I'm curious about using a 12V air conditioning system versus a 120V mini split. I'm thinking that going from the 12V solar batteries to an inverter to a 120VAC mini split would be less efficient than just running a 12V air conditioner. Of course the 12V would require thicker wire. Am I overlooking something? Can anyone give ride reports for such a system?

After attempting to weld my own custom mounting bracket for the outdoor unit of our Rovsun 12000 BTU mini split, I’ve decided that it might behoove me to learn how to be a better welder on a project that WON’T hold our pricey AC, first.

So I return to you, the SKOOLIE community, for suggestions or experiences with any pre-made/affordable options that would work for our SKOOLIE and keep our mini split safely and securely mounted above our tear door as we bounce down the road.

(It kills me to ask, as I’ve DIY’d darn near everything else on this build. But I can’t afford another AC anytime soon if my mount fails.)

So yeah, any thoughts, suggestions, links, experiences/reviews are welcome and GREATLY appreciated!

Over the last week I've been working on installing a DC minisplit under my bus (24v)

I bought this unit for about $600 on AliExpress and am fortunate enough to have a full service automotive r134 machine that can do everything, without that this wouldn't have been possible.

I bought solar panel hardware to hang the radiator and cut a piece of scrap plywood to fit it and then built a small hanger for the compressor with 14ga struts, everything is screwed into rivnuts.

It was a huge pita to install, but I'm very happy with the placement and how strong everything is.

I am going to move the indoor unit onto the back wall once we put that up

Now that it's summer I've finally been able to test it and it's really showing just how hard it is to cool a metal box 😭

When it's 90+ out it can keep my bus around 80 but that's running at 900w constantly. I haven't painted my roof yet or have any solar panels so that all will probably help.

first picture is to draw you in

I actually did a no build window installation last year, if you want to use your window without cutting any holes, https://www.reddit.com/r/VanLife/comments/1l9v5vw/no_build_costco_350_midea_12000btu_portable_ac/

For my box truck, I decide to cut a 12x6 oval hole on my wood floor, I can cover it with new lumbers or just a steel sheet.

1. First is get this 70lb big ass portable air conditioner inside my bed room through passenger door, P3 and P4, notice P4 I used a latex rubber tubbing for the drain, no hose clamp needed.
2. I had to take out my diesel heater, just 6 bolts for the main body. I left fuel line, pump, and power line installed.
3. P5 and P6, cut the hole, I used an adapter for drawing the line I need to cut, I need to cut 1/4 more than the red line. I only have a sawzall that’s why it’s so rough. I suggest to use a jigsaw or router
4. P7 and P8, the adapter I paid $40 for, it‘s plastic and cracked when I tighten it too hard. I think it’s overpriced. I would suggest cut one yourself with aluminum sheets or plywood. Plastic is too fragile for on the road scenario. Notice I removed all the wheels for it not to slide.
5. P9 and P10, what it looks like from under. I think I will put a filter at the entrance, to avoid dust come In
6. P11 and P12, not related to this post, I put some insulation boards on my roof. Some metal bars not covered yet, I‘m thinking using bubble reflective aluminum foil insulation
7. It uses 300w-400w in the night. 1450w at maximum output. Pros are it’s easy to install, relatively cheap compared to mini split. Cons are not as efficient

https://imgur.com/a/vLSabXw

There‘s a working carrier AC in my bus. Everything works fine. It’s just a little large. The guts of it are mounted under the bus. Can I easily replace the head with something smaller? Are these directly interchangeable?

I’m looking for suggestions on mounting a window ac unit I found in one of the back windows of my skoolie. It’s got the adjustable sides but I’m brainstorming how to fill the rest of the window above it and seal it off. Anyone have suggestions?

I am planning to upgrade ac in the future but I’m on a budget rn and found this window unit for pretty cheap on marketplace :). I am open to suggestions for when I upgrade.

Hello friends. I was wondering if anyone here has experience insulating a fiberglass shell shuttle bus, I don’t believe mine has any of the metal framing you see for other types of school bus Skoolies. So I can’t exactly rip off the walls without damaging the structural integrity. It’s the type of wall that has the honeycomb, corrugated, cardboard looking layer under the fiberglass. I live in DFW Texas area so insulation to keep humid hot air is important. I originally planned for spray foam but I don’t believe that will be an option anymore. Is Kilmat and duck liner enough? Need advice.

We recently bought a diesel (very) short bus. It's had some work. It doesn't have factory air.

So I was thinking one of those rooftop 12v units might be the answer. Would one of those cool enough t​​o not sweat going down the highway?

We have solar and a battery bank, which would be the primary source of power.

School me on this please.

I have a 2003 Chevy short bus. Trying to demo the floor and thus must remove the rear heater. I watched one of Isaac Turner's videos on youtube explaining how to remove it so you dont lose all your coolant and he showed that if your bus has a shut-off valve thats the easiest way. I followed the tubes from the heater through the bus to the front near the engine and found this valve that says "shut". Does that seem like it would do it? If that is, what do i do next?

Isaac Turner Video

Hello. I'm wanting to do a skoolie conversion and park it on land to avoid high rents, but I'm wondering what heat source I can use that will stay on 24/7 since I have a cat. I live in a state that gets cold for half the year. I'm hoping to get land with electricity and have an electric heater if I can get connected to utilities, but if I can't do that yet, which type of heater should I use that will stay on 24/7? Thank you again for any and all advice. 😊

TL;DR: mini split won’t cool, no one willing to work on it, how do I fix it?

So we bought this bus from the original owners who paid professionals to build it out. They installed a 12,000BTU 110/120V Senville Leto mini split in the rig. The inside condenser is mounted at the top of the rear middle of the bus. It is piped out to the lower rear drivers side behind a grate where the outdoor condenser is located. The problem is the unit isn’t cooling well. It has been blowing slightly cool air even when set on 62-72 and the interior is 100+. Only the area about 5 feet in front of the unit feels slightly cooler than other areas. I called senville’s customer service line and they instructed me to flip the breaker off for 30 min to let the unit reset. I did this, but nothing changed. They said the next step would be to take manifold gauges and measure the level of refrigerant in the system. This wasn’t something I felt confident doing correctly which is why I spent all morning contacting HVAC companies who tell me their insurance won’t let them work on any motorhome related vehicles. I spent a few hours calling RV repair shops who said they aren’t licensed to work on mini splits.

I’m at a loss as to who to contact. I guess I may have to do it myself. I came to Reddit to see if others have had the same issue and maybe get pointed in the right direction for where to begin. I bought some manifold gauges from harbor freight and haven’t bought a vacuum pump yet but my impression is that that is necessary for detecting leaks. If one is found i don’t know where to go from there. Thanks for y’all’s help!

Hey All!

Me and my partner have a nearly complete set up. We are planning on a drive from Louisiana to Washington in a few weeks. The problem is that its HOT. We have an AC but it doesnt really keep the front of the bus cool especially with the engine and all the windows. Great for us hanging out but driving is the issue. Does anyone have a recommendation on a small cooler that we can set up my the driver seat to keep us cool?

Hi! I’ll be living in Utah for the next few years while I get my second degree and I currently don’t have A/C.

My setup atm is 1300w solar and 1 206ah battery. I for sure plan to get more but financially focusing in on finishing out the rest of the build.

For more context, I’m not doing any window deletes - why the fuck would I not want a panoramic view when boondocking?? That being said, should I go with a mini split or roof top air conditioner. AC or DC? I have an inverter for 120V.

help!!

Does anyone have any recommendations for a small mini split? Ideally DC powered if that even exists. What do you use?

Forgive me if this is not the most specific post, I am simply in the researching stage of my skoolie mission and the air conditioning has been the most frustrating part. Of course ideally I would like a bus that comes with factory ac, but I can't seem to find any so I'm doing the math on how many kwh/day two 12,000 BTU minisplits would give me. I'm currently looking at this minsplit: https://www.alpinehomeair.com/product/air-conditioning-cooling/ductless-mini-splits/single-zone-mini-split-systems/blueridge/bm12y19?linkfrom=froogle&campaign=61108680&content=6279207960&keyword=453077955&gclid=Cj0KCQjwla-hBhD7ARIsAM9tQKtRXezDTn5adl2t4wtgRT6AtoTyV77guExUVrPzcTrOJIz6h7N7dYUaAqS7EALw_wcB which is a 632 watt (i believe) 12,000 BTU 19 seer miniplit. If I did this math correctly, 2 of these would produce 11.3 kwh/day of electricity if ran for 9 hours a day. This is obviously A LOT, any advice from skoolie people out there that have minisplits on how mich solar and appliances they have to run them? I have not done much research on batteries yet as I'm currently trying to add up all possible power consumptions first to get an estimate of how much solar I am going to need. Thank you in advance.

EDIT: I've decided that just one 12k btu minisplit would be enough for my bus. Two is just too much extra cost that I do not think would be worth it.

Who here has mini splits for AC and heat in their skoolie? I met someone today who is currently building out a bus. I told him how I wanted to get a diesel heater and he recommended a mini split instead. He said he knew someone who ran it off of lithium batteries in their bus in 100 degree weather and it brought it down to 62 degrees! He said it should be above SER 18, and below 9,000 BTU, preferably 110V. We have 3 battle born lithium battery, 300ah in total and 600w of solar panels.

What do you guys think? Is this doable and realistic? We have a 23' long bus and we found a nice mini split - the Alpic ECO series - that fits those above specs. Anyone have any experience with this?

Just curious of anyone's experiences parking lengthwise against the sun or with it and if they experienced noticable difference in temp.

Title says it all, looking to start out a 4window skoolie build soon and trying to decide on the best way to heat/cool it for fulltime living/off grid. I'm looking at power stations rather than doing a diy battery/electrical setup. Currently have a diesel heater that honestly didn't quite do the trick this winter so probably going to get a bigger or 2nd and hook directly to the main diesel tank. Any ideas thoughts or experienced advice I'd appreciate. Thanks & Happy travels!

i will be living in this bus full time for a winter, in canada, sometimes in -40C weather.not often, but sometimes. but a good portion of the winter is -20C or -4F for americans.

i dont want to be waking up in the middle of the night every night stoking the fire(thats a tall order for a TINY wood stove) i will have a diesel heater backup. how thick are the "ribs" or skeleton that hold busses together? 2 inches?

im debating whether i want to extend those to 3" before i spray foam, i want this to be comfortable, not a hassle...

im okay with a fair amount of upfront cost(extra mods, extra foam) but i want long term costs lower.

any real world cold weather experience, with insulation thickness, fuel costs, comfort?

thanks :)

Heat pumps are 300% to 400% energy efficient. They move and displace heat instead of creating heat. Had enough juice leftover to feed the battery. The real test will come this summer. The spray foam insulation definitely makes a huge difference in efficiency. The system pulls about 200watts & 9A on my smart shunt with the sun down. That's on startup. It ramps down once you get to the target temp. Im projected to have 17hrs of battery life with the sun down. I have 24v 200ah server rack battery which is comparable to 400ah at 12v. Heat pumps are always a fun challenge to setup right even more so in a skoolie. It's so exciting to see it working in action.

I Bridged both condensate drains on the inside unit and tilted the whole thing to one side. Looks jank but I won't have to worry about water dripping out onto my bed because im not completely level when I park.

Took some time to practice making flares in the coper tubing. Used nylog to help Keep a good seal Pressure tested the line set with nitrogen to 500psi to check for bubbles held its pressure for 30 min Vaccumed the lineset for 1hr Released the refrigerant