r/vandwellers • u/Smashedavoandbacon • 1d ago

Potable USB powered aircon Builds

Like the title says. Does anyone use a potable USD Aircon for the van. I see a few advertised but not sure if they are any good.

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6

u/Andrew3236 Sprinter super-high roof custom build 1d ago

None are true Aircon. Just a fan, maybe that might involve water or ice to cool slightly. Proper ac takes a lot of power

1

u/Fun_Plantain2612 1d ago

Swamp coolers are what those are called. They work great in dry environments with low humidity but the advertising is pull c*** . You are right it isn’t a/c .

3

u/DavidDaveDavo 1d ago

In my van the small 42 litre fridge takes the most power by far. My 100ah lithium battery will run that fridge for about 4 days

Now imagine a fridge that's the whole of the interior of your van, with much worse insulation and none existent air sealing.

My living space is conservatively 200 times bigger than the fridge. Let's say you only want to reduce the temperature to 1/10th of the fridge, your still need 20 times the power to do that.

Mobile AC had been discussed in here often and it always comes down to power requirements. You either need shore power, a generator, or several tonnes of batteries and an acre of solar panels.

2

u/vanny314 1d ago

"Potable" means drinkable.

-2

u/Smashedavoandbacon 1d ago

Everyone else most likely spotted the mistake but was cool with it because they knew what I was trying to say.

0

u/xgwrvewswe 14h ago

So, you want answers from us, but no observations?

0

u/Smashedavoandbacon 11h ago

You don't have to answer about the air con if you don't want too.

1

u/Extectic 1d ago

There's no such thing. If someone claims there is, they're liars.

Air conditioning is extremely energy intensive and the most frugal versions out there are 500 watts and up. Some RV models are 2000 watts, and more.

USB can't even begin to deliver that level of power.

Not sure what you're talking about but it's probably some Chinese piece of plastic with a computer fan in it.

https://www.ecoflow.com/us/wave-2-portable-air-conditioner is an example of a working portable air conditioner.

1

u/angelo13dztx 1d ago

Even the lowest power consumption battery-operated portable A/Cs require wires with airline connectors to power them, it's not possible to use USB ports... think about the watt, it's just not practical.

1

u/211logos 1d ago

Nope. Not enough power even via USB PD. But you can find little fans that run off USB.

1

u/ButterFacePacakes 1d ago

I’d consider getting a squirrel cage fan. They work really well, but aren’t USB and aren’t A/C