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To: RegulatorCountry
Cruising boats have been using heat pumps for years and many of the companies in this market have RV configurations as well. Mechanically RV are identical in concept with the marine units exchanging heat with water and the RV exchanging to air.

High watt loads like AC, electric stove and washer/dryers will drain down a battery bank fast. Real fast. You can cover the whole roof with solar and it will not keep up with the daily amp demand. In addition, for any of the AC using devices that are running off the inverter, inverters are only about 70% efficient. That means 10 watts worth of energy in gives you 7 amps of energy out.

For running AC and other high electricity users, a generator is needed. Run the AC, electric stove and such off of the AC output of the generator and the DC output to the battery charger. Use a quality charger set up for multiple inputs such as generator, shore power, solar and wind.

Bottom line is for AC and other large draws, a properly sized generator is needed, solar and wind will not be able to meet the demand.

35 posted on 11/01/2016 2:10:43 PM PDT by Hootowl99
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To: Hootowl99

Thank you, yours is exactly the sort of first hand knowledge and background I was hoping to benefit from. But, YouTube is full of people claiming to be powering their A/C with solar in an RV, for example:

https://youtu.be/k5Fb0kQMwQg

And many others. Are they full of it?

Also, do you have any exposure to Nautikflor synthetic teak marine laminate? It’s beautiful, can be glued down, no problems with thermal expansion or contraction, considering it to replace carpet if I buy this thing. Not cheap, but there’s not that much floor to cover, either.


38 posted on 11/01/2016 2:15:52 PM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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