Air Conditioning?

[Morella]

An auto A/C is typically measured in tons, and 3 tons, which, I believe, is 37,500 btu, wouldn't be unreasonable for a big car, with rear seat passengers (who care). Keep in mind several things, though. The car idles around town, so most of the time, you're only getting about a third of your system's capacity. The fan and compressor are turning 600 rpm vs. the 1600-2000 you would turn while cruising. The A/C also has to cool the car down after it sits in the heat, and once it does, the fan speed usually drops off. If you leave the electric units on while you go to Wal-mart or wherever, you don't have to worry about cooling it down inside, because the units are still running and the car is still cool when you get back to it. Also, if you have a partition, or a curtain behind the seat in your 3-way, and you're ducting the air down into your head, two 8000 btu units should be able to freeze you out in the small area that you have to cool.

Unfortunately, there's no way to know for sure until you try it. Home Depot has 8k BTU units for $150, and they pull about 7a. If you are running off of an inverter, don't get the one with the digital readout and remote control, because as sweet as it is in your living room, it might not work in your car. An inverter output is not a true sine wave, and a motor understands it, but digital circuitry sometimes doesn't. Also, don't forget your high-output alternator (or two), or you'll have dead batteries, depending on how you have it set up.

-denise