[VAC] Generators running A/C; swamp coolers (was: Jill's find & solar cost)

[Sarah Calhoun <srcalhoun@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mary:  there was a long discussion about batteries and generators a while back,
and Roger Hightower said:

Bill, that Honda 3000 runs the air conditioner with no problem.  The
largest load appears when the a/c cuts in, but then it drops to a more
reasonable level.  You can hear the Honda surge a bit on a/c startup,
but it's still quiet.

The unit is extremely quiet.  You can have a normal conversation while
standing next to the Honda when it's running.  15 feet away, it's just
noticeable.  With the trailer between, you have to listen to know it's
running.

I'm completely satisfied with it.

BTW, the Honda units have a 12VDC charge outlet for charging batteries.
There is an inexpensive cable accessory for direct connection to the
batteries, and can be used while the generator is providing AC to the
trailer.  Very convenient.

Roger
--

Someone else said the Honda 3KW weighs 150 pounds or so but I don't know the
dimensions or whether you could run it from where it sits in your tow vehicle.
There was general consensus the Hondas were pretty quiet for generators although
the 3KW is rated at 50-58 db so it's not unnoticeable.  Jim Dunmyer had another
kind of unit that he liked also.

A swamp cooler is basically like running a fan through wet cloth, on a larger
scale.  They're also called evaporative coolers.  They produce a pleasant
coolness, not that refrigerator-feeling air you get in supermarkets, but they
won't lower the abient temperature by much, basically just take the edge off.
It's my understanding they are more energy efficient than other coolers because
they're less to run (basically a big fan) but they're also less cooling
efficient.  Also to accommodate the evaporative mechanism they tend to be kinda
big, and noisy.  Some folks here have talked about having one sticking out a
window for when they're parked.  They can also be roof-mounted but I doubt you'd
leave it up there when driving.  My folks use one on the roof to cool their
house in Bakersfield in the summer (most summer days are over 100; over 110 is
not uncommon); with judicious use of leaving windows & doors open during the
night & in the morning to capture cool air, then closing & shading them, plus
large trees shading the roof, not cooking during the day and not being
vigorously active in the afternoon, and dressing lightly, they get by pretty
well.  Most of their effort has to do with minimizing heat production; the swamp
cooler is just the capper, they run it for a couple of hours in the afternoon.
If you have to park yourself on asphalt directly under the blazing sun, why
would you WANT to be there?

Something I'm intrigued with lately is an air-source heat pump:  run it
backwards in summer, forward in winter.  It moves heat from one place to
another, like a refrigerator:  take heat from one place and put it in another,
depending on whether what you want is heat or the absence of heat.  They work
pretty well in moderate-climate winters (40s with occasional 30s) but not in
snow country (for that you need pipes buried in the ground).  They are supposed
to be quite energy efficient also for heating, which is a useful trait.  Don't
know if anyone knows of their being used in trailers, or how efficient they are
as a cooling mechanism.

--Sarah