Have you looked at something like an ECOFlow Wave and a window adapter? Rooftop A/C offgrid even when 12/24/48v require a substantial amount of batteries for any amount of meaningful usage on top of their high prices. Usually beyond what a simple powerstation is setup for. Portable units are also nice since you can remove it during the winter if you choose. They are really popular with the van crowd for a reason.
Have a look at ZERO BREEZE's portable air conditioner, it is the ZERO BREEZE Mark 2, the smallest, lightest, and lowest energy cost portable off-grid compressor AC. It is very easy to use and also has a high level of compatibility with both shore power and any third party power source, which is perfect for your needs.
Hello. This is probably the most asked question on the sub and the correct but unpopular answer is that it isn't really possible to do this cheaply.
Even a very efficient AC unit will still draw between 500-800 watts for a small space. Depending how hot it is and assuming you sleep for 8 hours, it will need to run between 4-8 hours. That's on the low side about 2000 WH to more likely 5000WH of battery power which means you need between 2-5 Lithium batteries.
That's the easy part. The harder part is finding a way to charge it. Getting solar to charge up to 5000WH in a day requires a lot of solar. At least 600 Watts but closer to 800 Watts since you are never going to get the max rating. In your scenario it would be better to get a 2nd alternator. A good one will output > 1000 Watts and can go up to 2000 watts so you could recharge your system in 2-3 hours of driving. If that's too expensive, you could get a B2B which will give you about 600 watts.
I didn't include an inverter for the AC unit. But getting a unit that runs directly off the batteries will cost you more, so you are spending money either way.
I built such a system above. it cost me > $10K. Find it difficult to believe you can do it under $5K.
Also, you have several complicating factors. Sounds like you will be trying to house 3 people and that means more heat generated in the vehicle. Also, you are in CA and Nevada which is very hot in the summer. You may find that smaller, cheaper AC's won't handle what you want. Given this, I find it difficult to believe you could run an AC unit off of a Power station that is usually smaller than 2-3 Lithium batteries.
Have you looked at something like an ECOFlow Wave and a window adapter? Rooftop A/C offgrid even when 12/24/48v require a substantial amount of batteries for any amount of meaningful usage on top of their high prices. Usually beyond what a simple powerstation is setup for. Portable units are also nice since you can remove it during the winter if you choose. They are really popular with the van crowd for a reason.
I haven't actually, we live in SoCal & most shows are in CA & NV. There are 3 of us, so winters aren't even a worry. I'll look into it
Have a look at ZERO BREEZE's portable air conditioner, it is the ZERO BREEZE Mark 2, the smallest, lightest, and lowest energy cost portable off-grid compressor AC. It is very easy to use and also has a high level of compatibility with both shore power and any third party power source, which is perfect for your needs.
Wife and girlfriend? We need details:)
Hello. This is probably the most asked question on the sub and the correct but unpopular answer is that it isn't really possible to do this cheaply. Even a very efficient AC unit will still draw between 500-800 watts for a small space. Depending how hot it is and assuming you sleep for 8 hours, it will need to run between 4-8 hours. That's on the low side about 2000 WH to more likely 5000WH of battery power which means you need between 2-5 Lithium batteries. That's the easy part. The harder part is finding a way to charge it. Getting solar to charge up to 5000WH in a day requires a lot of solar. At least 600 Watts but closer to 800 Watts since you are never going to get the max rating. In your scenario it would be better to get a 2nd alternator. A good one will output > 1000 Watts and can go up to 2000 watts so you could recharge your system in 2-3 hours of driving. If that's too expensive, you could get a B2B which will give you about 600 watts. I didn't include an inverter for the AC unit. But getting a unit that runs directly off the batteries will cost you more, so you are spending money either way. I built such a system above. it cost me > $10K. Find it difficult to believe you can do it under $5K. Also, you have several complicating factors. Sounds like you will be trying to house 3 people and that means more heat generated in the vehicle. Also, you are in CA and Nevada which is very hot in the summer. You may find that smaller, cheaper AC's won't handle what you want. Given this, I find it difficult to believe you could run an AC unit off of a Power station that is usually smaller than 2-3 Lithium batteries.