Like most RV owners, you also look for ways to harness more performance out of your rig. Lithium batteries are popular in the RV community, with the capacity of longer life and the promise to venture more off-grid, light-weight, and rechargeable batteries.
There’s a lot of verified and unverified information circulating about lithium batteries. So let’s debunk common myths about lithium batteries to check if they’re fact, fiction, or something in between.
Verdict — FICTION
Since RVs are introduced globally, lithium battery technology has dramatically increased. Lithium iron phosphate’s most popular technology used in RV batteries includes low energy densities and is much safer to use than other lithium-ion battery types. In addition, today’s lithium batteries have a battery management system that is UL-certified. If the battery you’re thinking about buying doesn’t have a BMS, look elsewhere.
Verdict — FACT
Irrespective of Lithium battery’s advantages, these are expensive, making RV owners eager to protect their investment. One best way to do that is to consider where you mount your batteries wisely.
While AGM batteries or traditional lead acid can easily be placed in colder locations, lithium battery performs much better in controlled temperatures. The best part is that lithium batteries are compressed and don’t require venting; thus, they’re really easy to move inside your RV.
Some factories have gone one step ahead to protect lithium cells in cold temperatures and have started providing batteries with built-in heaters. These heaters utilize DC power from the lithium battery and are combined with the BMS.
Nevertheless, locating their lithium batteries within the RV is a simpler, more reasonable solution for RV users.
Verdict — FACT but with sidenotes
While the answer is yes, how long does lithium batteries run an air conditioner relies on numerous factors, including the size of the RV AC unit and battery bank size.
A 100 Ah rechargeable battery powers a typical 15,000 BTU RV air conditioner for a minimum of 30 minutes or less before completely discharging. If you are using your RV during summers, as most do, that 30 minutes probably can’t do much to cool you down.
Furthermore, suppose you rely on sunlight to recharge your battery. You will be left without sufficient useable sunlight to make up for the energy lost while using the air conditioner for even a short duration.
NOTE that, along with lithium batteries, an inverter must reverse the 12-volt DC battery energy into the 120 AC energy needed for most air conditioning units.
However, more recent units with 12V air conditioners are more effective. This is because they don’t need an inverter that is more efficient and runs longer on battery power than conventional AC units.
It’s crucial to highlight that running the AC drains any battery bank fully. So if you rely on solar to charge batteries, you will have to wait till the next day to recharge your battery, leaving you in the dark overnight.
However, suppose you own a hybrid inverter/charger combo unit combined with a generator and solar power. In that case, you can recharge batteries quicker or use a smaller generator for longer run times.
Using high-draw devices like an RV air conditioner includes a huge amount of energy. However, even with the energy in a lithium battery bank, smaller batteries setups fail to keep up with the mid-day heat.
Verdict — FICTION
Many battery manufacturers place battery upgrades as drop-in substitutes, which is normally true. Yet, customers switching to lithium must consider its impact on their DC charging system.
The cost of a lithium battery solely is up to 5 times as much as a standard lead-acid battery. In addition, while this rate includes the needed BMS, it doesn’t impact the device(s) required to charge a lithium battery appropriately, which adds even more to your upgrade prices.
These devices include:
Stock chargers
Voltage and charging time requirements vary as per battery chemistry. Thus, using the right locations to charge each battery type to avoid over-voltage damage and attain a suitable, full charge. This also remains true for lithium batteries.
DC to DC units
This battery charger is common in coaches that use a starting and a house battery and utilize 12v instead of 120v. These chargers attach the alternator to the house battery as an extra charging source.
