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Added portable AC/heat unit to my promaster conversion.
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1 exhaust hose, 12,000 BTU's. A twin bed flips down from each side and rests on the garage roof. So far it works; I will watch the exhaust hose closely. Thanks!
FWIW, (non van use)
I have a 12k window unit with the exhaust reduced to 8" round metal duct, the exhaust air can reach 135°f . The delta IIRC can range from 30° to 50°f even though I over pressurize the fresh air intake.
I'm guessing your exhaust vent would be toasty warm not to mention restricting the air flow
I have a 12k window unit with the exhaust reduced to 8" round metal duct, the exhaust air can reach 135°f . The delta IIRC can range from 30° to 50°f even though I over pressurize the fresh air intake.
I'm guessing your exhaust vent would be toasty warm not to mention restricting the air flow
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I’d think a two duct unit would solve some of the efficiency and air pressure issues. My son has one in his house that works much better than our old single duct unit we gave to our grand daughter because it doesn’t need to pull in new air to replace all the air exhausted from the one duct unit.
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Do people really have experience with hot exhaust tubes or are we just speculating? I run one of these in my house constantly and I have never once felt the exhaust tube/area be hot or radiating.
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I experimented w/ a 9K single hose. About 18" duct. 90F+ ambient. Could touch duct but WAY too hot to grasp n hold. No temp taken. So the entire duct was radiating into the cab. Unit could only give about 10 degree delta so scraped that idea. No interest in insulating duct because the unit plus a fat tube was too much real estate to sacrifice.
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Interesting, thanks for the insight!
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There are two types of these units:
The dual hose units bring in outside air through one hose - run it across the compressed / condenser side - and then exhaust it through the second hose.
The single hose units pull in the pre-cooled air from inside (the van in this case) - run it across the compressed / condenser side - and then exhaust it through the hose.
The net effect is that a van with the single hose style will need a fresh air intake to make up for the air flowing out of the hose. Without this intake air, the flow through the exhaust hose will be too low to work correctly. It does not take long before it becomes annoying that the cool air is being exhausted out the hose.
The dual hose units are pretty dramatically more efficient - I am not even sure how they still sell the single hose units.
- Single hose
- dual hose
The dual hose units bring in outside air through one hose - run it across the compressed / condenser side - and then exhaust it through the second hose.
The single hose units pull in the pre-cooled air from inside (the van in this case) - run it across the compressed / condenser side - and then exhaust it through the hose.
The net effect is that a van with the single hose style will need a fresh air intake to make up for the air flowing out of the hose. Without this intake air, the flow through the exhaust hose will be too low to work correctly. It does not take long before it becomes annoying that the cool air is being exhausted out the hose.
The dual hose units are pretty dramatically more efficient - I am not even sure how they still sell the single hose units.
Doesn't this mean that by adding a second hose for the intake to a single hose unit, the efficiency could be improved?
I've got a spare Midea (Eco Friendly Lite) single hose unit to experiment with...
Edit after googling: Usually there seem to be two intakes. One for the circulating air, and one for the air that will end up as exhaust air.
Some videos suggest that it improves efficiency quite a bit if you add a second hose to the second air intake.
I've got a spare Midea (Eco Friendly Lite) single hose unit to experiment with...
Edit after googling: Usually there seem to be two intakes. One for the circulating air, and one for the air that will end up as exhaust air.
Some videos suggest that it improves efficiency quite a bit if you add a second hose to the second air intake.
A major disadvantage of single hose air conditioners is when weather condition is humid.
When connected to the grid for power (if owner isn’t too concerned about other issues beyond cooling van) it is easy enough to upsize a single hose unit to get equivalent cooling of a two hose A/C. However, since exhaust air is taken from inside van, which has to be replaced by sucking outside “humid” air into van through all kinds of leaks, the inside of van may never reach the same level of comfort because relative humidity could remain too high even if unit is oversized. That would be one of my main concerns since I regularly travel along Gulf Coast.
When connected to the grid for power (if owner isn’t too concerned about other issues beyond cooling van) it is easy enough to upsize a single hose unit to get equivalent cooling of a two hose A/C. However, since exhaust air is taken from inside van, which has to be replaced by sucking outside “humid” air into van through all kinds of leaks, the inside of van may never reach the same level of comfort because relative humidity could remain too high even if unit is oversized. That would be one of my main concerns since I regularly travel along Gulf Coast.
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Ditto on the single/double hose situation. My intended solution is to have a separate battery run unit to take in air and cool it before it gets to the AC unit, then exhaust the AC through a separate opening far above and away from the intake. I'm also thinking of adding some mushroom vents to the roof to push out hot air, and hang some fans around the van to keep the air circulating.
I've been thinking about adding an insulated housing for the exhaust tube, but I hadn't really experienced a tube hot enough to need it in the time that I've been using these units in my house. Thanks for the tip on the insulated dryer hose!
I've been thinking about adding an insulated housing for the exhaust tube, but I hadn't really experienced a tube hot enough to need it in the time that I've been using these units in my house. Thanks for the tip on the insulated dryer hose!
I’m not saying this is an issue with condensate ,,, but I recall 1976 & something about the water ,,,
@el Jefe. What say you!!
@el Jefe. What say you!!
The video is about the condenser inlet and not the evaporator inlet.
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