Keeping Cool in France and Spain. (1 Viewer)

[jaykay]

Once we get a new van, our first big trip will be a first trip to France/Spain.

This is likely to be in the summer and my wife is concerned about the heat. We love the heat during the day, and while travelling will have the cab aircon to help keep comfortable.

BUT, how do you keep cool at stopovers and during the night ? I am guessing we wont have hab aircon, and if we do, can only use it with ehu is that right ?

 

[Gunner29]

heat

It WILL be hot in the south of France and def Spain. Stay near to the coast if possible as it's cooler.
On EHU we carry a small blower for the nights but when off its a thin sheet on the bed and as we don't have a problem with the heat not a problem during the day.
Remember to always wear a broad rimmed hat NOT a base ball cap as it doesn't protect the neck and use factor 30-50 cream and don't forget the lips as they will burn also.
But this said enjoy the trip:thumb:

 

[Billy23]

Depends what part of Spain and very important what months, it is hot all over Spain, in July the temperature was high 30c and in August it was 41c both of the reading are near my house in Spain which is about half an hour’s drive from Seville….but a 30 minute drive from my house to the coast and it is about 5 to 10c lower.
Other parts of Spain will be a bit down on those temperatures but still very hot in those months, best visit-if you can- Early summer, or late, September is a very good month for Spain.

And to keep cool, try taking all your clothes off, having said that, that might make you hotter.

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[jaykay]

Depends what part of Spain and very important what months, it is hot all over Spain, in July the temperature was high 30c and in August it was 41c both of the reading are near my house in Spain which is about half an hour’s drive from Seville….but a 30 minute drive from my house to the coast and it is about 5 to 10c lower.
Other parts of Spain will be a bit down on those temperatures but still very hot in those months, best visit-if you can- Early summer, or late, September is a very good month for Spain.

And to keep cool, try taking all your clothes off, having said that, that might make you hotter.

Billy,
We are up to speed on the temps as we holiday every year in Spain during peak summer. This is why we are a little concerned as we usually have a nice hotel room with aircon. Last week we were in Benidorm and had 42 and 48 degrees ! That was HOT <sweatin !

I am more thinking about tricks to keep temps down such as silver blinds and fans etc.

 

[vwalan]

unfortunately m,homes arent good in hot sun.
when i built my conversion i used small windows high up to act as chimneys for the heat to escape . m,home big windows encourage the heat . i find mine works well /solid roof no vents as they are very often a magnifier of the sun . did consider solid roof hatches but have vever needed them . i do go into north africa and most comment that the trailer is cooler than their vans/m,homes .

 

[Barclaybasher]

I have aircon (fitted as original equipment) works off EHU and a 500w inverter. I have used it to cool the van down but would not run it for too long on the inverter.

As you probably know for aircon to work you need to have all windows and other openings closed.

Using fans you want the windows etc open, for both you probably need EHU. Window blinds will help anyway, especially for the cab.

I wouldn't go to Spain in July or August, France would be my choice, mountains or coast
:thumb:

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[magicsurfbus]

In the south of France three weeks ago we were routinely clocking temperatures in the low 40s, and at least the high 30s. At Carcassonne the outside sensor hit 50, and it was in shade. We don't have any air conditioning, nor do we plan on getting any. Nobody forced us to drive to the Med coast.

There are two problems as I see it - top-hinged windows draw hot air from the ground into the vehicle, and winter insulation keeps the heat in. Our van was often 5 degrees warmer inside than it was outside, even with all windows and top vents open. Also, security - you don't sleep overnight with the windows open, apart from maybe a small overcab bedroom window and the top vents. We usually sleep under a cotton sheet and it still gets pretty warm.

This year I put a temperature sensor inside the fridge with a LCD display on the front panel above the door. I wish I hadn't - it's always struggled in extreme heat as I don't think it's designed for ambient temperatures much more than 25 C. On the recent trip there were very hot days when it wouldn't drop below 16 C in the chiller compartment when running on gas, and single figures were a rare bonus. The metal draining board above the fridge was warm to the touch, so something was struggling to cope. Given that around 5 C is ideal for a fridge we had to be a bit careful with some foods, although the freezer compartment remained frozen. Mind you it was so bloody hot on some days that even a 16 C beer felt refreshing.

We weren't able to run the fridge on 12v when travelling due to an electrical fault, so on longer journeys we put any sensitive food in a chiller box that ran off a dashboard 12v socket. Not ideal but better than nothing. We're having the fault seen to soon, hopefully.

To be honest, if you can't stand the heat don't go south in summer. Stay further north near big rivers and lakes so you can cool down, or on the Atlantic coast where at least there's some air circulation that doesn't resemble a bloody great fan heater.

 

[Sundowners]

Sorry I'm not much help------in the middle of the Summer we would be going North----Norway is fantastic (if a bit expensive:Sad-----------We have spent enough time in the heat
Nigel & Pamala

 

[Chris]

We just use a silver screen and fans. The van is always a bit hotter than the shade temperature.

It was very hot in Spain this year but you do acclimatise.

I found drinking lots of cold beer helped.

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[ukbill]

front screen and side windows covered all blinds down including top vents blacked out get a couple of fans and that will do the trick a fan on a inverter will do for the over night stop if needed thats all we did in france and spain and it was hot as for no cloths go for it in that heat ya not gonna rise to any occasion anyway lol

 

[Mags52]

We are in France right now and temperatures have been in the high 30s for the last few days. We chose a pitch in as much shade as possible, put silver screens on front windows and opened top vents with fly screens over. our fly screens are dark and so add shade to the inside.
We have no aircon even in the cab but not too uncomfortable.
Our kitchen window is a sliding one so we can drive with it open - this is very helpful.
We have an ordinary fan that we put near the kitchen window at night and it seems to draw and circulate the cooler air from the window after dark.
The other thing we do is choose a site with a pool when it's very hot and go and sit in it up to the chin. ACSI is our friend right now.
The surprise to us is how cold it gets in the middle of the night - must be because it's September as we don't remember this from other trips in high season.
The other surprise is how cold we felt when the temperatures dropped a couple of weeks ago. You obviously acclimatise as 19c is not cold by our standards yet after 30c it felt distinctly chilly.
Drink loads, put on a big hat and don't do too much. Our Scottish bones are getting a great warming!

 

[beerdrinker1]

We are in France right now and temperatures have been in the high 30s for the last few days. We chose a pitch in as much shade as possible, put silver screens on front windows and opened top vents with fly screens over. our fly screens are dark and so add shade to the inside.
We have no aircon even in the cab but not too uncomfortable.
Our kitchen window is a sliding one so we can drive with it open - this is very helpful.
We have an ordinary fan that we put near the kitchen window at night and it seems to draw and circulate the cooler air from the window after dark.
The other thing we do is choose a site with a pool when it's very hot and go and sit in it up to the chin. ACSI is our friend right now.
The surprise to us is how cold it gets in the middle of the night - must be because it's September as we don't remember this from other trips in high season.
The other surprise is how cold we felt when the temperatures dropped a couple of weeks ago. You obviously acclimatise as 19c is not cold by our standards yet after 30c it felt distinctly chilly.
Drink loads, put on a big hat and don't do too much. Our Scottish bones are getting a great warming!

Thanks for your post Mags, made me feel a lot better, I am definately going to head south next year, but no AC at all in cab or anywhere else !, so if you can do it so can I !,
But sat at home now almost freezing with the heating on, yes I know that the lucky people in the South of England have been having a mini heat wave, but not up here in Bonny Scotland !, :thumb:

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[jaygee]

We have a 12V fan "Endless Breeze". Was recommended on another forum, cost £85 and I bought it much to hubby's disgust - fancy spending £85 on a fan!! However, we have been traveling Europe since 1st August - Switzerland, Italy, Slovinea and now Croatia and it as been HOT... but the fan has been brilliant, especially at night when we can have it hanging over the bed, 12V so can use when not on elec hook up.. really been worth it.

 

[Taran_Las]

But sat at home now almost freezing with the heating on, yes I know that the lucky people in the South of England have been having a mini heat wave, but not up here in Bonny Scotland !, :thumb:

Wimp

And I thought you were a hard man Ken

 

[Taran_Las]

We have a 12V fan "Endless Breeze". Was recommended on another forum, cost £85 and I bought it much to hubby's disgust - fancy spending £85 on a fan!! However, we have been traveling Europe since 1st August - Switzerland, Italy, Slovinea and now Croatia and it as been HOT... but the fan has been brilliant, especially at night when we can have it hanging over the bed, 12V so can use when not on elec hook up.. really been worth it.

85 beer tokens for a fan

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[beerdrinker1]

Hard man yes, but the cold ........... burrrrrrrrrrr no thanks, just a pansy,
Even you had the good weather for the last few days lucky so and so,
Hows tricks , did you get the boiler installed without hassle ?
:thumb:

 

[dotsontour]

Keeping cool

Once we get a new van, our first big trip will be a first trip to France/Spain.

This is likely to be in the summer and my wife is concerned about the heat. We love the heat during the day, and while travelling will have the cab aircon to help keep comfortable.

BUT, how do you keep cool at stopovers and during the night ? I am guessing we wont have hab aircon, and if we do, can only use it with ehu is that right ?

We have just returned from Greece and Turkey in our autosleeper executive very very hot .We did buy a endless breeze fan (12 volt) It was first class we were wild camping much of the time and often had the fan on most of the night with two leisure batteries we were never short of power for the fan.We thought it more than paid for itself
Regards June and dave