How Much Power Is Needed to Run My Air Conditioner/Heater in my Trailer

Updated 01/25/2021 | Published 01/22/2021

Products Featured in This Question

Champion Dual Fuel Inverter Generators w/ Parallel Kit - 7,000 Running Watts - Electric Start

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$2194.38

Question:

I have a cargo trailer with a Mach 3 ac/heater and it seems to draw a lot of power. I wanted to run it off my 1500w battery generator, which per the battery company *should* handle it, but trips the circuit every time. So I was wondering if there are ways to reduce the draw or if these are easily replaceable? If so is there some much with draw that’ll use the same install footprint?

asked by: J W

Expert Reply:

In most cases, depending on the specs of the AC/Heater unit you can run it on 1500w but starting it up takes much more power. Some units, like the Advent Air Replacement RV Air Conditioner for Coleman Setup w/ Start Capacitor - 13,500 Btu - White # ACCOL135 have a start capacitor that store energy specifically for these situations to avoid overloading your trailer's electrical system. In all likelihood, they gave you a rather basic answer without knowing the actual power consumption of the AC unit and if you've got anything else drawing off the generator when you're trying to run the AC unit or start it up it's going to trip a circuit breaker.

You could upgrade the AC unit to one with a start capacitor if it's the only thing that's drawing power from the generator, or you may want to consider upgrading your generator to something like the Champion Dual Fuel Inverter Generators - 7,000 Running Watts # CH49FR. This would give you plenty of power to run the AC/heater plus some other small appliances.

I've linked some of our helpful articles that outline the power required to run an AC/Heater unit with either batteries or a generator unit that you might find informative. I've also linked a review video of the generators for you to check out.

expert reply by: Erik B