HOT HOT FLORIDA

[Frankenwife]

Hey Everyone!

We are new here and I love all the very very helpful information! We are still in the planning phase, tryin to figure out how everything works. We have come across one huge problem that we don't know the answer for.

We live in Florida and the summers here are brutal. We can not leave Florida for a year or two. We plan to buy an extended cargo van and during the week we will be stealth parking and on weekend boondocking. We have no idea have we will keep the van cool 24/7. We have our dog so we can't leave her in a hot van while we are at work, so it has to be constantly cooled down. We do plan on having two vents on the roof to have that constant air flow, but I don't think that will be enough. I have read that a lot of people use the fans like the o2cool, but will that be enough?

We are planning on buying a generator and hooking up a solar power system, but we are afraid that the generator will be too loud for stealth parking.

Does anyone know of a quiet and effective way to constantly keep cool air? I really appreciate all the input. We are completely lost.

 

[kyonu]

Just make sure you change out the ice/frozen water at lunch or something so your pet can stay cool. This can be solar powered and in a small space works very well. Unfortunately, it's melting water, so you will get a rise in humidity, but I'm sure you're used to that in Florida.

Make sure you get properly insulated as well, as vehicles are heat sinks and will absorb as much heat as possible. Properly insulation will keep a lot of the heat out, and most of the cool in.

 

[Donedirtcheap]

Easiest thing is to mount an ac unit in the back door and plug in at a park where someone can keep an eye on it. I guess the problem then is how do you get to work. If the ac quits and no one calls you the dog is dead.
Generator mounted/bolted on back with a window/through wall ac unit. I believe some have mentioned that the smallest ac units wouldn't cool some vans.
The only thing worse than that heat is the noseeums. They tell me they live for the winter in Florida, if so its one hell of a price to pay.

---

I would also say that I dont know about the ice bucket fan gizmo. I have not seen one in use but the fact that obviously your dogs life depends on this. Even if you go to a park you need a person who is watching your van for the ac to quit not sort of watching it but oops they forgot. If the dog was in a house and the ac quit its not going to 135 degrees and the dog could survive by laying on a tile floor or whatever. I'm not harping on you but its all about the dog. Can you board the dog while working. Maybe find an older person on Craigslist who would give good care yet be cheap.
Others have gone before you with this issue and its not easy, the bottom line is its a great lifestyle for those that can move with the seasons.

 

[ZOFCHAK]

I lived in Florida for a few years and to be honest, I don't think I would ever consider trying to live out of my van there in the Summer. Even after dark it would be absolutely brutal spending any time in the van and the costs of trying keep cool would quickly eat into the savings of stealth parking. The one nice thing about summers in Florida is the availability of off season accommodations. Perhaps you could look into finding a weekday seasonal rental for the hottest months and then stealth camp on the weekends? Many places are going to be dead empty that time of year and would probably be willing to offer some very low rates.

 

[SternWake]

Removing heat from anything consumes a lot of power. A van in summer time, in Florida is pretty much a lost cause, unless you have a reliable grid powered connection, and a window AC unit, and there goes the stealth.

Those ice coolers are not very effective and the faster you can melt the ice, the more effective they will be.
There is no safe viable way to lock a dog in the van all day long in summertime Florida, without AC.
Trying to do so will make you appear as one of the lowlife characters in a Carl Hiaasen Novel.

 

[LeeRevell]

I am a life long Floridian. Trying to live in a van here would be difficult in the summer. It's not just the heat but also the humidity. Those 'swamp coolers' are notoriously inefficient in high humidity. A source of AC power will be necessary.
Keeping the van in shade and using fans will help greatly.
My intention once I go "vannin'" is to leave sunny Florida during the height of summer.

 

[akrvbob]

I'm sure you don't want to hear this, but the reason you're baffled is there is no solution. There's nothing I would bet my dogs life on.

The only solution I can think of is to buy a van and a small Travel Trailer and put the Trailer in an RV park for the summer. You can put the trailer in storage in the winter and follow your plan to stealth park and boondock then. You'll still save a lot of money over renting or buying a house/apartment. Put the trailer in storage during the winter. When you are finally ready to go you can decide to sell the trailer and get most of your money back or maybe keep it.

It's not perfect, but still pretty good. You'll save a lot of money and you and your fur kid will be much happier!!
Bob

 

[akrvbob]

I'm sure you don't want to hear this, but the reason you're baffled is there is no solution. There's nothing I would bet my dogs life on.

The only solution I can think of is to buy a van and a small Travel Trailer and put the Trailer in an RV park for the summer. You can put the trailer in storage in the winter and follow your plan to boondock and stealth park for at least 5 or 6 months a year. You'll still save a lot of money over renting or buying a house/apartment. Put the trailer in storage during the winter. When you are finally ready to go you can decide to sell the trailer and get most of your money back or maybe keep it.

It's not perfect, but still pretty good. You'll save a lot of money and you and your fur kid will be much happier!!
Bob

 

[Bdog1]

Doggie day care is pretty popular all over....

 

[HarmonicaBruce]

The main reason I decided to live in a van is because I travel so much going to festivals and such. I go north in the summer, south in the winter. It sounds like you both work in Florida, and have a dog. I'd say you're not a good candidate to live in a van. I have a trailer in Inverness, Fl, an hour north of Tampa. I'll be dumping it when I go back in the winter. There is a trailer park close to Inverness that has low lot rent, about $200 / mo, and they'll let you store your trailer there for about $30 / mo. During the summer, electricity will be $200 / mo or more. Using a generator to power an ac unit isn't cheap, and you'll be constantly filling the fuel tank and such. I'd suggest you look into a travel trailer to use as a base unit, and use the van for an everyday driver and to take little trips. When you're ready to leave Florida (at least for the summer), you can either sell the travel trailer, tow it with you as you travel, or store it for the summer, depending on what kind of traveling you plan on doing.

 

[jeanontheroad]

We lived in the St Petersburg area for over 20 years. My advice is to either find a daycare kennel or find a new home for the dog. Roof vents? Forget it. You need air conditioning to keep that van cool. A vehicle can reach temps of over 120 degrees in minutes. Before you leave you dog in that circumstance, try sitting in it for 8 hours, yourself.

We have children and dogs dying all the time in cars because people were going to be gone "for just a minute." In most areas, you will be arrested for cruelty if you leave an animal alone in a vehicle. That's hardly "stealth." Once you are caught doing that, people will watch for your vehicle and report you. Having volunteered at a shelter and seeing the shape some of those animals get into, if I see your dog in that van I will immediately call the cops, myself.

 

[Frankenwife]

I would absolutely never do anything to harm my little girl. I understand that no one knows me from Adam, but my girl is very precious and very dear to me. I would never put her in harm. I am completely disgusted by animal cruelty. That's why this is so important to me.

I don't know why I didn't think of the doggie daycare before it is a wonderful idea.

I think that we have decided to wait until it starts getting cooler to completely make the transition to full time living in the van.

I think everyone is right and it would be extremely hard to keep it cool no matter what we try. It's just too hot here. Lol. Thank you so much everyone for your I advise .

 

[jeanontheroad]

The kennel we often used was Seminole Animal Hospital on Park Blvd in Seminole, right in an urban area. They charged $12 a day for an indoor/outdoor kennel. We have used a private home in a rural area for $7 a day. Daycare mostly ran about $10 a day in various areas. Rabies papers will be required. We've never had a problem with picking up fleas, ticks, etc. Some will allow your dog to play with the other dogs if it gets along well with others. That opportuniy to socialize and blow off steam will make a dog that will otherwise lead a more confined life much happier and easier to live with.

 

[Frankenwife]

That is good to know!! I just looked some up in the area that we are going to try and stay around, it was $17 a day, but it would be worth every penny! I'm going to keep looking just in case we might come across one less expensive.

If we start in the summer, we will stay at a RV park overnight. We have seen a bunch of different types of a/c units. I really like the portable ones, has anyone tired them?

 

[Free Range Chicken]

I am new to the forum but I find your question very interesting. How about a big chunk of money to buy hundreds and hundreds of ampere hours / batteries and then charge them using the alternator, solar and every two or three nights recharge them in an rv park connected to the grid ??? There is this new technology of batteries called lifepo4 that has a very fast charging rate.. but I'm just throwing the idea and I have never ever done this nor lived in a van..