<div dir="ltr">William - As others have pointed out, there are all sorts of factors that would increase or decrease energy consumption for an AC unit. I like to refer to the Energy Star guide to get an idea of average annual energy consumption:<div><br></div><div><a href="https://www.energystar.gov/products/most_efficient/central_air_conditioners_and_air_source_heat_pumps">https://www.energystar.gov/products/most_efficient/central_air_conditioners_and_air_source_heat_pumps</a></div><div><br></div><div>At least these numbers can be used as a reference point, and you could for example divide the total annual energy use by the number of months you'll be running the system to get a rough kWh/month starting estimate. Then adjust as necessary based on your site specific situation such as a really hot climate, home size, poor insulation, etc.</div><div><br></div><div>August</div><div><br></div><div>PS: I think you assume 12,000 Btu/hr for each ton of AC capacity, so a 5 ton AC unit would be 5 x 12,000 = 60,000 Btu/hr<br clear="all"><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><p><br></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Jun 23, 2021 at 12:19 PM <a href="mailto:larry@starlightsolar.com">larry@starlightsolar.com</a> <<a href="mailto:larry@starlightsolar.com">larry@starlightsolar.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">William,<div><br></div><div>The LRA of an A/C system is the peak current demand. The inverter must be sized for that and all other potential loads if using a single inverter. For that reason, we have almost always used a dedicated inverter for an A/C systems and leave the primary inverter for all other loads. That way the A/C will start no matter what other loads are on the primary inverter. </div><div><br></div><div>Install a hard start capacitor unit (sometimes now called soft start) if it is not factory equipped with one. Using Li-ion batteries is also recommended due to voltage sag using LA. Otherwise, you may want to size a LA bank larger for the additional current demand while starting.</div><div><br></div><div>We have been doing separate inverters for 120V RV A/C\u2019s and 240V mini splits this way for years and it has been trouble free. </div><div><div><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px"><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px"><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px"><br><span>Larry Crutcher</span><br><span>Starlight Solar Power Systems</span><br></div><br></div><br></div><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px"><br>
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<div><br><div>On Jun 23, 2021, at 9:30 AM, William Miller <<a href="mailto:william@millersolar.com" target="_blank">william@millersolar.com</a>> wrote:</div><br><div><div style="font-family:Helvetica;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Friends:</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"> </span></p><div style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">In the old days when a client suggested they might want to run air conditioning equipment on an off-grid system we would just laugh. Now I find I get that request more frequently and clients are willing to pay to acquire enough system capacity to run AC equipment.</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"> </span></p><div style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">This means I need to size off-grid installations appropriately for the loads. I have a job pending with a 5 ton AC unit. I cannot find real-life energy specs.</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"> </span></p><div style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">I do have a new, fairly efficient 3 ton unit at my grid-connected home and I do have energy monitoring. On a real hot day recently we used a little less than 11kWh in this unit. The max power draw was about 2.5 kW.</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"> </span></p><div style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Here are my questions: <span> </span></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"> </span></p><div style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"><span>1.<span style="font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> <span> </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Can I linearly extrapolate my usage to a 5 ton unit?</span></div><div style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"><span>2.<span style="font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> <span> </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Do any of you have real-life, measured energy data on modern AC condenser units that you would be willing to share?</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"> </span></p><div style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif">Thanks in advance!</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"> </span></p><div style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">William Miller</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></p><div style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Miller Solar</span></div><div style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">17395 Oak Road, Atascadero, CA 93422</span></div><div style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">805-438-5600</span></div><div 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