Anyone had experiences with roof top air cons on pop up vans (half hard body half canvas) Pro's & Con's plus a suitable genset that will handle the AC output? I'm in a warm top end climate and need decent cooling (Due to a Spinal injury), the van I'm looking at advertises an "Aircommand sparrow" however after giving dimension's and photos to a AC "guru" they suggest a larger unit Truma Aventa Comfort.
The roof on the van is a hydraulic lift so not manual handling required, has approximately 200kg limit.
The sparrow will run from a Honda EU2, they suggest the same genny may run the Truma if in good new condition..
What to do!
Van dimensions Approx 5.5m long fully extended Approx 195cm high Approx. 2.1m wide
A friend of ours had a rooftop A/C fitted to his poptop van. He couldn't lift the roof (because of the extra weight) and when he did, the roof kept coming down (again because of the weight). He got stiffer gas struts for the roof, but from memory he still had to lay on the bed and push the roof up with his feet and a broomstick. I think he had to get the roof structure braced up as well to compensate for the weight of the unit.
Another issue with aircons in vans is noise. They are typically noisy. You need to notify the Dept of Civil Aviation when you turn them on because they will think there is an unidentified aricraft flying in their area (well nearly so anyway). They are noisy. A few people are looking to use domestic split system A/C units in their vans. They are quieter and a lot cheaper for the small size used for a caravan. Our A/C unit has a capacity of 2.2 kW, which really is not enough in very hot weather. It is OK if you sit in the blast from the outlet, but otherwise it barely copes. Better than nothing, but I think there are better options around these days.
Treecrest14 said
06:10 PM Sep 23, 2016
I had a air con and 2 solar panels on a Jayco Expanda. You could push it up with some effort, but this is not what Mat and Mel are talking about - they have a wind up van, and I think Matt has hit it on the head - the top would be too heavy for the design of the winder and would not stay up!
Matt and Mel said
06:41 PM Sep 23, 2016
Hi guys and happy Friday!
The van has four hydraulic Rams 1 in each corner so no manual lifting required, the roofs rated to carry around the 40Kg mark for a AC unit, I'm looking at a Aircommand Truma its output is slightly higher for the 2+kv mark. I just don't have any experience with vans with canvas and AC's, will it keep us cool in 30-35 deg days (worse case)?
I won't be relying on genset power often.
Oh Ps... C'mmon the CATS!!!
Appreciate all your feedback and assistance.
marto1944 said
11:15 AM Sep 25, 2016
Matt
I have enclosed some data from an aust company regarding generators and it has some tables you fill in the figures I tried to find a Honda EU2 but could not locate it I suspect it is a 2KVA or 1.6Kw at power factor of 0.8 The truma unit has a full load current of 4.2 Amps which equates to around 1Kw or 1.35 hp putting these into their tables I came up with a generator of 5KVA+ which would be very heavy and you need to be aware that motor starting needs approx 8 times the full load current to start hope this helps
Hi All,
Anyone had experiences with roof top air cons on pop up vans (half hard body half canvas) Pro's & Con's plus a suitable genset that will handle the AC output?
I'm in a warm top end climate and need decent cooling (Due to a Spinal injury), the van I'm looking at advertises an "Aircommand sparrow" however after giving dimension's and photos to a AC "guru" they suggest a larger unit Truma Aventa Comfort.
The roof on the van is a hydraulic lift so not manual handling required, has approximately 200kg limit.
The sparrow will run from a Honda EU2, they suggest the same genny may run the Truma if in good new condition..
What to do!
Van dimensions
Approx 5.5m long fully extended
Approx 195cm high
Approx. 2.1m wide
Cheers Matt
Another issue with aircons in vans is noise. They are typically noisy. You need to notify the Dept of Civil Aviation when you turn them on because they will think there is an unidentified aricraft flying in their area (well nearly so anyway). They are noisy. A few people are looking to use domestic split system A/C units in their vans. They are quieter and a lot cheaper for the small size used for a caravan. Our A/C unit has a capacity of 2.2 kW, which really is not enough in very hot weather. It is OK if you sit in the blast from the outlet, but otherwise it barely copes. Better than nothing, but I think there are better options around these days.
I have enclosed some data from an aust company regarding generators and it has some tables you fill in the figures I tried to find a Honda EU2 but could not locate it I suspect it is a 2KVA or 1.6Kw at power factor of 0.8 The truma unit has a full load current of 4.2 Amps which equates to around 1Kw or 1.35 hp putting these into their tables I came up with a generator of 5KVA+ which would be very heavy and you need to be aware that motor starting needs approx 8 times the full load current to start hope this helps
www.macfarlanegenerators.com.au/power-calculator.php
peter