Mini Split on NH

[n0mad]

Originally Posted by Burrington

What do you use to power it while you're boon-docking?

I have 2925W of solar and 22.8kWh of LiFePO4, listed in my signature. Inverter wise, I have two Victron 3kVA inverters running in split phase and a couple Autotransformers to load balance the 120V loads across the pair of them and to ensure that all single phase input (Onan generator, 30A shore power, etc) is stepped up to 240V split phase before being fed in. End result is I have 240V split phase power available at all times, whether from shore, generator, battery, or solar.

With the amount of solar and battery I've been able to keep the entire rig 70F on 95F days in Arizona without gen/shore and I've been able to keep it the same 70F on 40F days with below freezing nights in Idaho. Much above 95F and I'll still have to run the generator a small bit, so I'm eventually going to move to an elevated rack and add another 975W of panels. Those metrics also include virtually "normal" electrical use in the rig, including running the convection oven for dinner, blender, TVs, etc. We don't really do much to conserve, as we designed the system not to require it.

Even with this amount of solar/battery, using the rooftop ACs in this manner is entirely out of the question. On a 95F day they would use around 45kW. Our panels will produce 15-20kW on most days, and our battery capacity is only 22.8kWh. The split units use approximately a third of the power.

[Sipester]

Originally Posted by n0arp

On a 95F day they would use around 45kW. Our panels will produce 15-20kW on most days, and our battery capacity is only 22.8kWh. The split units use approximately a third of the power.

I love your set-up . . . and you are much to modest, only 22.8kWh of battery capacity!

[Burrington]

Wow, that is an amazing system - I'm impressed and jealous.

You must have also done some mods on the trailer frame and suspension to carry all that weight and still be within the GVWR.

[n0mad]

Originally Posted by Sipester

I love your set-up . . . and you are much to modest, only 22.8kWh of battery capacity!

Originally Posted by Burrington

Wow, that is an amazing system - I'm impressed and jealous.

You must have also done some mods on the trailer frame and suspension to carry all that weight and still be within the GVWR.

Thanks.

Regarding the weight, between the generator, batteries, components, air conditioners, rear platform and enclosure, etc, we have a net gain of 1600lbs and are running under the axle and pin ratings, and within 5% of the plated GVWR in either direction depending on what we're carrying and how full the tanks are.

The rear of the frame was reinforced quite a bit when building the platform, suspension rebuilt with MORryde SRE4000, triple X-factor crossbraces, 1/2" shackles, Titan EoH disc brakes, and we ride on 235/85r16 LR-G 14 ply tires. Pin box was swapped out for a GooseBox at some point a while back as well.

[Burrington]

I expected all those goodies to weigh a lot more than that. Well done!!

So are you an electrician or an engineer?... ��

[n0mad]

Originally Posted by Burrington

I expected all those goodies to weigh a lot more than that. Well done!!

So are you an electrician or an engineer?... ��

Neither - unless being an armchair engineer counts (I'm a network/systems engineer by trade which I don't believe counts). I just overanalyze and research my projects to death.

[glennwest]

I did this year add a 21kwh 48v battery pak in mine. This flue crisis put me out of work so my project not finished. But will be adding 8k Quattro Victron inverter and a Autotransformer. No rooftop units now so I see no problem getting 4k solar on roof. I intend to run all on my system. Still love these mini splits. Still no problems.

[ALLOY]

Originally Posted by n0arp

Just chiming in, even though this is an old thread. Another Keystone Alpine owner and myself have installed mini-splits primarily for boondocking. They installed theirs back in November I think, and I installed mine a few months ago, so time will tell on durability. Both have been dragged over some really poor "roads" without issues, and we're both very happy with them.

Being able to set the thermostat on the AC when boondocking (95F days in Arizona) and not worry about it has been amazing. I've recently started doing this with the heat setting on cold days, as well. It's still getting into freezing temps at night where we're currently staying (Idaho) and these last couple days have only gotten up into the 40s.

These seem to use roughly 1/3 of the energy my rooftop units did to do the same amount of work. They're so quiet you can hardly tell they're running - even the outdoor unit - and they provide heat down into the single digits.

Attachment 288898

FYI..... The sufficant srayed on our forestry roads here is alkaline. The road dust/mud will corrode non ferrous metal (aluminium / copper) and it dries like plaster so we wash it off right away.

[HDrider]

Had a chance to step into the NH show model with the Mini Spit system and I was pretty amazed, it was actually quieter than I had expected.