Zerobreeze Mark 2 portable AC

For Trucks

I am thinking of getting this thing without their batteries and just run it of my 4 truck batteries with inverter. Has anybody tried that?

Don't expect much from it, but hoping it will maintain decent below 70f temperature in the sleeper with closed up curtains during 11pm-7am timeframe.

Not sure if truck batteries will be enough for 8hrs running time, since I also have a small household refrigerator

 

I had looked at that in the past. Thought it would work pretty good for that kind of stuff. If you have the nice deep cycle batteries it would most likely work for the whole night with fridge. Update us if you get it I would like to see how it works myself.

 

I think when i looked at that the cost to btu ratio was so small (big cost, small btu) that it made no sense with heat pumps existing.

 

No way. It’s just not powerful enough. The price is high also. Don’t waste your $$$

 

This product exceeds the price point of a HF suitcase generator + 9-12k btu portable a/c unit that would do a better cooling job. I would pass in favor of other, more proven and less proprietary options. That thing just has buyer's regret written all over it.

 

So this is what I run currently. 2k Predator gen and a 5k btu window unit in the sleeper door when parked. Works great in Tx heat, but I do not have the gen permanently mounted, I just keep it in the passenger floorboard. Setting it up and putting it away has become tedious, so I will be permanently mounting it or a larger 3650w Firman unit with remote start.

I am much more interested in a battery powered ac unit that I don't have to continuously fuel. 2-3 batteries in the right side stepbox to power a unit. Currently looking at the Dometic RTX2000? rooftop unit or possibly a small minisplit system that can run off an inverter hooked to the batteries.

Id love to see one of these units get tested in a semi in the real world. The btu output is low, but if you have it blowijg directly on you, it should be fine.

 

I hate the idea of having a generator and hassle that it brings. My plan is to install a curtain on the bottom of the top bed, so it creates a small isolated space in the bottom bunk
Since the space is gonna be very small, I think this unit will be able to cool it off enough for comfortable sleeping.
I already ordered it, will try to test it out next weekend

 

That might just work, my bunk stays hot up high, even with A/C on high, since heat rises. Hope it does.

 

I run a midroof truck so less heat up top to worry about. Just like with an apu, running the bunk ac before you shut the truck off will help by having the space already cooled.

Im excited to see how you like that unit. I also like that it has ducting. Might make set up easier/more permanent.

 

Thanks for taking one for the team. I'm usually the pioneer that gets slaughtered by the indians. Maybe you'll have better results LOL.

One thing that caught my eye.. are you in the truck in your avatar? If so, that black paint ain't helping. Not saying it's your fault or anything, just an observation. My last truck was a red T-600, the new Macks I got are white. One of the very first things I noticed when moving my stuff into it, was how slow it was to warm up inside versus the KW. More than I expected. Maybe look into pulling some interior and doing some insulation if you haven't already? Tearing into my back wall for a project revealed why my bunk heater was fighting so hard this winter. The factory insulation really isn't. A flimsy sheet of loose knit fiberfill that wouldn't even make a good horse blanket. I may or may not do something with that. Too many projects and not enough time or money to do them all at once.

Being a little further down that path, I can tell you there's a hundred ways to skin that cat depending on who you ask or happen to follow. The appearance of the install and how you use it really determines how the project shapes up. Ultimately your power supply is the critical path you must design to. The portable @DUNE-T linked says 150-300W in use, so that's a plus provided it's cooling ability measures up to expectations.

I just got done installing 9k btu ultra high efficiency mini splits. Not enough use to really evaluate battery capacity needs yet, and make decisions on the various solutions that can resolve that. The guy I got the idea from runs his off his regular battery bank and claims he's got enough capacity to start the engine in the morning. So far, I'm seeing that may work at least in the near term, but not ideal. I haul reefers, which usually means more night driving and day parking. The latter putting more demand on any a/c system. The good news is, with a reefer I got my jump start right there if I dip too much into the truck batteries. Not enough alternator on the reefer unit to use it for power, and I'm not keen on depending on the trailer so much. I also usually do 4-5 day turns, so more than a 10-12 hr break at one sitting is rare. I do 34's at home. Obviously not ideal for every use case as others go out for weeks or months at a time, or some home daily.

The immediate next step is a battery monitor panel so I can see what's going on without looking at the inverter panel inside a cabinet, and a low voltage alarm to wake me if I need to crank up the truck to recharge. The voltage panels are on my desk to be installed after I complete tomorrow's trailer hub project and maybe get out on the road to earn a little. From the basic "use what you got" plan, there's all sorts of options depending on how trouble free you got money and time to buy. I've seen examples from what I have now up to all out RV-style systems with solar panels and lithium house batteries. Not gonna lie, it's a complicated problem to approach, and the information available is worse than the liar's poker at the diner counter. Before the summer gets along much further, I'll probably be sizing up a 500W or so solar setup to help slow the truck battery consumption. I got some ideas, but not quite ready to start spending yet. I want to run my setup as-is a while to evaluate and fine tune the direction I want to go with it.