Allison and Nick (@rollingwithophelia) are a couple who converted an old school bus into a mobile home. They live off the grid, generate their own electricity with rooftop solar panels, and make TikTok videos about their life.
In one video, Nick took their nearly 800,000 followers through the process of deciding which type of air-conditioning unit they should use to cool their home.
@rollingwithophelia One of the biggest challenges living off grid is keeping our bus comfortable during extreme temperatures. The MRCOOL DIY Ductless Mini Split Heat Pump A/C is not only efficient, but is extremely quiet while running and very easy to install. Click the link in our bio to learn more! @MRCOOLDIY #skoolielife #diy #mrcool #ac #heat #home #upgrade ♬ Countryside - Andrew Joy
"When we initially built the bus, we decided to install a rooftop AC unit," Nick explained. "But it's extremely loud, pulls over 1,800 watts of power, and would drain our battery bank in just four hours."
Allison and Nick eventually decided on a mini-split, a type of ductless heat pump that is super-efficient at cooling (and heating) small spaces. Mini-splits use less energy than conventional heating and cooling systems, and they can reduce your heating/cooling bills by up to 30%, according to one calculation by Mass Save.
"We needed something more practical, which is why we decided to install the Mr. Cool DIY mini-split," he said. "Not only is this an AC unit, but it also serves as an additional AC unit inside our bus … pulling as little as 400 watts of power, we're now able to efficiently run this mini-split off-grid on our 1,600-watt solar setup."
🗣️ Which of these factors would most effectively motivate you to buy a heat pump?
🔘 Lower energy bills 💰
🔘 Better temperature control 🌡️
🔘 Helping the planet 🌎
🔘 I'd never buy a heat pump 🚫
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
As we can see from this video, one cool aspect of both tiny-home living and off-the-grid living is that it forces its practitioners to think about their energy usage. When you have to generate all your own electricity, it really makes a difference that you can cool your space using 25% of the power of your existing AC unit.
Luckily, we don't all have to convert an old school bus into an apartment to take away some of the knowledge that people like Allison and Nick are learning the hard way.
Many of the couple's followers agreed.
"The minisplit next to the bed is crazy," one commenter wrote.
"It feels amazing!" Allison and Nick replied.
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