While talking about this the other day with two of my sisters I mentioned I wouldn't have air conditioning at night. I did get strange looks tossed my way on that, so I thought I would talk about my plans for keeping cool in the warmer months up ahead.
I'll be driving most days during the heat of the day, so I'm not worried about that part. I hope to get my AC fixed in the dash of the van before it starts getting really warm, but if it's going to cost way too much to repair I might try to live without it. AC would be great, and all, but there is good and bad both ways. Good, umm.. that is obvious. Plus, cuts down on wind drag with your windows rolled up. Bad that it will reduce your mpg, but it's a small price to pay for comfort. If, however, it's going to cost way too much to fix and I won't have AC, my body will acclimate slowly over the day and I won't notice the heat as bad as, say, getting out of a well air conditioned car and stepping out into 100 degree weather. Moving air, lots of water, dressing lightly will help in that regard while driving on the road.
But as for sleeping, it will be with zero air conditioning. I've figured out the heat part of it for colder nights, now to attempt to figure out how to keep cool at night in the warmer months.
Here will be some strategies I will try out. Dress for it, lighter clothing that breathes. Stay hydrated. Pull my hair up. Circulating air to move the heat away from my body. Wet a cloth or bandana and wrap around neck. Keep in shade, park in shade when stopped. Hats. Cook outdoors or eat things not needing to be cooked. Cool showers. Heck, it wasn't until the 1950's that air conditioning was offered as an option on mass produced vehicles. We are spoiled people!!
As for night, though, I will have to use some different tactics. First off will be ventilation. The conversion van I have has the small slider windows at the bottom of the big back glass on the sides. Two face opposite sides right across from each other and my bed is right between them, should get a good breeze that way. I will also only try to go to sleep after it has cooled off from the heat of the day. (reminds self to buy some ear plugs)
In addition, I found this little handy dandy little item the other day (I should have only went in to that truck stop for water and not looked around lol), it runs off 12v and batteries. It needs 8 "D" cell batteries, which is pretty expensive, so I will try to only utilize this item off it's 12v running capabilities.
Seems to move quite a bit of air. I also have two small 5" battery operated fans if needed. They are quiet, too. Batteries can run expensive if you need to replace them often, so that is iffy. Here is a pic of them:
I should have a decent breeze available if needed.
So I will wait until it's cooled off in the evening, take a cool shower, dress lightly, have a decent breeze going by either the windows or fans, and a light sheet for covers should set me up fairly decent with the cooling off while I sleep.
I may look in to getting one of those solar powered battery chargers and rechargeable batteries if this system works pretty good, that way I'm not spending a ton on batteries. Might look in to that after this Texas trip, there is no rush on that.
#VanConversion #Camping #CampingGear
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