ac appliance in the truck

One thing using an AC is you want the unit to match the space if you can. Sure a bigger one cools quicker but it does it so fast it doesn't do a good job removing the humidity.

Lowes, Home Depot and even Walmart has good deals on 5000 BTU AC's for around $100. The smaller you can find the better off you will be. 5000BTU cools 100-150 square feet. With the poor insulation and excess heat that ought to be just right.

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=roomac.pr_properly_sized

Like Harmon said there are a lot of portable models that vent out the window now. You could probably could buy an adapter window plate from IdleAire and go from there? Then you wouldn't be cutting any holes.

I checked on a Kenmore 5000 BTU and it uses about 550 watts after the compressor starts. With compressor start up you are looking at a 900-1000 watts surge for a second or two. You should have no problem with your set up.

Something like this would be a great setup and 920 watts. Lowes sells them. So does BestBuy and many other places.

http://www.delonghi.com/corporate_en/products/pac-t06-eco/

 

My 13,500BTU rooftop one does an excellent job, although I wouldn't want to go much smaller.
I ran a portable 8,000BTU one before the rooftop went in there, and it did struggle a little. May be the air flow though, never tried a window one as I wanted an easier setup and better appearance IMO.
A friend of mine bought one, and he is not happy with it. He says there is a lot of heat that comes off the duct hose, and it is warming the interior of the truck. He has also never tried a window mounted one.
If going portable, I would want a 10,000BTU myself. As already said, the insulation on these rigs is next to nothing, and all the glass makes it even worse. I seriously looked at @9-10k btu rooftops, but am #### glad I went with the 13,500 one. That reserve is sure nice to have, and it saves power (thus gas) in the end by being able to cycle on and off instead of running flat out all the time.
Just my .02 from my experiences with the 2 types I have run.

Martin

 

I sit mine in the middle of the floor and aim the vent towards my bunk. It has a hose and a little window mount for the hose to vent it out the window. Like I said before so far so good. For the amount of money spent compared to the amount it cost to idle the truck for the year I think it's great.

 

Agree 110%.
For the money involved, my only regret is not doing it years ago!
As Rob told me a while back, whichever way you choose to do the a/c and generator deal, just do it. The money saved is tremendous.

Martin

 

Reading this post it looks like people are talking about both portable, using a small round air duct, and window air conditioners. Am I correct and how do these units last dealing with the vibration in a truck?

 

I have a rooftop ac unit like an RV has.
I have read though, that the window ac units do not last long in a big rig.
The portable ones should last though. I used the 8,000btu version of this one before I installed the rooftop unit:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_211842-8000...L=?Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&facetInfo=
It worked, and took a whole 5 minutes to set up, if that long.
I made a plywood panel that fit into the window opening at the top, for the exhaust vent.

Martin

 

I've got an 8000 BTU portable air conditioner. Sits strapped in with a seatbelt while truck is moving. Parked, I just scoot it to the edge of the seat, hang an extension cord out the window that also has the duct adapter and plug into the little 2000 watt generator. The generator is advertised to run 10 hour low idle, and 5 hours high idle off one gallon of gasoline.

I normally run the generator on high idle to 'prime' the A/C then switch it to low idle and have gotten close to 9 hours of run time.

To the original poster, please don't spend $700 bucks, spend maximum $300 for a portable air conditioner that you could use at home as well if need be.

 

If he's running it at night on the batteries it's mostly the fan running.

I know he couldn't run it all day with the compressor cycling on four batteries.

Mine beeps low voltage after 20 minutes with 3 batteries. Gotta fire up the gen.

 

Has anyone tried a split system like this?

http://homedepot.digby.com/homedepo...Split+Air+Conditioner+&+Heat+Pump+-+110V/60Hz