Cooling Ideas (1 Viewer)

[scotjimland]

With the heatwave upon us and getting ready for France, I bought three fans..

The first one is mounted in our transverse 'bedspace' ..
a 6" 12v all metal two speed fan from Road Pro.

The second is a 9" 230v desk fan that can also be run off our small inverter..

The third is a clip on battery powered, takes 4 x AA or can plug into a USB port on a puter .. it comes with a 230v adapter. both of these from B & Q...

 

[Scattycat]

Has anybody any experience of the Transcool air con unit?
We've been thinking of buying one but would like to know from those who have bought and used one whether they are any good or worth the money.

 

[Cobweb]

We will just make do with finding shady places . When we left home husband totally vetoed bringing a fan ...takes up too much space he said . We are sitting under a lovely shade tree at the moment and I dread thinking of leaving here tomorrow . My tip for keeping cool is taking a cold pack out of the freezer and holding it on pulse points on your wrists thus cooling the blood . I think it works
and it also helps on insect bites .

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[scotjimland]

@Scattycat
No experience, but I guess it depends on your expectations how effective it is..
It won't cool down a large van.. but maybe help if blowing directly onto you..

Some years ago we were travelling to Spain in a car with no a/c .. and it was baking hot.. with windows open it felt like a blast furnace blowing in...
We found a good way to keep cool was to put a wet bandanna on your head.. and spray with water to keep it wet.. works well..

Also wet towels on the back of the seats ..

Spraying water over your face and neck keeps you cool ..

 

[Eeyore]

Make sure that the big windows are shaded. The cab windows are best covered with a proper external windscreen cover, either a full winter or a summer mesh one. The side windows can be left open if you cover the outside with something to shade them. I made side window covers from silvered car windscreen covers from the Poundshop. You can either sew on tapes or use clothes pegs to keep them in place.

Don' t forget the rooflight too: again, better done from outside as you can then leave them open. We put an umbrella up through the big central one and open it so it shades the open hatch and directs any breeze into the open hatch. You might need to tie the handle of the umbrella to the hatch handle though !

All this makes a lot of difference to the internal temperature so making it easier to sleep.

 

[Wildman]

parking in the shade generally means no sat TV so we tend to park by water, that always creates a draught

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[Munchie]

I use a bucket of cold water and a flannel!
A douse down now n then evaporates the heat away!

 

[Cobweb]

parking in the shade generally means no sat TV so we tend to park by water, that always creates a draught

We have a mobile satdish so we can be in the shade when the dish is in the sun . Husband has got very good at finding the signal over the years .

 

[CJB]

Drink copious amounts of booze so you are unconscious for at least 8 hours, or install air-conditioning if on EHU. I have a dometic unit which works well on EHU.

I also have a rule on the MH that no one is allowed to complain of being to hot.

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[TheBig1]

put external silver screens on the cab and open the driver and passenger window. the reflection of the sun causes convection and draws some heat from the van plus you benefit from the breeze

hang your wet towel from morning shower below an open sunroof. the evaporation cools the van. same as putting a wet towel on top of a dog crate(cage) keeps the inside cooler. arabs have been using this method for thousands of years

 

[daveinspain]

As someone who only uses campsites as a last resort if no Areas, parkings or safe, quiet wild camping spots are available, I've often wondered why no-one has come up with a gas-powered A/C system. The fridge/freezer works best on gas, and obviously without EHU, so why can't an A/C unit do the same, with the cooling fan running on 12V? Just a thought!
I'm in the process of installing Brunner fridge cooling fans (thanks for the pics Andy) to cope with this heatwave, currently 35C in the shade and rising.

 

[Simon]

I use a bucket of cold water and a flannel!
A douse down now n then evaporates the heat away!

Can't beat that simplicity

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[Deleted member 29692]

As someone who only uses campsites as a last resort if no Areas, parkings or safe, quiet wild camping spots are available, I've often wondered why no-one has come up with a gas-powered A/C system. The fridge/freezer works best on gas, and obviously without EHU, so why can't an A/C unit do the same, with the cooling fan running on 12V? Just a thought!

It would be nice wouldn't it. I'd buy one!

I don't know the answer as to why not for sure but as a guess I would say that the issue would be getting a big enough 12v fan that's efficient enough to not draw very much power.

The fan in a blown air heating system is an example. That's 12v but wipes out batteries pretty quickly.

 

[Brian_K]

These are very good and don't take take up much space: Broken Link Removed

Not easy to get over here, but very quite and the 2 D cell batteries are reputed to last for 40hrs continuous use.

Blowing on me now.

Brian

 

[Neilfg]

These are very good and take take up much space: Broken Link Removed

They also do a Misting fan not seen before, seems like a great idea.

Broken Link Removed

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[Eeyore]

I'm surprised no- one has mentioned the 12v Endless Breeze fans: expensive but excellent. From our experience in Morocco and in Spain in August, they are very effective and can be left on day and night without flattening the leisure battery.

 

[jezport]

Has anybody any experience of the Transcool air con unit?
We've been thinking of buying one but would like to know from those who have bought and used one whether they are any good or worth the money.
View attachment 68098

They are an evaporative air cooler, they are better in low humidity. You can buy relatively cheap 240v evaporative air coolers and run them on a small inverter, they dont use much power as they dont have a compressor

 

[Ockerron]

Someone on the 'net suggested a good way to cool down was to put your sheets in the freezer. Really? Obviously not written by someone who EVER changed sheets on a bed. By the time I'd got the sheets back on they'd be hot again!

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[Minxy]

You could try a 'Chillo' - like a flat pillow recommended for those suffering from hot flushes but can be used equally well by others to keep cool at night ... also ideal for the dog's bed to keep them cool too.

 

[Deleted member 29692]

I'm surprised no- one has mentioned the 12v Endless Breeze fans: expensive but excellent. From our experience in Morocco and in Spain in August, they are very effective and can be left on day and night without flattening the leisure battery.

I've got one

 

[Don Quixote]

I've got one

Me too using it now................. Cool

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[TheBig1]

I've often wondered why no-one has come up with a gas-powered A/C system. The fridge/freezer works best on gas, and obviously without EHU, so why can't an A/C unit do the same, with the cooling fan running on 12V? Just a thought!
.

Well years ago "swamp" coolers were popular water is pumped into a evaporation dish on the roof. worked quite well but hard to keep clean

 

[scotjimland]

Anyone tried this Fiamma fan.. that can be mounted in a roof light or free standing.. at £47.75 almost half the price of an Endless breeze..

http://www.fiammastore.com/Fiamma-R...-caravans-and-motorhomes/Fiamma-Turbo-Kit-Fan

 

[Mr Mousy]

We are in mid France - it's very hot!
I am finding that a combination of cold beer and our roof mounted air con works very well.
The air con is chilling the van to 10 degrees, the beer is a little cooler.

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[DBK]

Another vote for the Endless Breeze, takes up little space when stored, quiet and very effective. Bite the bullet and buy one!

 

[sdc77]

Anyone tried this Fiamma fan.. that can be mounted in a roof light or free standing.. at £47.75 almost half the price of an Endless breeze..

http://www.fiammastore.com/Fiamma-R...-caravans-and-motorhomes/Fiamma-Turbo-Kit-Fan

Ours came fitted as standard and works well enough. We use it just to set up an air flow.. Currently is blowing out and pulling air in from the far end of the van.

 

[Scattycat]

They are an evaporative air cooler, they are better in low humidity. You can buy relatively cheap 240v evaporative air coolers and run them on a small inverter, they dont use much power as they dont have a compressor

Thanks, any suggestions on what is the better make?
One thing that impressed me about the Transcool was the size and low power consumption.

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[DBK]

As someone who only uses campsites as a last resort if no Areas, parkings or safe, quiet wild camping spots are available, I've often wondered why no-one has come up with a gas-powered A/C system. The fridge/freezer works best on gas, and obviously without EHU, so why can't an A/C unit do the same, with the cooling fan running on 12V? Just a thought!
I'm in the process of installing Brunner fridge cooling fans (thanks for the pics Andy) to cope with this heatwave, currently 35C in the shade and rising.

It could be done but I suspect the gas consumption would be a tad eye-watering! Your gas powered fridge cools a cubic foot or two of well insulated volume. Now scale that up for the size of a MH. A non-starter I fear.

 

[DBK]

Thanks, any suggestions on what is the better make?
One thing that impressed me about the Transcool was the size and low power consumption.

I'm not trying to put you off, by all means try one but from what I suspect they cost this could be an expensive mistake.

I've sat in a conference in London during a heatwave with an industrial evaporative cooler running and any cooling it provided was illusory I think. They work to some degree when humidity is low, but are ineffective when humidity is above around 50%, which is when you need cooling! Google "do evaporative coolers work" for more background but avoid the sites from manufacturers.

There was a programming on the radio today about heatstroke and the advice was to sit in moving air - or in other words just get a big fan.

I would avoid full-on air conditioning if you can. Apart from being noisy you will never acclimatise and I speak as someone who has lived in Kuwait and Belize so I've experienced a few extremes of temperature and humidity.

 

[wizzer59]

Anyone tried this Fiamma fan.. that can be mounted in a roof light or free standing.. at £47.75 almost half the price of an Endless breeze..

http://www.fiammastore.com/Fiamma-R...-caravans-and-motorhomes/Fiamma-Turbo-Kit-Fan

@ScotJimland

Yep we have one bought from Johns Cross Last year, served us well the last few weeks in France, we just use it as a stand alone (using the supplied 12v lead) so it can be stood in various places about the van, recommended as I'm not sure my OH would have survived without it. you would need a to put a different plug on to fit your 12v sockets though Jim

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