12-volt air conditioning

[warfin]

I live in Arizona and it gets a little hot outside sometimes. I am looking for a 12-volt air conditioner that I could rig up to one of the ambulance doors on the back of my troopie. I don't want to do any permanent mods like cutting a hole in the roof. Running an inverter to convert from DC to AC wastes too much juice and it would need to be a heck of an inverter. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Andy

 

[NMuzj100]

Real AC is not possible on twelve volts but in AZ an evaporative cooler might help.

Swampy 12-volt Evaporative Coolers - Made in Mesa, AZ

 

[davegonz]

You could build yourself a pretty efficient 12v system, but it will be very expensive.

Get you a Waeco coolmatic 54 compressor/condensing unit and mate it to an evaporator with a 12v fan blowing across it.

These units are based on the Danfoss BD-35F compressor which is used in portable fridge/freezer units that run on batteries. This compressor is very quiet and efficient (2.75A-3.12A@12V DC).

 

[MrMoMo]

Well, you can easily put AC in your Cruiser, but it is not going to be powered completely off your 12V system. You just don't have enough power.

This is what we install in many of our boats. Nice ICE cold air. Not sure what they cost or what you are looking to spend, but they are fairly simple to install.

http://www.hammondac.com/

Matter of fact - here they show it in one of our boats!!
http://www.hammondac.com/details.html?order=3&ownedby=1536&cat=10&adid=45694&pid=2


Best bet might be to go to a wreckers and find a car that is already set up. Just rip out all the components and do some fabrication.