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by joey cottingham on April 7th, 2005

joey cottingham

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I bought a 110 volt air conditioner (small one). It's a 5000 btu. Is it possible to use a 1000 watt power inverter and use it in my automobile?

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Answers. 9 helpful answers below.

  • by jalex137 on August 1st, 2005

    jalex137

    I have no reason to doubt notmrjohn's figure of near 1500 watts to run this A/C. Let's assume you had a 1500 watt inverter (you would really want a larger one for a little reserve capacity, maybe 2000). What will it take to power this thing? Just for round numbers, let's say your alternator can output 15 volts--which it probably can under very light loads. That would mean your alternator would need to produce 100 amps to power this A/C. Allowing for a little inefficiency in the inverter, maybe 110 amps. And let's not forget your car's normal electrical requirements. If we allow just 15 amps, that's 125. I doubt you have a 125 amp alternator--a few cars do--and if you do, it wouldn't last long with this kind of load. This is why auto A/C's are driven directly from the engine, and not by electric motor.

    You didn't say how you might mount this thing so that it can exhaust the hot air and drain the condensate.

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  • by notmrjohn on April 12th, 2005

    notmrjohn

    There is no way of telling from the info you've given. A watt is a measurement of power, the BTU is a measurement of energy. A watt can be converted to BTU/hour, a BTU to a watt hour. We got no way to figure the wattage of your unit. If you still have the energy efficiency rating (EER) sticker or the owners manual you can figure the wattage though. Divide 5000 BTU's by the EER rating and you'll wind up with the watts. And don't forget the amperage rating, you'll probably be OK 110 airconditioning is usually 15 to 20 amps but may be more.
    Having said all that , and it wasn't easy, my keyboard always puts in "t" when I want "y" and 'tother way 'round, so I get antway for anyway and "no wat to figure the wayyage", so antway, I finagled some dimensions into a formula for figuring amount of temperature change and the BTU's and wattage of air conditioners for rooms of given sizes and came up with- 4900 btu and 1436 watts. So I think you're gonna have to just sweat it out.

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  • by Anonymous on July 24th, 2008

    Anonymous

    To get a 15 amp circuit at 120 volts you need an 1800 watt(final output) inverter. Not sure how inverters are rated but its probally about 1800 in and 1600 out due to loss in "heat". Not to mention companies do everything they can to "advertize" higher than the real world figures. Anyway 1800 watts is watt you need to match a 15 amp circuit, that is what is rated for most house wall plugs. The output of an altenator is over 15amps, but 15 is a safe number so you need a 120 watt altenator to safley provide 15 amps of power.

    To sum it up, a secondary altenator with its own battery not tied into the cars electrical system would be the best option.
    132 amp altenator (10% over)
    2000 watt inverter at output (10%+ over)
    A seperate battery.

    Can be put on 15 amp 120 watt protected circuit with a gfi and be just as safe as the plug in your bathroom.

    No it don't take 15 watts to run a 5000BTU unit however thats what is usually in the walls of your house.

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  • by MUDTech on July 24th, 2008

    MUDTech

    Here is amazing idea that is sure to work. It is a new and totally revolutionary idea that I pioneered, that has successfully worked ever time (100 percent!!!!!). FIX YOUR A/C OR BUY A CAR THAT HAS IT.

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  • by rdillon7872 on July 23rd, 2008

    rdillon7872

    They have 12 volt exterior a/c's for vans and rv's.

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  • by geek860 on May 23rd, 2007

    geek860

    To address the above concerns it is possible to install a second alternator. This would allow you to have one purely powering the A/C unit. I would personally just open the windows. Running an appliance inside your vehicle is never recommended unless it is specifically designed for that. To answer your question, yes it is possible, but it is not recommended.

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  • by Ho--Jo on June 10th, 2007

    Ho--Jo

    Sure, mount it like this.

    http://www.mpsaz.org/c3rmhs/css/RedneckAirConditioning.htm

    LOL LOL

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  • by peepee on July 6th, 2008

    peepee

    A 5000 BTU air conditioner pulls 500 Watts (9.6 AMPS), it needs THREE times that amount to get started, this would be under a minute that it would require the 1500 watts, then it return back to 500 watts of continuous use.

    I found this information from reading many forums, hope that it works for you as I'm about to find out myself.

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  • by southern shadetree on May 23rd, 2007

    southern shadetree

    a trunk mounted gas generator might work but it would be boo ugly

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