Keeping Cool

Country_Mouse · 06-21-2016, 05:30 PM

We are camping this week without hookups. Temps on Monday were over 105°. Didn't cool enough at night to be comfortable. I have a few battery operated fans but to run them all night every night will get expensive with batteries. Wondering what you all do in this situation. There has to be a better way.

Thanks

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Magnolia Tom · 06-21-2016, 05:42 PM

Try a redneck AC. Also known as a swamp cooler. Basically an old ice chest modified with a fan to blow out cold air. Downside is you need lots of ice
https://youtu.be/ITtlxjvLQis

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justman · 06-21-2016, 05:54 PM

If you're dry camping, you probably want to invest in either a generator or a small solar setup. Depending on how you like to camp, you could use a small generator to charge your batteries, or one with at least 2400 watts to run your air conditioner. If you like to camp "silent", then you could invest in a few solar panels to charge your batteries (yes...batteries) and hook them up to an inverter to power a few 110v fans at night.

Personally, I like to be comfortable when I take the trailer out, so we would run the AC. That means a generator. Of course, we're in South Texas where the temps get crazy during the Summer with a good bit of humidity. If you're up North a ways, then you may just arrange your camping season around the weather and avoid the 1 or 2 days it gets hot enough to run the AC.

Country_Mouse · 06-21-2016, 11:29 PM

Yes, we have a generator but at night you're not allowed to run them in most campgrounds. I'm looking for a way to just have regular fans or even a portable heater for that matter running at night while sleeping.

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Seann45 · 06-22-2016, 05:35 AM

Fantastic Fans.. Mount them in all your roof vents.. they will suck the hot air out the roof and you let cool air in via the windows.. (nighttime)

Country_Mouse · 06-22-2016, 04:19 PM

We only have one roof vent. It's in the bathroom and has a fan already. Besides that technique my real question is how can I power smaller appliances without shore power? I've seen one friend wire 12 Volt fans from his light's wires. Is that the only option?

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justman · 06-22-2016, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Country_Mouse

We only have one roof vent. It's in the bathroom and has a fan already. Besides that technique my real question is how can I power smaller appliances without shore power? I've seen one friend wire 12 Volt fans from his light's wires. Is that the only option?

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No, you can use an inverter to get 110v power to your regular power outlets, allowing you to run regular 110v fans. Of course, you'll drain a single battery pretty quickly using this method which is why I suggested using multiple batteries.

For portable heat, your best bet is a portable propane catalytic heater. Anything electrical will use way to much electricity to use an inverter and last the night. Or...you could use your propane furnace with a few batteries hooked up to a solar panel.

Murff · 06-22-2016, 04:59 PM

There are small fans that you can plug into a USB port Work well and are draw small power.

Murff

ensign · 06-22-2016, 08:41 PM

12 volt fan.

Good product, a bit pricey, but your comfort is worth it.

https://www.amazon.com/Fan-Tastic-01...ct_top?ie=UTF8

Seann45 · 06-23-2016, 05:39 AM

Adding 12 VDC outlets is very easy.. I have put them all over my RV. Some wired right to the battery for higher draw appliances (like a 12 V electric blanket) and some just wired to the light wiring for cell phone charging and fans

**Mustang65** · 06-23-2016, 06:24 AM

We have 2 of these fans and they work fine. They now have the 12VDC plug. They use less than 1 amp each (around 9Ah each over night). Using 110VAC fans is not going to help your batteries as the inverter uses battery power to convert from 110VAC down to 12VDC, stick with 12VDC fans, batteries will last longer.

Not sure as to what your battery situation is, but if you have 2 batteries the 12Volt fans will not kill the batteries.

Don

dewey02 · 07-02-2016, 08:46 AM

X2 on the fans above, although I have the O2 Cool brand.
We used to run them off the 8 D cells, but I just rewired a couple of 12 volt outlets where I needed them (coming off the light wiring) and we now run them off the house batteries. These fans don't have a real strong force, but enough to keep a breeze going. Just be sure you don't plug something with a huge amp draw off your 12 volt outlets. I installed a fuse on them just to be sure.

VTSummit · 07-08-2016, 12:29 AM

Don't even THINK of running 110V fans- 12V is the way to go. It always confounds me that people will put an inverter on their 12V system to convert to AC and then plug in a device that you can get a 12V version of. Many 110V appliances actually convert BACK to DC internally too... wasting huge amounts of power converting back and forth.
Get EVERYTHING you can to run native off 12V... lights, fans, everything. If you only have one 12V battery, grab another one and you're set for running your 12V lights and fans without a worry in the world.

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