Cool Sleeping

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Cool Sleeping

Postby Tomterrific » Wed Mar 15, 2017 7:24 am

I read many posts where folks discuss air conditioning a small camper. Great if it's an electric site. I built my camper as a comfortable step up from a tent and the majority of sites have been non electric. I've not had problems sleeping in my tiny camper but it has got me thinking.

I've mentioned before about sewing tubes onto a sheet and water slowly running through by thermosphion to an open tub of water on the roof. Kind of experimental.

I moved into an old farm house with friends when I was young. It was summer in Virginia and hot. There was an unused waterbed in my room. I was delighted. It was so cool that first hot night I fell asleep. Only to wake up hours later shivering with hypothermia. Yes, a water bed will pull all the heat from a humans body even when it is 90° outside. So with this in mind, I suggest sleeping on a thermorest pad filled with water instead of air. It's not as much water as a water bed so hopefully nobody freezes in their sleep. I actually might try this.

I have also noticed campers with no or one tiny window. No wonder it's hot in there! Put big windows on both sides and extra vents in the roof to get some air flow without fans. I found a super trick on this site. I used a screen door hook to prop my doors open about 3". This is very nice air right where we need it.

And a stupid idea if you are desperate. Put ice in a bag and throw that in the vent with the cooler thrown over the vent. The ice cools the air which drops down on the sleepers. I said it's stupid. :-)

Tt
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Re: Cool Sleeping

Postby Nobody » Wed Mar 15, 2017 11:00 am

In 2007 or 2008 I bought one of the 2500BTU 'PetCool' ACs & 'plumbed' our TD (built in 2006) for the AC. We've used it several times in COE campgrounds where we've had electric hook-ups. It's worked great & we've taken several hour-long naps during the afternoon, in 90 degree+ temps. I also built-in a Fantastic fan in the roof of the sleeping cabin while building the TD. We have 12"x18" crank-out type windows in the doors on each side of the TD. The fantastic fan has selective direction so we keep it set on 'exhaust', & on hot, muggy nights we open the door windows an inch or so & turn on the fantastic fan (it has a tiny amp draw so doesn't deplete the group 27 battery in the TD, 'sides my truck recharges the battery while driving). The curtains my wife sewed for the windows are heavy enough that they direct the air being drawn in by the fantastic fan down on whomever's lying there, producing a marked cooling effect. It doesn't reduce humidity as a true air conditioner does but it works for us. I've had to turn off the FF several times at around 2am 'cause it gets too cool. I've also camped without 115VAC electric hook-ups for up to a week while on hunting/fishing trips & never ran-down the group 27 battery using the FF and 12volt lights in the TD. If you have a method/system to provide adequate ventilation, a FF works great for cooling while sleeping, even in the deep south on hot summer nights. Works even better in the arid west...
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Re: Cool Sleeping

Postby JaggedEdges » Wed Mar 15, 2017 12:04 pm

True Harv, proper application of fans is very effective, still come across a lot of people that don't "get" that if it's not moving air from one space to another, i.e. outside, or from cool basement upstairs etc, then it's just heating the place up. Probably nearest I came to murder back in the day, when sharing a house with no AC was when I'd come back home and the fans I bought, had been taken out of windows and were pointed at dripping, whining bodies, still complaining "it's too hot, I had to use your fans." No, you didn't dumbass, it would be about 65 in here, just like it is outside at the moment, but no it's 85 still because you moved my freaking fans!
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Re: Cool Sleeping

Postby Shadow Catcher » Wed Mar 15, 2017 7:42 pm

We have two good sized windows and in a ceiling fans that are Antec three speed case fans and for the times we do have 120AC a hacked 5,000BTU window shaker. We tried a Pet Cool and the 2500 BTU was not enough for our 400 Cubic foot tear.

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Re: Cool Sleeping

Postby Socal Tom » Wed Mar 15, 2017 8:13 pm

I have the portable AC, similar to shadow catcher. I also mounted a case fan, but mine is at the inlet for the AC. I get fresh air from outside and I think the air flow is better than putting it in the ceiling vent.
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