Venting window AC into cabin?

[Reducto]

I've decided that I need to squeeze some sort of air conditioning into my van. Evaporative AC won't work because I will be spending a lot of time in muggy Florida. My van is here, but it has been repainted since I took the pictures:
https://vanlivingforum.com/Thread-1989-Toyota-van-conversion

I already have 2" of foam insulation between the cabin and the rear. I want to stay relatively stealthy and would prefer to keep the AC unit higher up rather than at the floor. I'm thinking that I could mount a small window AC unit in the insulated section so that it's vented into the cabin and simply leave a window open while it's running.

Has anyone seen this done before or have thoughts about it?

 

[AuricTech]

Have you considered using a portable air conditioner? You could run the venting hose up to your van's rooftop vent, or through the insulation to the cab. It would probably be a cleaner installation than a window air conditioner.

 

[jimindenver]

A few things to consider.

a window shaker is designed to have the back end outside for ventilation of the compressor/ condenser unit. They don't just have the back open but also the sides and top. Those have to be exposed outside of the cabin for the unit to work properly.

I bought my folks a portable and found out it is great if you are on the cool side of it. On the back side where the exhaust hose is will be sweltering. i would vent it straight out of the vehicle so that there was no hose to heat up or use a well insulated tube so that it doesn't heat up the cabin.

The last thing is if you are doing this stealth with no hook ups, even the smallest unit takes quite a bit of battery power to run it. I have what I believe to be the lowest draw 5000 btu unit pulling around 400w and by itself my 250 Ah 8-D wont start the compressor. I use three huge 24v solar panels to run it and those have to be kept tracking the sun to have that kind of power. luckily where I go I don't need it unless the sun is shining.

 

[LeeRevell]

I have two portable ACs, one is 8KBTU and one is 12KBTU. They are a LOT bigger than the little 5KBTU window AC in my bedroom, and which will ultimately go into my van camper. Having a raised fiberglass roof, and needing to rebuild the rear upper storage area anyway, plan is to lower the platform an inch, and build the AC into the center, with only a louvered panel showing outside. I will need to address the condensation issue, using a drip pan and rubber tubing.
Trying to use a portable would use up a LOT of needed space for other things.

 

[akrvbob]

Reducto, I think that's a valid idea that's very creative! Would you take out the passenger seat and put it there? I would think it would take a pretty substantial framework to hold the weight? If it's not removable, won't it kill your stealth? I'd think anyone looking through the front windows would see it and know it was very odd.

I guess if you took out the passenger seat you could mount it low so people couldn't see it.

How will you power it? If memory serves you have either a 200 or 250 watt panel. I don't think that's enough?
Bob

 

[AuricTech]

I figured I'd at least bring up the idea of a portable air conditioner as an option. How that option best fits one person's needs almost certainly won't match another person's needs.

Regardless of which type of air conditioner used, one issue with maintaining a stealthy profile (especially in a humid environment) is what to do about the condensate. That's a question the original poster will need to answer before proceeding.

 

[LeeRevell]

My portables have a holding tank for the condensate, but also provision for a drain tube - running the drain tube through a floor hole wouldn't be hard. Finding a place for the unit - "Aye, there's the rub"....... Less problem for a bigger vehicle - say a box truck or stepvan. The hot air could exhaust beneath the vehicle too(?).

 

[ccbreder]

I think for a typical van, a roof top unit is best. I have seen many posts, mostly here, that showed various methods of using house type window units. And there is Always, always, the electrical power problem. I do not think a battery bank can operate a window AC.

 

[Reducto]

I'm not planning on powering it with a battery - I'd only use the AC when at a park with hookups or when I'm someplace I can use my generator.

If I mount the unit high enough I should be able to just remove the headrest from the passenger seat. That doesn't leave much room between it and the ceiling for ventilation, though. Maybe I could incorporate some sort of fan?

All of the portables I've seen are huge. I'm in a minivan and have very little room to spare.

I would have it set up so I can remove it and put it on the floor in front of my passenger seat when I won't be using it for a while.

 

[jimindenver]

if you were not trying to go stealth than I don't see a issue other than leaving the front windows open for ventilation. When I was looking last year I picked up a Haler 5000 BTU unit at Walmart. That had to be the smallest, lightest window AC I've seen. After the season was over you could pick any of the lower end units up for $25-30 on craigslist.

 

[ccbreder]

Make a plywood filler to fit in the rolled down front window. Make it to mount the AC. Otherwise you have to leave the windows open for air. Not very secure with the windows open.

 

[Bdog1]

I put a small unit in my Dodge truck pass. window for plush camping for one in muggy FL. It's heavy and awkward but, so is sweating all night ! 1/4" ply fills the gaps.

 

[Matt71]

I've been looking at this portable unit as an option.
http://amzn.com/B004P8K39G

It uses a 6" vent hose which I was thinking could easily be vented into the front cab, ceiling vent or you could up  vent on the side of the van.

,Matt

 

[Reducto]

That's a lot smaller than the portable units I'd seen in the past. The cost is reasonable as well. I'll have to look into it.

Thanks for posting the link!

 

[offroad]

I've been looking at this portable unit as an option.
http://amzn.com/B004P8K39G

It uses a 6" vent hose which I was thinking could easily be vented into the front cab, ceiling vent or you could up  vent on the side of the van.

,Matt

Trying to understand this unit. There are always two air systems in an AC unit. The hot side loop. And the cold side loop.

The hot side sucks in ambient outside air, and dumps heat into it. And pushes the heated outside air out. Heat is transferred from the inside cold loop.

The cold side loop pulls in room air and cools it by moving heat to the hot side. Then it dumps out cold air.

So in this unit is it sucking air into the input both from inside the room? That would take more energy to cool the same space.

How do I have this wrong ?

 

[offroad]

Suppose the overall effect is that this unit will pull air from outside the room, via cracks and vents and other air sources going into the room.

 

[LeeRevell]

Big and heavy for van use. Check the specs on size. Also you'll have condensation water to contend with. The internal tank may fill quickly in a humid environment, and you may need to run an overflow/drain hose to the outside.

 

[Matt71]

Wow, I didn't realize how big it was. Guess I'm in the same boat as the OP.
I saw a build somewhere where the person had a small AC unit built into the door between the front and back of the van, but I've been unable to find an AC unit that is that small

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

i bought one, it fit between the seats. couldnt power it with my 1500running/2000 surge genny tho...you need a beastly one or shore for that startup power. it would run it (managed once), but kept tripping the plugs low voltage breaker before it had a chance to rev up.

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

it was the Koldfront PAC701W Slim Design 7,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner, White that i tried...it was only a 40 more watts than the 5000 btu frigidaire...maybe it woulda helped lol