Generator power

[Grandpawlee]

How much generator power do i need to run my two 15k air conditioners? Comments? Suggestions? Personal experience?
Thanks.
I know, it’s winter. Just planning ahead like the rest of you folks!

[RAurand]

Originally Posted by Grandpawlee

How much generator power do i need to run my two 15k air conditioners? Comments? Suggestions? Personal experience?
Thanks.
I know, it’s winter. Just planning ahead like the rest of you folks!

That depends.
If you have a Micro-Air soft start. 2000 watts will be fine.

https://www.microair.net/products/ea...nt=30176048267

I run my A/C and lights and refrigerator on a single 2000 watt Yamaha Inverter Generator. But if I am going to run a griddle and or coffee maker and other electronics, I run my (2) Yamaha's in parallel.
(2) 2000 watt generators are easier to handle and move around at 47 pounds each than a 3500 watt Genny weighing a lot more.

[SkyBound]

Two 15K air conditioners at once? 4.5Kw continuous. Both of those running would easily draw over 30amps. If both started up at the same time, the peak draw would be tremendous.

[RAurand]

Originally Posted by SkyBound

Two 15K air conditioners at once? 4.5Kw continuous. Both of those running would easily draw over 30amps. If both started up at the same time, the peak draw would be tremendous.

Not if you have a Micro-Air Softstart on both A/C's.
You will be very surprised and how much that Micro-Air cuts down dramatically the current draw!

research IT. There is a lot of good things said about it on this forum!

[SkyBound]

The soft start add-on reduces the current draw while it's running?

[RAurand]

Originally Posted by SkyBound

The soft start add-on reduces the current draw while it's running?

No, but it sure cuts down on the huge amount the compressor draws when starting.
Just to tell you what a Micro-Air can do, I have started and run my 15K A/C with a plain outdoor extension cord (20 amp) plugged into my 15 amp 120 volt plug of my 2000 watt Yamaha and then plugged into the 30 Amp RV cord with an adapter and could run my refrigerator, lights and A/C.

[norty1]

We have kinda drifted away from the posters question. How much kw to run 2 15k ac's?

[2edgesword]

The Dometic website shows the power requirement is 1750W in cooling mode for a 15K air condition (1750W/115V = 15A) so running two is about 30A. As mentioned start-up will be significantly higher but with a Micro-Air on each unit the start-up load can be minimized.

[sasiki]

Short answer, You'll need two generators when paralleled have a 50a plug. This would be any flavor of 3000 watt or more generators. Or a single generator with 50 amp plug.

[RAurand]

Originally Posted by norty1

We have kinda drifted away from the posters question. How much kw to run 2 15k ac's?

No, not really. To answer the OP question depends of if the op plans on installing a Micro-Air or not. That makes all the difference as to what the op will need KW wise.

[Grandpawlee]

Originally Posted by sasiki

Short answer, You'll need two generators when paralleled have a 50a plug. This would be any flavor of 3000 watt or more generators. Or a single generator with 50 amp plug.

Thanks for the tip! Where can i find a parallel adapter that comes with a 50A plug? Would i have to buy a specific brand of generator?
I have that “whisper” duct system Jayco is so high on but even after the air flow problem was “ fixed” by the dealer it is still weak in the living area. It is just plain Wimpy in this 2019 Eagle.

[smithmdsmith]

As stated you will want to have about 45-50 amps of power available to use the trailer and run both A/Cs. You can get that with one big generator (about 6000 watts), two 3000-watt generators paralleled, or three 2000-watt generators paralleled. Duration Power sells a triple adapter. I built my own.

[Grandpawlee]

Originally Posted by smithmdsmith

As stated you will want to have about 45-50 amps of power available to use the trailer and run both A/Cs. You can get that with one big generator (about 6000 watts), two 3000-watt generators paralleled, or three 2000-watt generators paralleled. Duration Power sells a triple adapter. I built my own.

Thanx. I am leaning toward two 3500 predators with a 50A parallel plug by Champion. I guess it has to be modified to work on the predators. Noise is a definite issue with the Champions. Suggestions?

[smithmdsmith]

I don't have any experience with Predator generators. I have used Honda and Champion generators. If I were buying today, I would buy Champion. Champion has a 3-year warranty, good products, and excellent customer support (or so I've read...I've never needed it).

Actually I would buy three 2000-watt champion generators. The main advantage to 3 smaller generators is they are easier to move (about 50 lbs each instead of 107 lbs each).

[RetiredLEO]

One way to look at it is that Jayco uses a 4000 Onan in their Class C's with either a 15K or two 11.5K A.C's

[SloPoke]

In our Seneca, We have two 15k Air conditioners. Beyond the two AC units, we also power a Progressive Dynamics Power Converter that charges our batteries, An electric fireplace, Convection Microwave and the Refrigerator. For obvious reasons, we don't run the fireplace when we have the AC units running.

Our Generator is a Cummins/Onan QD8000. A diesel 8kw generator that can power our Seneca just fine on a normal day. Have we had any situations where 8Kw of power is not enough to power both AC's, the power converter and the refrigerator - YES, IT HAS HAPPENED, more than one time too. Generators are typically rated at sea-level and at 70F. They lose capacity and cooling at higher elevation as well as higher temperatures. Our Onan shut down on overload/overheat just running our rig on a hot summer day as the combination of all the different factors can come to exceed the duty-cycle capacity.

Take a careful look at all of these generators you are considering... Each has a duty cycle that is usually only for a few hours, and the rating they advertise is not what it can deliver over a period of hours. A Yamaha EF2000 generator might be advertised as a 2kw genny, but it is really only rated at 1600 watts and 13.3 Amps on a continuous basis. It won't be capable of running a typical Airxcel(makes the coleman unit) 15k AC unit is rated at 15.9A running amperes (Start cycle is much higher, but to accommodate the suggestion of the soft start we will leave it at that) Especially on a hot day and a few thousand feet above sea-level.

The most important thing when thinking about your Generator choice is running capacity, not peak capacity.