While there are some solar/battery builds where you could run this off grid, it’s a power suck. One note on this device: for most users, you’ll need to know you’ll want to have shore power installed on your van or RV to power the air conditioning. But we do travel to California quite a bit and wanted to have an option to drive this down there, and use it for camping in the California heat too. Why did we opt for AC? We live in Calgary Canada and most of the summer the temperature is pretty moderate or even cool, especially in the Rocky Mountains. The Dometic Brisk II comes in two parts the AC unit that sits on top of the van, and the inside portions a control and wiring panel and the shroud or finishing cover. Finally we’ll talk about how well it works. We’ll talk about why we went for AC, how we designed for it, and how we installed it. I also had no issues with the same generator starting the Penguin I.Review: Dometic Brisk II Air Conditioner in a campervan My Yamaha 2400iSHC generator starts the Brisk II with no issues. The starting current seems to be the same for both. The Penguin I would freeze up occasionally so far I have not had that problem with the Brisk II. The 13.5 K BTU Brisk II does a better job of cooling down my Edge when arriving in the afternoon after towing and having to cool down a warm camper, which I think is just due to the slightly higher BTU rating. While the Sound Pressure levels are the same, the Brisk II seems to be a "better" noise that is easier to hear the TV over and sleep over, it does not seem to transmit compressor noise thru the roof of the Edge as much as the Penguin I did. The Brisk II has a vertical mounted compressor where the Penguin I had a horizontal mounted compressor which is the primary reason for the height difference. the Penguin I, due to new lighter design. The Brisk II lowered my roof weight by about 20 pounds vs. The Brisk II was 3" higher than the Penguin, increasing the overall height of my RV that amount. The noise on the Brisk II is constant all night long so once you get to sleep its fine. I think this is better when it is so hot you have to run the AC at night, on the Penguin I the jump in noise when it would start after being off would wake me up. The Penguin shut off both the fan and compressor. The Brisk II has 3 speeds where the Penguin I had 2 speeds, the Brisk II does not cycle the fan on and off, only the compressor cycles on and off. I measured my Penguin I with a sound pressure level meter and have measured the Brisk II with a sound pressure level meter and they are within 2 dB of each other on the lowest speed on either. The Brisk II is advertised as being quieter than the former Dometic AC products. I wood framed it per Dometic's instructions after removing the Penguin I and replacing it with the Brisk II. The only change was that both Dometic instruction manuals required that the roof opening be wood framed and Heartland did not do this on the original installation of the Penguin I they just cut a square hole in the roof center that was un-framed on all 4 sides. Both were installed per Dometic instruction manuals. Both were non-ducted and I use the standard Dometic Air Box with both. I was able to sell the Penguin I for $ 300 so my net cost of the DIY upgrade was under $ 400. I replaced the 11,000 BTU Penguin I with a 13,500 BTU Brisk II on my 2011 Heartland Edge a few weeks ago.
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