Summer Camping – Sponsored by SoftStartRV
Summer Camping Is Here—How Will You Stay Cool?
For RVers, summer is a special time. Enjoying time in the woods, on the lake, and on the road form the narrative of what summer is all about. Long drives to exciting destinations with no fear of snow, icy roads, or spring thunderstorms. Coffee around a campfire in the early morning helps to wake us up and cook our breakfast. That same fire pit at night roasts both our dinner and our marshmallows.
Whether you are new to camping or a veteran RVer, enjoying your summer trips means being able to keep cool during the drive and at the campground. Though many activities are best enjoyed when you get out in the summertime air, being able to cool down in the evening and sleep comfortably can make or break an otherwise great excursion. There are a few things you can do to ensure you enjoy the summer heat, not just survive it.
Get an ice maker
Tabletop ice makers provide reasonably priced assurance that you can enjoy a cold drink whenever needed. In addition to staying hydrated, you are cooling your core body temperature with a cold drink.
Several portable ice makers capable of producing up to 26 pounds of ice in a 24-hour period can be purchased for under $150. More expensive units are available from top brands like Frigidaire.
Use your awnings
While it’s obvious you will want to use your awnings when outside enjoying the campsite, don’t forget to extend the awnings all around your RV even when you are inside cooling off. The awnings can keep the sun off your RV exterior and help keep the interior cooler. Remember to keep wind conditions in mind when extending your awning.
Take a shower
This seems obvious at the onset, but don’t discount it. You won’t want to take a cold shower, however. A cold shower reduces your skin temperature and closes your pores, heating up your core. You’ll have a rush of initial relief, but actually feel worse shortly after. A warm or lukewarm shower will provide the best relief from the heat.
You’ll also be rinsing off dirt, sunscreen, and potential allergens that might irritate your skin causing you to itch and actually feel warmer as blood rushes to those irritated areas.
Keep your air conditioner units clean and maintained
Your rooftop A/C units need to be maintained regularly. You’ll want to make sure that the normal condensation that builds up is being managed and funneled off properly.
Air conditioning units will typically have a drainage tube to shuttle that condensation off the roof. Some units will have a condenser pump that acts like a mini sump that pumps water through a network of hoses that emerge at the bottom or rear of your RV or motorhome.
After ensuring that the bolts are tight, the wiring is tidy, and there are no leaks or drainage issues, remove dirt and debris by gently rinsing out the condenser coil with water or low pressure compressed air. Be very careful not to bend the cooling fins. Finally, check the fan and impeller for cracks or damage. A/C maintenance is important for every RVer.
Give your A/C power a boost
The power requirements of today’s modern camping family are much higher than they were a decade or two ago. New appliances, multiple flat-screen televisions, and a dozen USB devices that need charging can tax the power system of your RV.
This additional power draw can make it tough to start the A/C, which has a large initial power requirement to get going, but once running is very manageable. Many of today’s motorhomes, travel trailers, and fifth wheels come with two or even three A/C units.
Facebook is rampant with posts stating something like, “I turned on my A/C and nothing happened. It’s 90 degrees…help!” Very often there is nothing wrong with the A/C unit, there just simply is not enough power left to start it.
You can solve this issue and make it easy for your air conditioners to power on by installing a SoftStartRV A/C soft starter on every A/C unit. Whether you have one A/C unit running on a portable generator, two units trying to run on 30-amps, or three air conditioners running on 50-amps, a soft starter will help you.
An A/C soft starter device like those made by SoftStartRV reduces the startup demand required by your air conditioner by as much as 70%. This means you can start two A/C units on just 30-amps.
For big rigs with three air conditioners, you can easily start all three A/C units on 50-amp power, when using your generator while boondocking, or on a long, hot drive. You can find SoftStartRV soft starters at https://www.softstartusa.com/rvlife.
Stay cool while summer camping
Summer represents freedom. As kids, it meant a break from school. As adults, it often means vacation time from work. Camping and RVing tend to slow us down and bring back those quieter, more relaxed times that summer is known for. Enjoy summer camping even on those warmest days. Stay cool and enjoy the season.
Max Marlin says
I would like to know why all of the roof-top air-conditioners on the market for rv`s are so loud ?
I have looked to replace two of mine & none of the new models advertise a reasonable noise rating.
Not So Free says
That is a very good question. I almost sold my last RV because with the AC running you couldn’t hear yourself.
.
OK all you manufacturers; What gives?
John says
Really didn’t find this article useful. You are targeting an audience who drive or pull large rigs and stay in powered/full service parks. Why not address some of the challenges faced by boon dockers or folks with small rigs who don’t have space for a dedicated ice maker. I’ve assisted large RVers who find their A/C units not working. You are right on that mark, they are pulling too much power. Simple advise them to turn everything off then turn the A/C on. Turn on what you need and if the A/C goes off, you’ve gone too far. Additional issue for the big rigs is they want all their A/C units on and no 30amp site will handle that and most 50amp sites won’t. Some tricks I’ve seen the smaller rigs and I mean less than 20ft do is use one or two water bottles frozen in front of a Dewalt 20v battery fan along with their A/C. I’ve used this trick in our nucamp 18′ and by the time the ice is melted, the combination of the two have cooled the trailer without over tasking our A/C unit. Plus, the Dewalt can run on low setting about 8-hrs so it’s nice to have on at night to circulate air. I have a Dewalt drill that uses the same battery that I use to raise and lower our stabilizers.
John Clark says
If you are in the right area, a swamp cooler is a godsend. I’ve had my swamp cooler for 2 years and I only turn my a/c on to check that it still works.
Joe says
where can I get a swamp cooler?
thanks a lot!
Matt Glaser says
We live in Ohio so we have very hot humid summers.,A little trick my dad shared with me to help cool off the camper and allow the a/c to catch up. We cut foil backed bubble wrap insulation the same size of all our windows and especially skylights. Then slide them up between the window and the sun shade or blinds. This cools off the camper by as much as 15degrees! It is amazing how much the sun rays heat the inside of your camper!
Laura says
Hi. I’m born and raised in the CA desert and swamp coolers were all we had to cool our home when I was a kid (still have one now alongside our AC unit). They’re great in dry climates (the dryer the better) because they work by cooling the air by the evaporation of water. This very function, however, makes their use in an RV inadvisable because they pump the interior full of moisture. In the summer, we can barely close the interior doors of our sticks and bricks because the added moisture causes the wood to swell. Imagine the damage that could do to an RV where keeping moisture at bay is already a challenge?
LANE K THOMAS says
We have switched to a Mini Split Inverter Heat Pump. 9000 btu only uses 300 watts to start and less than 900 watts at peak cooling.
Chris Moore says
Lane K Thomas- what brand/model mini split did you go with?
Steve says
The primary evaporative cooler for RVs is the 12v TurboKool. Fits any standard 14″ vent and works off solar panels during the day and the battery at night. Cools 15-20 degrees below outside temp or more if you keep blinds/shades down on the sunny side or put out the awning if the camp side is facing south.
For 45 years, an evaporative cooler has provided the only summer cooling for our house in semi-arid Colorado. It adds needed moisture to our very low humidity (20%) air and works even better in AZ and NM. Plus it is much quieter than any 120v RV refrigerated air conditioner.
Kenneth Mitchell says
One other thing I noticed is when I was fixing a gate valve under my rig. I was fixing a gate valve that was enclosed above a cover under the entire rig. There was loose and spotty insulation in there. I replaced it all with fresh wall-to-wall insulation. Made a big difference.