Did not hear about combos

The Kingtec 9800 BTU a/c will run on 48a of 12vdc. Pretty cool. That's roughly half the current you'd need to run a 120vac 10k a/c unit (9-10a) via inverter.

[Kayteg1]

Suddenly from "Lithium batteries will give you all the power you might want" topic we landed "you will not have enough power"
12 or 24V AC are used more than some can imagine.
Obviously they are not for climate where you need 15k BTU running 24 hr a day,
but with 3-400W of solar and good battery bank, smaller unit will do 50% duty just fine.

[JRscooby]

Most of the power used in a AC unit is used by the compressor. I'm not sure I understand why RVers think it is good to run a engine to turn a generator to run a motor to turn a compressor. Every time you change from mechanical to electrical and back energy is lost. Why not use the engine to drive the compressor? Then a much smaller alternator would take care of the rest of load.
BTW, years back I heard there was a battery powered AC unit for truck sleeper. When I checked in it was only available as accessory on new truck so I didn't much look into it, but the technology is out there.
Take the coils out of 12V fridge, build dog bed around them...

[mr_andyj]

Keep in mind that, unlike humans, dogs do not use evaporative cooling (we sweat) to keep cool. They pant through their tongue or find a cool spot to lay on. SO, humid air does not matter, just the temp of the air. You CAN use evaporative cooling like those that blow air out of an ice-filled cooler and the dogs will be happy.

You are talking major battery usage to run any AC (powered by A/C or DC doesnt matter), so it will be cheaper to run a generator than to do such damage to batteries. Anytime you deplete or use a battery it is damage. There are only so many "cycles" any battery can do and running an A/C unit will surly induce a deep discharge. Solar is of not much use unless you have a big roof covered completely with panels.
You will spend more on batteries due to short life than you will on gasoline.

I would look more into the personal cooling contraptions. The room does not need to be cooled, only the air blowing on the dogs. They will be happy sitting in that one cool spot all day long.

[Kayteg1]

KINGTEC makes DC air conditioners.
Did not hear about combos

[FWC]

jaycocreek wrote:
My little 5K window unit only draws 330 watts with the compressor on which would run a very long time on a gen set..

Sounds like you could run that off batteries for a decent amount of time as well.

I think the generator thing depends a little on where you are parking - if we are talking a mall parking lot then generator away. If you are thinking trailhead, picnic area, national park then running a generator for hours a time could be a bit inconsiderate.

[Grit_dog]

Personal portable cooling fans, aka swamp coolers....
Are you familiar with swamp coolers and that they don really work in humid environments?