I really don't know how you guys get by without air conditioning!!!

[compassrose]

Look for a discount RV park with full hookups. Various RV club discounts might get you a good place within commute distance.

Discounts tend to only be for 1-7 days depending on the park. Weekly rate is cheaper than daily. Monthly rate is cheaper than weekly. It depends on the park but my monthly rates tend to be weekly rate X 3. OR $15 max per day. The last place I was at charged over $35 for a single night (30 amp). My monthly rate was $425. Included everything too.

 

[offroad]

Will Burson lives in Florida full time. In a van. Deals with heat and humidity. He made a video about how to install Ac in a mini van. When I think needing to keep cool, looking at Florida solutions gives the best model of what to do.

 

[BradKW]

I tend to agree that AC can be necessary for comfortable living in some climates. I've lived in FL keys for 15yrs, and at times not had AC...the upside being that your body acclimates to the point where just stepping into shade feels great while everyone else is moaning. The downside is there's many times you just can't sleep well at night, doesn't matter how many fans are blowing. When you're looking at highs around 90 and lows around 84, with high humidity a constant, my body just needs a break from that to rest well. I know plenty of homeless people who live outdoors and they manage ok, but they also don't hold jobs and try to adhere to a schedule...and alcohol serves as a sleep aid.

The above video is great...one setup I didn't see and I am considering, is the portable AC unit, but simply vented through a fantastic-type roof vent. Seems much more stealthy, secure, and simple to setup/take down. During the hottest months (june thru sept) I will consider AC a necessity and plan accordingly. My "night spot" will either have to be a driveway, or somewhere I can operate a "quiet" generator. The campgrounds here aren't really a good option, as rates vary from $650/mo offseason, to $2200/mo in season.

 

[darude]

sorry but AC is a must for me living where it's almost always 100 degrees out everyday

 

[darude]

I tend to agree that AC can be necessary for comfortable living in some climates. I've lived in FL keys for 15yrs, and at times not had AC...the upside being that your body acclimates to the point where just stepping into shade feels great while everyone else is moaning. The downside is there's many times you just can't sleep well at night, doesn't matter how many fans are blowing. When you're looking at highs around 90 and lows around 84, with high humidity a constant, my body just needs a break from that to rest well. I know plenty of homeless people who live outdoors and they manage ok, but they also don't hold jobs and try to adhere to a schedule...and alcohol serves as a sleep aid.

The above video is great...one setup I didn't see and I am considering, is the portable AC unit, but simply vented through a fantastic-type roof vent. Seems much more stealthy, secure, and simple to setup/take down. During the hottest months (june thru sept) I will consider AC a necessity and plan accordingly. My "night spot" will either have to be a driveway, or somewhere I can operate a "quiet" generator. The campgrounds here aren't really a good option, as rates vary from $650/mo offseason, to $2200/mo in season.

iv'e thought about making a hole in the floor for the exhaust pipe and the water pipe to drain out since them water buckets fill up fast in them portable units to me that would be more stealthy   than going up on the roof!! but all I know is that the last thing that I would want to do is sleep with my window down so that I could vent the AC outside with a chance of a criminal trying to beak in !!

 

[BradKW]

I kinda figure that stealth during AC operation is a bit relative, considering that I will need either an extension cord or a generator to power the AC. Plus, roof vents are pretty low profile, and I figure necessary if I'm not using AC.

I bet there's a smart way to capture the condensate...wouldn't that count as filtered water?

 

[jimindenver]

That water would need to be boiled with every thing that grows on the evaporator.

As for stealth. Our little A/C isn't bad noise wise but without needing a generator to run it, you can hear it really well out in the middle of no where.

 

[offroad]

I run a dehumidifier in my apartment. The water is nasty from dust in air, and residual mold on coils. Look at this video to get an idea how these units should be cleaned. Goes for air conditioner units also. Do you ever clean this good?

 

[gcal]

Hey guys!

Im all for this van dwelling thdifferent t I really don't know how you guys do it with air conditioning.  I'm pretty damn tough, but I guess you guys are tougher!  I live in southern California, and I get into my car on hot days, and I can't imagine trying to live in a van full time without constant air conditioning.  Above 85 degrees is simply unbearable!  And I don't think the whole, "Well, just drive to a cooler place is really practical." because your drive to a cooler place could be 4-8 hours.  That is not very convenient.  I plan on working my job for a few more years and ditch the house and then full time it in a 20-23ft RV.  I already have a Roadtrek Popular 200 2000.  I need a smaller RV that I can maneuver around suburban Los Angeles/Pasadena.


Many of these vans hit $15,000 so quickly, you might as well get a class B van or class C RV with shower, fridge, bathroom, generator and AC.  I mean I think that I can get my dream RV for $30,000 (down from $50,000 and $60,000) (Either Pleasureway Excel TS or Phoenix Cruiser 2350 2004).   A little tip, try to get a bathroom when you don't have to shower in the hallway (Roadtrek).  Pleasureway and Phoenix Cruiser have showers not in the hallway.

How do you deal with the lack of air conditioning in vans?  Lack of showering facilities?

John

I'm  with you on the AC. I have been camping without it. Going camping without it is a lot different  from living a life without it, sleeping without it, being stuck in with a migraine or the flu without it, relaxing with a book without it. I know there are people who do it, but it's one of the last luxuries I would willingly do without.

 

[darude]

I kinda figure that stealth during AC operation is a bit relative, considering that I will need either an extension cord or a generator to power the AC. Plus, roof vents are pretty low profile, and I figure necessary if I'm not using AC.

I bet there's a smart way to capture the condensate...wouldn't that count as filtered water?

if you decide to go with ac id'e def oversize the genset as far as wattage goes. then the genset won't be running at high idle all of the time wasting fuel and be as loud. and when buying a genset look for duty times so you know how long you can run the unit for without it burning up also. and as others have posted get yourself some stabil and I would also say some seafoam as well

 

[debit.servus]

iv'e thought about making a hole in the floor for the exhaust pipe and the water pipe to drain out since them water buckets fill up fast in them portable units to me that would be more stealthy...

I am looking into cutting an exhaust hole for the portable A/C I recently acquired. The only question is where? The hole would preferably be in a accessible and non-obstructed place, support multiple orientations of the AC (say I desired to turn the portable so the air blows in the cab, or move it to a different position. I am thinking to minimize hose rigging I would need to have multiple in-floor holes. My only concern with porting the exhaust on a portable AC through a van floor is the heat rising, pooling under the van and cancelling out some of the cooling inside the van. If one is really concerned they could install PVC pipe to pipe the exhaust air to the side of the van.

To be on topic here is my opinion of cooling oneself down who lives the van life:

I am a fan of evaporative cooling when it can keep one in a comfortable temperature, having built two FIGJAM 5-gallon bucket coolers for Burning Man. I am into it because evaporative cooling can take upto an 1/8th of the energy of A/C, and can make a space upto 30 degrees cooler. I don't see the space for two bucket coolers when going fulltime, plus I desire something built-in to the van. Is there a compact, high-surface-area, auto-replenishing, low energy consuming and most importantly low-cost evaporative cooler system for vandwellers? I am thinking the best place to install such a thing is under the van since whatevers underneath is shaded by the van, it would take up little to no interior space

I was in the Hitchin Post RV park in Las Vegas for the EDC trip, hooked up with 11000 BTUs of A/C. Being parked in direct sunlight (RV parks should offer some kind of shade structure over the RV spaces as an amenity, removeable for the winter season), it was only enough to bring the van down to a comfortable level. The other half of the days in Vegas I had no means to power the A/Cs since I didn't have the 3200 watt genset I do now. I saw people powering a 5000 BTU window AC with the 800 watt HFT genset, which I tried multiple times with little sucess. I tried it in vegas and it didn't work, perhaps due to the altitude.

I now have a combined 17,500 BTU of A/C in the van, after two summer trips without some form of A/C that can run anytime in the van (Burning Man 2014 & EDC Las Vegas 2015). Never again will I be willingly swealtering! The portable is great because it streams the air towards the back on the ceiling, creating this cascading cool that distributes the air conditioning evenly. Of course the generator will need to run to power the A/Cs, which I am ok with. Most places I travelled on trips I do not have the luxury of parking in a shaded spot.

The way I see it, a slow fan is better than no fan, 1/2 working A/C is better than no A/C, and getting the interior down to a comfortable level (80 F inside with 105 F outside, van in direct sunlight) is better than a 10 degree temperature drop. So if you're poor like me and want some luxuries it pays to have this kind of mindset. Any improvement is better than no improvement. Instead of spending years like a desert hermit to get up to a certain level, or repairing/replacing low quality stuff, one can pull more income and accelerate their rig setup. I ask you to think long and hard about this: what is more valuable? Your time, or your money?

 

[Cheli]

How do you deal with the lack of air conditioning in vans?  Lack of showering facilities?

I have seen several blogs where van dwellers install ac's in their van.  I plan on getting a van myself because it's more stealth than an RV or camper van but because of wanting to be stealth I won't be installing an ac unit.  I'll depend on fans and circulation from windows.

 

[debit.servus]

I have seen several blogs where van dwellers install ac's in their van.  I plan on getting a van myself because it's more stealth than an RV or camper van but because of wanting to be stealth I won't be installing an ac unit.  I'll depend on fans and circulation from windows.

It's possible to be stealth and be air conditoned. If money is no issue, acquire a quiet split A/C with a quiet genset to power it (i.e: HONDA or the new & promising GENERAC iQ). If one has little money, a camoflauged window unit through a door powered by a cheap noisy genset enclosed in a sound-deadening box. If one has some more money, a portable A/C powered by same sound-lessening genset box. There is no reason to swealter in a stealth van, there are ways to get stealthy A/C.

I am looking at building a quiet box with noise-supressing materials (Like anti-fatigue matting & panel isolation techniques) for the 80 DB from 3 feet 3200/4000W PREDATOR genset. To power the 17500 BTUs of A/C now in the van.

During my EDC Las Vegas 2015 trip, I was running the Poor Mans A/C (opening the windows while on the road) inside the van outside of the RV park.
Never again (willingly). EDC Las Vegas 2015 is my last trip without A/C, and Burning Man 2015 is my last trip running on gasoline.

 

[free2enjoy]

I saw a video where the guy bought a travel trailer and replaced the a/c with a smaller Coleman Mach 1 Powersaver model that easily runs off a 2000w inverter generator. So he ends up having a/c available all day and night for 2 gallons of gas per day, if needed.

 

[wagoneer]

Not a big fan of AC never use it in my truck I slow down when it gets hot and speed up when it gets cold.

 

[TMG51]

This thread has been resurrected from the dead.

 

[tx2sturgis]

This thread has been resurrected from the dead.

Nah....Zombies don't need no stinkin air conditioning....

:dodgy:

 

[BobBski]

Window screens, orienting vehicle to get whatever breeze avail, big screens, roof vent fan, and most importantly my Ryobi fan. Having said that I also travel to avoid extremely high temps, but 90 degrees can be very comfortable if I use the above measures.

 

[Wanderer]

Yeah, wonder why I never saw this thread.

I have worked graveyard and slept in 100 degree weather. Trick was to take certain medication which made me drowsy and use earplugs and night mask.. That and a 12" fan works well for me. I find it way easier to sleep in the cooler weather while working grave also. Most places don't say "Boo" if you're there in the morning/afternoon, but the cops get hinky at night.

Now am looking at swing shift work. 2 choices, one 8 hrs, the other 10. Get off at 2:30 am. Stay up till 4 am then sleep till Noon or so. Workable, have done similar.

Worst was when we jsut had 4 days of 104+ during the wildfires. Took a motel room and slept during the worst of the day.

 

[Baloo]

When I was in Iraq I had to work the night shift and let me tell about trying to sleep in the heat. It would easily get up past the 130 degree mark by noon. When the generators went down for maintenance or failures it was impossible to sleep. I love my AC! Ever since then, if I am sweating, I am awake.


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