A/C power underway

[Porterjh]

I just got my (new to me) 2012 Cutwater 28, I was told that I could set my power sellection to Inverter while underway and power my A/C unit aslong as I stayed under 15mph so the pick up would not lose suction. Reecently I was told that this was not a good idea and would ruin my batteries, it was suggested that underway I should run my generator to power my A/C.

So the question is, which is the correct way to power my A/C while underway?

 

[Alpina]

I would use the generator. If the AC pulls 1200W, assuming no losses you are using 100A of battery capacity per hour. Assuming you have 4 110AH batteries, you will have capacity for 3hrs.

110AH x 4 = 440ah x 50% utilization = 220AH useable
Each hr of running the engine will get you ~40AH of charging capacity.

Running for 3hrs will use 300AH-120AH put back in due to charging = 180AH which is a little less than the usable capacity.

All rough math to make my point. If the engine is running anyway and is noisy, why use up the battery capacity? I could see running the AC off the battery if you were anchored and wanted it to be quiet.


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[knotflying]

Ditto.