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Running vacuum cleaners in off-grid solar powered RVs
Vacuum Cleaners are often needed in RVs. The fight never ends when working to remove sand and dirt when out boondocking. Many users need to run the units for 5 to 10 minutes at a time.
There are a few main types of vacuum cleaners that are used in RVs and each type has there own specs that impact loads when running on a solar power system.
Upright Vacuum Cleaners
Upright vacuum cleaners like those made by Hoover, Dyson, and Oreck tend to have similar electrical loads. We will look at the electrical specs for 2 models:
This unit has a 12 Amp draw at 120 volts. It will have a little larger startup surge, but will easily operate on a 2000 to 3000 watt sine wave inverter charger.
This Dyson unit uses around 11.7 amps at 120 volts. This is a resonable load to run for a short time (5 – 10 minutes) on a power inverter system charged by solar panels.
Shop Vacs or Canister Vacuum
This lightweight portable unit by Shop-Vac is the perfect vacuum for smaller RVs. It uses a 1 HP Peak motor that draws around 6 amps at 120 volts. This canister vacuum can run on inverters ranging from 1500 watts to 3000 watts. 10 Minutes of cleaning your RV will only drain about 10 amp-hours when running from a standard RV house battery bank.
A larger Shop-Vac for larger RVs. It is common to find these stowed in compartments on motorhomes and fifth wheels. This 2.5 Peak HorsePower unit will use about 8 amps at 120 volts when running. The startup can be larger so it will need a larger inverter to power. Inverters ranging from 2000 to 3000 watts should handle it.
Cordless Vacuum Cleaners
This Bissell vacuum is perfect for RV use as it is cordless. It uses a 22 Volt cordless lithium battery. This will require a true sine wave power inverter to properly charge the battery from solar.
Get Specs on Common RV Electrical Loads
What Kind of RV Do you have?
Find out more information about running a solar power system on your kind of RV. Each kind has differences in setups, sample systems, and even issues.
