AC in van while camped
- Thread starter booandjj2
- Start date
FAW3
Adventurer
I don't know if I can really give you the answer you want. Over the years I've "van camped" quite a bit, often in summer in the Southern US. But here is what I have learned...some might help you.
First, both of my Ford vans were nicely insulated. You have to beat the heat factor of direct warming of your interior space. Insulation and shade are what do this. Even a light direct sun blocking cover (canopy, tarp, old parachute) over the van with an insulating air space will help a lot.
As far as no 120vt source of power...thats really the killer as far as AC. Having and running even specialized low power AC on batteries, inverter and and solar when dry camping can be done...but is expensive and requires really more investment and space than most folks want to deal with on a van body platform. I had a small 120vt AC unit mounted in a rear window on one van...I often could find a "plug in" in out of the way urban/suburban areas for the asking. This tiny unit rocked! The fan noise also was a great masking noise for good sleeping. With energy prices where they are...a free outlet is getting hard to find. Having and running a small genny is also a pricey option - all factors considered.
What works very well is moving air. Get a good roof vent...such as a Fantastic Fan...with a reasonable house battery system and a 120wt solar panel your good to go all night. Screened windows allow air in...the vent moves it out. The "flipper/ open at the bottom" windows on most vans adapt well to velcro screens and allow venting...can be open in rain, and provide some security also.
If it is just killer hot...you might find getting out of the steel box of the van is a better option. The coolest "hot weather" sleeping outdoors with no AC is in a camping hammock...your shaded, and hanging in air.
First, both of my Ford vans were nicely insulated. You have to beat the heat factor of direct warming of your interior space. Insulation and shade are what do this. Even a light direct sun blocking cover (canopy, tarp, old parachute) over the van with an insulating air space will help a lot.
As far as no 120vt source of power...thats really the killer as far as AC. Having and running even specialized low power AC on batteries, inverter and and solar when dry camping can be done...but is expensive and requires really more investment and space than most folks want to deal with on a van body platform. I had a small 120vt AC unit mounted in a rear window on one van...I often could find a "plug in" in out of the way urban/suburban areas for the asking. This tiny unit rocked! The fan noise also was a great masking noise for good sleeping. With energy prices where they are...a free outlet is getting hard to find. Having and running a small genny is also a pricey option - all factors considered.
What works very well is moving air. Get a good roof vent...such as a Fantastic Fan...with a reasonable house battery system and a 120wt solar panel your good to go all night. Screened windows allow air in...the vent moves it out. The "flipper/ open at the bottom" windows on most vans adapt well to velcro screens and allow venting...can be open in rain, and provide some security also.
If it is just killer hot...you might find getting out of the steel box of the van is a better option. The coolest "hot weather" sleeping outdoors with no AC is in a camping hammock...your shaded, and hanging in air.
ihatemybike
Explorer
How short term? How would you power it? Running an AC will kill your battery. You could get a small generator and plug into that.
Good opaque curtains will help keep the interior cool in the day.
Will you be living in it long enough to make permanent modifications? Lot's of full time RV and Van dwellers swear by the Fan-Tastic Vents.
Good opaque curtains will help keep the interior cool in the day.
Will you be living in it long enough to make permanent modifications? Lot's of full time RV and Van dwellers swear by the Fan-Tastic Vents.
I spent alot of time working on this same problem and have consulted electricians, boaters, engineers and many hours online. My family and I do most of our traveling with our dogs in our van and my main objective was not to provide comfort cooling for us but to provide a life support system for our dogs so we could leave them in the van for short streaches while we check out a museum or eat lunch. I permanantly installed a 5000 btu window a/c through the sheet metal of the rear door but am unable to run it without a 110v household plug available. The tiny a/c unit only lists its running watts as 525 which can be provided by a small inverter HOWEVER, an a/c unit needs as much as 5-10 times its rated wattage to cycle on before it drops down to its rated running wattage ot operate. A massive inverter (10,000 watts surge) would be needed to make the unit run not to mention a large bank of marine batteries to keep it going for any reasonable lenght of time. Also, the time the vehicle would need to run to recharge those batteries with the alternator would be significant. The other option would be to get a large generator (honda and yamaha make fairly quiet ones) to run the unit but that burns gasoline and releases polutants. Neither option is in my price range currently so we are forced to eat in the van and visit dog prohibited sites one at a time while one of us remains in the opened up van with the dogs and some 12v fans. Without a houshold outlet its not possible to run an air conditioner without a significant investment. Fans, vents, and a cooler full of icy drinks is your best bet.
dwh
Tail-End Charlie
Frigidaire makes some small window units 5k-5.2k BTU that have what they call, "low-voltage startup". It's just a delay timer so that the fan comes on first and the compressor a few seconds later, this helps keep the starting surge down.
Some years back I asked Frigidaire tech support about running those units from a generator and they sent me detailed specs on the 5.2k BTU unit. It had a SEER of (IIRC) 11 and the startup max draw was 1300 watts. That unit could be run from a small "2000 watt" generator (almost all "2000 watt" gens are really 1600w gens that can handle a momentary surge load of 2000w - the Honda eu2000i can handle 2000w for up to 30 minutes).
But yea...you won't run any a/c unit (or electric heat either) for very long on a small battery bank. Figure if you had a 105 amp*hour battery at 12v:
105a x 12v = 1260 watts
So if the a/c unit drew 600w running, then you'd get maybe 2 hours before the battery w as totally flat.
This guy runs a standard 120v 13.5k BTU overhead RV a/c unit from a Yamaha ef2400is generator no problem:
http://www.2manytoyz.com/yamaha2400.html
EDIT: I forget the name of the guy - the Canadian guy who bolted a Bigfoot trailer on a Fuso and drove it around the world. I remember in one of the pics I saw, he had a small window a/c unit installed under a bench seat in the camper and a Honda eu2000i.
I would bet that most 5k BTU window units could be run from the Honda.
Some years back I asked Frigidaire tech support about running those units from a generator and they sent me detailed specs on the 5.2k BTU unit. It had a SEER of (IIRC) 11 and the startup max draw was 1300 watts. That unit could be run from a small "2000 watt" generator (almost all "2000 watt" gens are really 1600w gens that can handle a momentary surge load of 2000w - the Honda eu2000i can handle 2000w for up to 30 minutes).
But yea...you won't run any a/c unit (or electric heat either) for very long on a small battery bank. Figure if you had a 105 amp*hour battery at 12v:
105a x 12v = 1260 watts
So if the a/c unit drew 600w running, then you'd get maybe 2 hours before the battery w as totally flat.
This guy runs a standard 120v 13.5k BTU overhead RV a/c unit from a Yamaha ef2400is generator no problem:
http://www.2manytoyz.com/yamaha2400.html
EDIT: I forget the name of the guy - the Canadian guy who bolted a Bigfoot trailer on a Fuso and drove it around the world. I remember in one of the pics I saw, he had a small window a/c unit installed under a bench seat in the camper and a Honda eu2000i.
I would bet that most 5k BTU window units could be run from the Honda.
Last edited:
dwh
Tail-End Charlie
Just remembered - Carl Hunter. Also remembered where I saw the pic - Doug Hackney's site:
http://www.hackneys.com/mitsu/photos/carl_hunter_bigfoot/image036.htm
http://www.hackneys.com/mitsu/photos/carl_hunter_bigfoot/image036.htm
Mrknowitall
Adventurer
In a sienna, I think your best bet would be some sort of "ice box air conditioner". Of course a source of cost-effective ice is critical. Any compressor-based A/C, that doesn't plug in somewhere, is going to be expensive. You'll need a generator- one you can sleep next to will cost you a grand. The "portable"type airconditioners would probably be easier to implement than a window unit, since you only need a vent. If you plan on running much of anything on the car battery, you'll need a place to plug in during the day- driving will not recharge the battery very much, especially since you'll have high electrical loads when using the van.
When I'm undertaking a build I start to see what other folks have come up with already.
Instructables is a pretty good source. The catch is weeding through the duct tape tents in order to get to the good stuff.
Here's a few that might work for small units:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Thermoe ... er-Heater/
http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Cooling-Systems/
Using dry ice or jelly ice packs may pack more btus to convert to cool.
There are doggy day care places in most cities. Might be cheaper to budget for that rather than powering an AC.
Tom
Tom
Instructables is a pretty good source. The catch is weeding through the duct tape tents in order to get to the good stuff.
Here's a few that might work for small units:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Thermoe ... er-Heater/
http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Cooling-Systems/
Using dry ice or jelly ice packs may pack more btus to convert to cool.
There are doggy day care places in most cities. Might be cheaper to budget for that rather than powering an AC.
Tom
Tom