A/c in a pop up camper?

cheermom1

<font color=teal>He NEVER EVER takes them out in p
Joined
Jul 21, 2008
Hey everyone looking to put an a/c in a pop up but I don;t want to cut a hole in the side or the canvas. So My question is has anyone done it and with what? Or has anyone used the portable a/c's? Thanks.:goodvibes
 
Hey everyone looking to put an a/c in a pop up but I don;t want to cut a hole in the side or the canvas. So My question is has anyone done it and with what? Or has anyone used the portable a/c's? Thanks.:goodvibes

You do not want to cut the fabric. What you need to buy is an RV style a/c (not a window unit from your local department store) and install it thru the roof. If your popup has a vent already in the roof, then that is where the a/c will be installed. If that option doesn't meet with your thoughts, then you will need to just use a portable a/c that you set up inside the pop up and plug in.
 
You do not want to cut the fabric. What you need to buy is an RV style a/c (not a window unit from your local department store) and install it thru the roof. If your popup has a vent already in the roof, then that is where the a/c will be installed. If that option doesn't meet with your thoughts, then you will need to just use a portable a/c that you set up inside the pop up and plug in.

Our pop up can not support a roof a/c. :sad1:
 


I have a Coleman Utah with a 15k ac unit on the roof. It is a normal install for any trailer dealer. I also put in a heat strip so we get ac and heat from the same unit. Check your trailer manufacturer they probably have a kit to let you install it. Mine has metal bars that bolt to the inside of the roof to put the weight of the unit onto the sides of the roof rather then the top (it sounds worse then it actually is, you don't notice them as they also come from Coleman or fleetwood). If i were you i would swing by walmart or home depot. They now make ac units that sit on the floor and look like a dehumidifier. You have a plastic pipe the size of a dryer vent that you vent to the outside. They blow the hot air out this pipe. I am sure you could disconnect a small section of the tent or leave a window open a little to let the pipe vent outside. Then you can move the unit into the house for what ever you may want to use it for...

For example:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Haier-10-000-BTU-Portable-Air-Conditioner-with-Remote-Control/15579353

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Soleus-Air-13-000-btu-Heat-Pump-Portable/14667803
 
You can absolutely use a portable A/C - my brother in law just used it for similar reasons. The popup he's in is unable to support an A/C in room. We dropped the portable inside, ran a direct line back to the pole (used converter for the 30amp connection so the A/C would be on its own circuit breaker). Ran the "hot air" exhaust outside through the seem between the aluminum and the canvas.

1) You gotta run it pretty steady in super hot weather. 2) Water is generally stored in the portable A/C from condensation - in high humidity it must be dumped frequently, or a hose must be run to get rid of the xtra water.

_______________

After this trip, we determined a more optimal solution is to park a standard A/C unit under one of the pop outs outside (save's precious interior space). Put it up on a crate, and use flex duct to bring only the cold air into the interior.

Either solution is imperfect - but it can be done.


_______________

If you really wanna go "red neck" - Google Redneck Ice Air Conditioner. You'll find very workable units that run 8 hours on 8 frozen 2L bottles of pop filled with water and a portable 12v fan. :cool1:
 


If you really wanna go "red neck" - Google Redneck Ice Air Conditioner. You'll find very workable units that run 8 hours on 8 frozen 2L bottles of pop filled with water and a portable 12v fan. :cool1:


Have you actually ever tried one of these? We bought something that ran off of this same concept and tried using it in a hard side travel trailer in May in Virginia when we were dry camping for a NASCAR race. I would recommend to not waste your money. Just buy a couple of $10 fans and put in the pop up.....you'll get as much cooling with a lot less work.
 
Weren't able to get the portable A/C but we are thinking of putting in a window unit. Only thing is I don;t want to cut on my PUP. Any have any tips or tricks on how to get a window unit for a pup without cutting on it?? thanks! :goodvibes
 
When I first got my popup in 91 it didn’t have a roof a/c unit because I didn’t have the money for it. I still had my window unit from when I was tent camping. On my first camping trip with the popup I made a shelf for the outside about 4 or more feet high for the back bunk I set the a/c unit on it wrapped plastic around the back bunk and the very front part of the a/c unit (not to cover the back part) Unzipped the back window and let the a/c blow throw the popup. It worked great for many trips and for over a year until I got my roof unit. You may try is I hope this my help you
 
If you really wanna go "red neck" - Google Redneck Ice Air Conditioner. You'll find very workable units that run 8 hours on 8 frozen 2L bottles of pop filled with water and a portable 12v fan. :cool1:

:cool1: That is awesome!!! Reminds me of Uncle Orvile's Ice cooling machine at CoP!!
 
When I first got my popup in 91 it didn’t have a roof a/c unit because I didn’t have the money for it. I still had my window unit from when I was tent camping. On my first camping trip with the popup I made a shelf for the outside about 4 or more feet high for the back bunk I set the a/c unit on it wrapped plastic around the back bunk and the very front part of the a/c unit (not to cover the back part) Unzipped the back window and let the a/c blow throw the popup. It worked great for many trips and for over a year until I got my roof unit. You may try is I hope this my help you

Thank you very much I will mention it to my dh.

keep the ideas coming. This is great advice.
 
We use a portable AC in our popup. When we bought our Coleman, we chose not to have the cassette potty in lieu of having the extra cabinet space, which gave us extra counter space on top! We set the AC on the counter and vent the hot air out of the the closest zip window. We actually protect the screening with aluminum foil (but will likely start using the foil insulation sheeting since we have them.)

We were pretty successful in Georgia this summer using this setup... We do need to find some tubing and a fitting, though, so that we can allow the AC to drain, as it ran constantly, and we had a few flooding "episodes".

Obviously, we're in a popup, so you won't have stellar cooling, but it does cut the humidity enough to make sleeping much more comfortable. But I'm not at WDW to sit in the camper, either!:cool1:
 
We did this last summer. Running a hose and not dumping the water is the way to go.



You can absolutely use a portable A/C - my brother in law just used it for similar reasons. The popup he's in is unable to support an A/C in room. We dropped the portable inside, ran a direct line back to the pole (used converter for the 30amp connection so the A/C would be on its own circuit breaker). Ran the "hot air" exhaust outside through the seem between the aluminum and the canvas.

1) You gotta run it pretty steady in super hot weather. 2) Water is generally stored in the portable A/C from condensation - in high humidity it must be dumped frequently, or a hose must be run to get rid of the xtra water.

_______________

After this trip, we determined a more optimal solution is to park a standard A/C unit under one of the pop outs outside (save's precious interior space). Put it up on a crate, and use flex duct to bring only the cold air into the interior.

Either solution is imperfect - but it can be done.


_______________

If you really wanna go "red neck" - Google Redneck Ice Air Conditioner. You'll find very workable units that run 8 hours on 8 frozen 2L bottles of pop filled with water and a portable 12v fan. :cool1:
 

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