AC Electric Only Skoolie?

[MingDynasty]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

Correct , for driving it won’t do a thing , for being parked your 2 window units (depending on size) will be fine. Assuming you are insulating the bus or mainly using them in shaded areas or at night.

As I’ve mentioned before, driving down the road takes a LOT of A/C

Would rooftop units be better for road driving? Or is there no good solution for A/C while driving?
I've also thought about partitioning off the section by the drivers area and having a A/C unit cool a smaller portion of the bus only... not the whole thing (its a full size bus).

Sorry, getting off topic from my original thread post, but I suppose it is related to the type of electric I choose to run.

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by MingDynasty

Would rooftop units be better for road driving? Or is there no good solution for A/C while driving?
I've also thought about partitioning off the section by the drivers area and having a A/C unit cool a smaller portion of the bus only... not the whole thing (its a full size bus).

Sorry, getting off topic from my original thread post, but I suppose it is related to the type of electric I choose to run.

Roof a/c units are generally 12k-13k btus.

I have clear memories of I-40 through AZ in August with two 12.5k BTU roof airs running full blast. I was wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and sweating like crazy. It was miserable.

I suspect that 4 roof a/c's would be adequate to keep you tolerably comfortable while driving in warm weather.

To support those a/c's you will need generator around 10kw.

Or, you can add engine driven a/c. From what I understand, factory installed a/c in a full size bus is 50k-80k BTU.

[Booyah45828]

If you want ac going down the road. You almost need engine driven ac. I don't even know if 4 units on the roof would provide enough btu's to cool the entire compartment adequately. You could try and section off the front where you'll be sitting and using a unit or two, but that will still take quite a bit of cooling to do,

And then you'll have to have a generator running while going down the road. Or one helluva an alternator and inverter/battery bank.


Moral of the story is, if you want road going AC, you're better off buying a bus with that stuff already installed, and then have another ac unit to cool while parked.

[cadillackid]

just to give you an idea.. a typical school bus in its factory form if ordered with A/C and is say 11 or 12 windows long will have typically 120,000 - 140,000 BTU of A/C in it...



if you do a really nice job of insulating your bus you can likely get away with having half of that for good hot weather crusing on the road..



a member here has a really nice conversion that was completely gutted and insulated well and his 2 minisplits of 12,000 BTU each didnt keep the bus cool while driving.. he is working on adding engine-driven A/C to that bus.



adding A/C can be a lot of work and expensive unless you have a line on getting A/C equipment cheap from someone taking it out..



if its important to have good A/C on the road.. (I know it is for me), then I would go get a bus that has it installed already.. even if its not fully operable, its typically something simple to repair.. Ive added A/C to busses and have amassed a collection of nearly free equipment to add it to a bus im restoring, but just to buy the equipment for A/C new is more than twice what you pay to buy a bus that already has it at auction

[Iqinsanity]

Keep in mind 10-11.66 tons of A/C for something as as small as a bus is all the proof you need that it’s extremely poorly sealed and insulated from the factory.

There’s no reason you can’t drop the load down to 2-4 tons with better sealing windows and a good insulation job. And for god’s sake don’t paint your bus with a dark color, white or off white will help tremendously. At the very least paint the roof white.

As far as buying a bus that already has that 10 tons of A/C, well that’s another reason to source your bus from the Metro Phoenix area. I live here, but if I didn’t I still wouldn’t look for a bus anywhere else. A/C is simply not optional here so you know it’s well maintained and with no humidity, barely any rain, and definitely no snow/salt that bus will be as rust free as you could ever hope to find. Well worth a premium to buy in the valley of the sun.

[Rock-N-Ruth]

Originally Posted by MingDynasty

Hello everyone,
Just joined the forum here. I have a 2008 International and am preparing for the conversion.

I'm wondering if I'm missing something important here. I'm thinking about running all my electric for AC. The two power sources would be shore power when I am camping and generator for anytime I am not camping (traveling down the road, walmart parking lot). I have a 6500 watt generator I plan to install.

I'm planning on using house window units for the air conditioning (the bus does not currently have air conditioning) and regular 115v appliances for the kitchen.
If I stick with an AC electrical system only, what benefits will I be missing from a 12v system with batteries? It seems most people have a 12v system, too, so I'm wondering what I'm missing if I stick with a 115v system only?
Any help for this rookie is appreciated!

Your plan is fine. Consider a small sub circuit for secondary lighting and perhaps your fridge that can run off a 1500 or 2000 watt pure sine inverter tied to your starting batteries by a simple isolation circuit. That way when your engine is running you have lights and the fridge stays cold without running the generator.
In our house/car bus, an International 300 rear engine bus, we have a very heavy alternator that was there to run the huge after market air conditioning units. So it has no problem keeping the batteries charged, providing for bus electrical needs, powering our inverter which runs the window a.c. unit, fridge, lights and tv.
We live in it full time mostly boondocking even when on our own property so we have opted for a redundant solar system with a generator as backup but for what you are wanting to do this would be overkill.
As you build and learn from our experience and mistakes as well as your ow you will figure out what works best for you. I'm looking forward to seeing your ideas come to fruition.

[Gorzie]

As others have mentioned you just need to figure out what your needs and wants are. Then determine your budget.

I am starting with shore power only. LED lighting is planned from small battery for now. I will have solar some time next summer. I was able to acquire a 260 watt 24 volt solar panel for $50 that was almost new. It was only used a few weekends for demonstrations. I am researching inverters and LiFePO batteries. We are going to be doing a fair amount of boondocking but also state and national parks. But as was mentioned above this will be a steel tent. We wont have a TV or other large load devices. We do have a small 115v fridge/freezer that will run from an inverter.

[Ranchorossa]

What happens if your generator dies or won't start? A propane refrigerator will cost you more up front, but will leave you less to worry about. Or at least a small battery bank with an inverter. Things always break when you least expect it. Have a back up.

[Iqinsanity]

Are propane refrigerators really that reliable? I haven’t heard good things about them.

1500w 12v inverters are cheap enough along with a single battery. Probably the better emergency option.

[JDOnTheGo]

Originally Posted by Iqinsanity

Are propane refrigerators really that reliable? I haven’t heard good things about them.

Having had two motorhomes with absorption refrigerator/freezers and been part of the RV world for ten years or so...

Absorption refrigerators that are properly installed and maintained work fairly well and are reasonably reliable. If you like your ice cream rock hard, you may be disappointed. They sip propane but do require a small bit of 12VDC power (something less than 1 ah, IIRC, assuming no ice maker).

They do have some reliability issues. Both electrical issues and ammonia leaks are reasons for failure. The latter is sometimes accompanied with a fire. Please don't read that as a major problem/disaster waiting to happen (though it is if it happens to you). There are tens of thousands of these units on the road and the fires are pretty rare. The bigger problem is getting these units installed correctly which includes level (and operating them when level) and proper ventilation of the heating coils (because of how the principal of absorption works). You are likely to hear many stories of these refrigerators (and particularly freezers) not working well - especially when hot outside. That is frequently a problem with the installation.

It's all about making decisions that fit the mission.

[Ranchorossa]

I had one in my trailer and it never gave me any problems the seven years that I owned it. I have a new one that has given me no problems for the short time that I have used too. I think the newer ones are considerably more reliable than the ones 20 years ago. They will drain a battery fairly quickly though.