HVAC on solar only?

[Gingerbeard Man]

Has anyone here attempted this? Is it possible?
A small solar set up feeding a bank of batteries feeding just the HVAC?
Not looking to be completely off grid and not looking to spend $20k on a full set up. Just want to find some viable solution to not being gouged by the monopoly of Georgia Power and I know the majority of our cost is our HVAC, especially in the summer.

 

[gregar]

In

 

[ne ga pappy]

Just running some quick numbers, with a few assumptions...

20amp load rating, 10 hours of sunlight daily, 80% run time for unit.

You would need around 11,000 watts per hour during the day to run the unit and charge the battery. With enough battery to run the unit at night with no input, you will spend in the neighborhood of 20k to make it happen

 

[BIKER13]

 

[Granite3]

Really have to go all in to run much of an HVAC system. I tried with around 4000 whr’s and a smaller room unit. Drained in about 3 hours and the 200watt panel in full sun was pulling about 59 watts….

 

[rockyfatcat]

I'm going to say this even though it's a little off topic. At my old house we had a terrible heating/cooling problem. I had 3 inches of spray foam insulation sprayed in the attic to the underside of the roof.

Right now the house is undergoing a complete demo/renovation and there is zero insulation in any walls and no A/C in the house. Its not really that hot in there and I'm looking at having the exterior walls spray foamed before the drywall goes back, just because it is so efficient. Think of it as turning your home walls and roof into a giant foam igloo cooler

You can pay to insulate it to keep the heat/cold out, or you can pay to heat/cool it.

 

[87KJH]

Is it possible? Yes
Can it be done on a "small solar setup feeding just a bank of batteries feeing just the HVAC"? No

Just some back of the napkin calculations:
A 2,000-square-foot home with a 3.5-ton AC would require 11-17 solar panels.

You could power a mini split AC unit or a window unit for a small area with a few panels.
Just move everyone in the home into an area the size of the average bathroom

 

[Gingerbeard Man]

Just running some quick numbers, with a few assumptions...

20amp load rating, 10 hours of sunlight daily, 80% run time for unit.

You would need around 11,000 watts per hour during the day to run the unit and charge the battery. With enough battery to run the unit at night with no input, you will spend in the neighborhood of 20k to make it happen

So basically, would just make sense to go all in and run it all on solar.

 

[hamburglar3]

Fans over wet towels,etc. swamp cooler

 

[Hayata]

Geo thermal may be the answer but the up-front cost may be prohibitive...