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Old 02-24-2021, 05:32 PM   #1
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air conditioning in living area

To have the air conditioning in the living area working while driving, does the generator need to be on. Thanks, we're newbies.
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Old 02-24-2021, 05:39 PM   #2
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Yes

Unless u can be plugged into shore power, but that's a bit tuff in the freeway....lol
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Old 02-25-2021, 10:02 AM   #3
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It took me a little reading to understand electrical systems in an RV. In a nutshell you have two big categories:
- stuff that runs on 12V DC

- stuff that runs on 120V AC



For 12V things, no need for generator.
For 120V things, yes generator or shore "plugged in" - or they could be plugged into the inverter which turns 12V DC into 120VAC.
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Old 02-25-2021, 10:34 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by pconroy View Post
It took me a little reading to understand electrical systems in an RV. In a nutshell you have two big categories:
- stuff that runs on 12V DC

- stuff that runs on 120V AC



For 12V things, no need for generator.
For 120V things, yes generator or shore "plugged in" - or they could be plugged into the inverter which turns 12V DC into 120VAC.
A word to the OP about the red text here. Don't get confused, you WILL NOT be able to run either of your air conditioners using the inverter and 12V. Just wanted to clarify; some newbies assume that all 110-120VAC is the same, so any of it should be able to run the Air Conditioning units.

Funny story there: I was boondocking in a bean field to see the total eclipse a few years back in Southern Illinois. Some other folks were tent camping with us. We were sitting down to enjoy our freshly prepared breakfast, including steaming hot coffee and saw those folks pull out a Keurig coffee machine. I took interest, and thought to myself "what the heck do they think they're going to do with that thing?" Turns out they plugged it into one of those little cigarette lighter inverters plugged into the dash of their little Nissan! About 10 minutes later (yes, it took them that long to figure out that wasn't going to work) I saw them walking up to my friend's grandmother's house carrying the Keurig and their cups...

In short, the only conditions in which the air conditioners will operate is either when plugged into a pedestal (we tend to call it "shore power"), or when the generator is running. Yes, it is perfectly acceptable to operate your generator while in transit, and yes, your unit will act as if it's plugged into shore power when the generator is running.
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Old 02-25-2021, 02:19 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by Camper_bob View Post
A word to the OP about the red text here. Don't get confused, you WILL NOT be able to run either of your air conditioners using the inverter and 12V. Just wanted to clarify; some newbies assume that all 110-120VAC is the same, so any of it should be able to run the Air Conditioning units.

Funny story there: I was boondocking in a bean field to see the total eclipse a few years back in Southern Illinois. Some other folks were tent camping with us. We were sitting down to enjoy our freshly prepared breakfast, including steaming hot coffee and saw those folks pull out a Keurig coffee machine. I took interest, and thought to myself "what the heck do they think they're going to do with that thing?" Turns out they plugged it into one of those little cigarette lighter inverters plugged into the dash of their little Nissan! About 10 minutes later (yes, it took them that long to figure out that wasn't going to work) I saw them walking up to my friend's grandmother's house carrying the Keurig and their cups...

In short, the only conditions in which the air conditioners will operate is either when plugged into a pedestal (we tend to call it "shore power"), or when the generator is running. Yes, it is perfectly acceptable to operate your generator while in transit, and yes, your unit will act as if it's plugged into shore power when the generator is running.
Actually one of the big Class C's on a Freightliner chassis has an inverted front air conditioner as an option. There is a dedicated inverter for the front Air Conditioner. It draws its power from the battery bank usually at least 4 batteries. While driving down the road the 4 house batteries are combined with the 2 engine start batteries. The alternators on the big Cummins put out 275 amps.

This means you don't have to fire up the genny to power the front AC.
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Old 02-25-2021, 03:47 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by Camper_bob View Post
A word to the OP about the red text here. Don't get confused, you WILL NOT be able to run either of your air conditioners using the inverter and 12V. Just wanted to clarify; some newbies assume that all 110-120VAC is the same, so any of it should be able to run the Air Conditioning units.



Good catch!
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Old 02-25-2021, 03:54 PM   #7
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To have the air conditioning in the living area working while driving, does the generator need to be on. Thanks, we're newbies.
Just a thought, I suspect you would want the RV A/C on for coach passengers? I haven't ever needed additional cooling for just the two front seat passengers, but I know the previous owner ran the generator and coach A/C when they had additional passengers. He told me it cost him about 1~2mpg to do that. If it wasn't too hot you could likely point the dash air vents toward the back and keep the blower on high, which would keep the passengers cool on a warm day but not for a hot day. ~CA
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Old 02-25-2021, 07:58 PM   #8
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Oh, don’t get me wrong, there are 12 V systems that CAN do it, but those would be the rare exception at this point. The Freightliner example is the first example I’ve heard of in an OEM install of a 12v capable air conditioning system. I expect that as LiPo batteries come down in cost, systems like that will become more common. There is a YouTube channel out there whose name escapes me right now where they set up a system that could run on batteries in a large Class A. And there’s even one member on this forum who has done it (again, I can’t remember who that was, sorry). But again, those are the exceptions.

As for using the dash AC, that actually works pretty well except on hot days. But be careful if you have little ones. One day DW shut down the generator when my son was younger. We had been driving for a while, and when we stopped, we discovered it was somewhat uncomfortably warm back there. Son was asleep and too young to complain about the heat anyway, but since then (and that was pretty early in our ownership of the Greyhawk) if we’re running with the generator off and it’s warm out, we check back there more frequently, especially when he’s asleep. But he’s also old enough to complain about it too...
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