Tips on Keeping Motorhome Cooler

[Bordercollie]

Some good stuff I saved from another poster:

"NONE of the RV A/C units can keep a MH cool when the temps reach 90.

Instead of adding a unit you need to add things to the MH to keep the "heat out" like all the rest of us have to.

First in a Class C you have to cover the cab area from the coach area or your MH will never get cool. This is where MOST of the heat comes in thru the windshield and side windows. Also make sure the vents for your chassis heater/ac are closed before you shut the engine off.

Cover all roof vents with vent pillows. A ton of heat comes in from these plastic flimsy not sealed vent covers, and you loose a lot of air thru them too.

Park facing north or south.

Add windshield sun shades to the 'side' windows where the sun is coming in.They fit right under day/night shades, no taping, velcro necessary.

Put awning out and placed in it's lowest position. Face your MH so that the awning is on the side where the afternoon sun is.

And if you really want to get serious about seeing how cool you can keep your MH in the heat....add a de-humidifier to assist your A/C. I did and it is unbelievable what a difference it makes.

Adding these insulating items to help the A/C will drop the temps in your MH by 20 degrees."

[Dakzuki]

There is another thing that helps. Get acclimated so you are used to the heat. If you are living in an air conditioned environment you will have issues when exposed to heat. We rarely have the cab AC on when driving and even less frequently use the house AC. We wear less/lighter clothing and have sheepskin seat covers that make life easier in the cab. Usually I will turn on the house AC in the evening to cool things down before bed and then shut it down. This works for us up to about 100F during the day. We don't have to deal with humidity out here so that's a different story.

[RVWithTito]

oldmattb wrote:
re: windshield sun shades

We used this. It took me about 20 minutes to cut and trim with scissors for all side windows. The blinds held it in place. It made an easily noticeable difference in interior temperature.

http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=13357-56291-BP24025&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=3011904&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1

Matt B

I did the same. I have pre-cut sizes for each window that I keep stored away in my coach.

[j-d]

We have a little solid state dehumidifier that takes about a pint a day out of the coach when the A/C is running. Much more when coach is parked at home A/C off.
By solid state it works on Peltier Junction principle. Same as these coolers with their own cooling device. Current applied to it makes one side hot and the other cold. It helps the comfort level and the heat isn't noticeable.

We're usually near a beach where we want view. DW made a pattern from our vinyl ADCO cab cover and created a cover out of privacy screen. We can still see out, hard to see into the coach from outside during the day, and it seems to keep some of the heat out.

[Bordercollie]

We normally stay home nowadays with our American Standard central air conditioner going in beastly hot summer weather here in Socal. Have sat in rv's and watched the line voltage sag as everybody in the RV park ran their AC's. Not my idea of camping, more like survival. Our Chille Grille helps by concentrating cold air in kitchen/dinette area, when desired, instead of letting it go through the ceiling ducts to the rear of the rig. OK, we're getting old !!

[Mark_Spears]

I bought a couple of 4x8 sheets of 1.5 inch polystyrene insulation from Lowes and cut them to fit my vent covers. I also cut out a piece to fit between the cab and the coach. If you tape around the trimmed edges with masking or packing tape the little pieces don't fall out and get all over your floor. Seems to make a huge difference here in San Antonio.

I also tinted all of my windows with Gilla energy reducing tint. Two rolls at 30.00 a roll made a difference too. My unit would never cycle before and now it only runs the compressor about 1/2 the time even when it is 100 degees.

[Robocop]

When I had a HTT, Reflectix was an absolute necessity for comfort on all tent panels, both for insulating (winter or summer) and light refraction (hate that 0530 sun from the East). Old ways die hard. Still do the same thing whether in my driveway or on the road. Helps with UV damage too. Yeah, it often looks like a cave in broad daylight but it is 10 degrees cooler. Another area often not considered is the atrium dome above the tub enclosure. The sun beats down on that unimpeded all day. I use a piece of Reflectix there as well and that makes a huge difference.

[bshpilot]

some pictures of the foil/dbl bubble insulation in the windows of the coach & our pickup truck.
I even made a set for my wifes (black exterior / black leather interior) miata !

[Jim_Shoe]

On my trip to Alaska, I found out what "the land of the midnight sun" means. By the time I was half way thru BC, it was cool, but it was light about 23 hours a day. And with two skylights in my 'C', one of which was directly over the bed, sleep wasn't easy. When I got to Whitehorse in Yukon Territory, I stopped in the equivalent of Sears and found a sheet of black plastic cardboard, some 3" thick soft foam and some double sided Velcro. They had plenty of all three. I cut the foam slightly larger than the skylight openings and then covered it with black cardboard, attached with the Velcro so that it was removable. Both skylights are still covered. If I want light, I raise the shades. Works for me, but you may have to go to Alaska to find black plastic cardboard. 🙂

[littlemo]

Windshield shades
We place these on windshield and side windows of cab, then the privacy curtain that comes with motor home. If extremely hot or cold I also place a thermal curtain panel I bought at dollar store hanging down from bunk to separate cab from living area.

I bought this Styrofoam ice chest at Walmart or K Mart and the beveled lid fits perfectly in my sun roof in the shower and I cut the side to fit in the 2 vents in living area. Works great.

[Gonzo42]

oldmattb wrote:
re: windshield sun shades

We used this. It took me about 20 minutes to cut and trim with scissors for all side windows. The blinds held it in place. It made an easily noticeable difference in interior temperature.

http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=13357-56291-BP24025&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId...

I used the same material as part of my cooler modification:

Cooler mod

[map40]

Cousin_Eddie93 wrote:
I have a separate low profile window unit that fits perfectly inside the passenger side cab window with no need for bracing. I tried this once by plugging it into the 110ac on pedestal. Worked awesome with rig in full sun at 95 degrees.

Can you post a picture?

[LI-Camper]

Drive to the UP of Michigan! We are there now and we use heat every night and haven't used the AC even once. The cooling tips are excellent and most would come in handy in colder weather. Thanks for all the ideas.

[bshpilot]

we use the double bubble insulation (w/ the foil)....like oldmattb recommends.
I use it in the vents (WITH the foam vent pillows).

We have NO PROBLEM keeping our coach cool even in TEXAS 100+ degree heat & humidity.

[hotbyte]

tracyb-oh wrote:
We have found with our Class C when we arrive at the campground my husband opens the hood to let the heat from the engine dissipate out side quicker instead of radiating into the coach...

Read this tip before (might have been from you) but can never remember to try it. Will need to make a note to try it next time out!