For those of you that have used an AC in your tent

[InstaCamper]

I am trying to deside if this is worth while or not, I know my wife thinks it will be- But if I have a large tent 12x15 Copper Canyon, wont the cool air go through the vents in the top of the tent? Do I need to block off the vents some how?

What are your thoughts on what the best way to do this would be?

 

[Judique]

I am trying to deside if this is worth while or not, I know my wife thinks it will be- But if I have a large tent 12x15 Copper Canyon, wont the cool air go through the vents in the top of the tent? Do I need to block off the vents some how?

What are your thoughts on what the best way to do this would be?

Waiting patiently for other answers to this!
(I have the same tent and the top is all mesh before you put the fly on.) I know that cool air falls - hot air rises, but does it actually get cool in a tent, and do you have to just run it continuously to get just a cooler breeze?

 

[ynottony99]

I have never tried to run an A/C in a tent with the open screen top. We just bought one that has this, and I've done a little research. From what I can see, you have to put a tarp over the tent to cover the screen in order get it cooled down. That makes a lot of sense, because removing humidity from the air is a big part of being comfortable. I am sure others have experimented with this and can share their experiences.

 

[ob1quixote]

Never have tried to run AC in my tent, but I have heated it in temps into the 20's. I covered the screen ceiling with a tarp from the outside.

 

[dbenlee]

I have not used an AC in a tent either, but I would think that since cold air is heavier than warm air, the vents at the top of the tent would seem to be less of a problem than any at the bottom. I have seen pictures on several threads here that show using AC's and from what they have reported, it sounds very workable to make a tent comfortable at night during the heat of the summer.

 

[Marshel]

I've used a 5000 btu window unit in the door of my 12'x10',7' tall dome tent. The upper panels are not mesh, but what I did was put a 12'x10' tarp on top of my rainfly silver side up to which I had duct taped a couple of survival blankets shiny side up. This was in early September when temps were in the low to mid 90s with lots of humidity. Per advice I had read here, I kept one of the windows slightly cracked open at the top to keep condensation from forming inside the tent. It didn't work miracles but kept temps in the 76-78 degree range in my chair by the door and around 80 on my raised queen bed on the far side of my tent during the heat of the afternoon, comfortable enough to take a nap. The first day I mistakenly put the ac on fan only and it had to be over a 100 when I came back that afternoon. It would chll the tent down after the sun went down where you had to turn the thermostat down and run it on low.

 

[InstaCamper]

Hmm -would you put the tarp on first then the rain fly, - Also I read where someone put an awning over there tent to block the sun from Hitting the tent.

I am going to see if I can figure out how to block my vents from the inside as well- Without damaging the tent with tons of tape etc-

I will make sure I post plenty of pictures and report my findings when I get back -Late June

On another note: I originally purchased the Coleman Insta tent for this purpose, Because it has NO Roof vents at all, But I returned it because of some other reasons- Neat concept but it has some design issues that need worked out-

 

[Marshel]

I might try something lighter like painters plastic sheeting on top of the vents to close them off and then put the tarp on top of the rainfly. You want something shiny on top to reflect as much heat off the roof as possible ala the pop up gizmos that a lot of people here use on their pop up ends. I understand that you would want to close off those vents also. If you don't mind, what did you not like about the Instant-Tent?

 

[Marshel]

Here's a photo, you can see how much of the sun is bein reflected:

 

[InstaCamper]

Marshel - I purchased the 10x14 Coleman signature insta tent, The first one we set up, when extending the poles the plastic clip that retains the pole broke, and the pole would not stay up. So sent it back got another one, (this was my first realization if 1 thing went wrong the whole tent is going to have problems.) The second one we had was fine, setting it up- We put it in the backyard and it really took a beating in the wind, with (real stakes and all the guy lines attached) You are pretty well stuck if it rains, all windows have to be up, I tried, and it comes in) So all the windows up with rain in the summer and no vents at all is going to be hot! Also with out some major jury-rigging if it is raining, every time you open the door it is going to rain inside. We had one moderate rain while it was out, and it did leak around the upper part of the Back D Door- I called coleman and there response was to buy some seam sealer and put around the top of the zipper- So much for weather guarantee- I Didn’t like the fact it had no EPort, Rain Fly, you can not purchase any spare or replacement parts for this tent-You have to pay to ship it back to coleman, Really no place on the ceiling to hang anything, The zippers seem to get stuck or caught up more often on the doors. The kicker was for me, I left it outside for two days, When we went to take it down the poles did not slide back into them selves very smoothly- It almost seemed like they needed to be wiped down & lubricated. Those were the bad things, Good = It takes a couple minutes to set up, Heavy Heavy tent material, BathTub Floor is very heavy and nice. Two Doors- Nice big windows. I did decide to return it-
I have seen they have new models out this year, Target sells them as well, What I noticed, They look like they have a small vent in the top, They are much smaller in size, Different colors, and much more expensive, than what I paid for my insta tent. The big thing is they all only have 1 door (new models)

I hope this helps- InstaCamper

 

[Evi]

you all do realize how bad this is environmentally and that many campsites increase there rates due to people using ac and the increase in electricity usage.

 

[InstaCamper]

In response:Evi
DIS Veteran

“you all do realize how bad this is environmentally and that many campsites increase there rates due to people using ac and the increase in electricity usage.”

Hi Evi, Well I normally would not reply to this, But since you left it on my thread, I will give you my response. I am a computer specialist with a degree in engineering and architecture. To answer your question yes I understand the impact of using an AC at a campground, the question in comparison is do you ? The sites we are talking about are tent pop up sites. Same electrical service for tents versus popup campers etc. If you were to compare a popup camper electrical service to running an Ac in the evening in a tent to keep cool you would be running 2-3 times as much current for the popup’s 30 amp service. So impact would be far less for the tent. If you also take into consideration popups have refrigeration units, hot water tanks and ac running all at the same time. You could easily be looking at 4-6 time the impact of running Ac in a single Tent. I could give you the exact numbers and break downs if you wish but to answer your question I understand exactly my green footprint / Impact. I have seen Motor homes and pop ups alike leave for the entire day with Ac running to try and keep their setups half way cool in the evenings. I don’t consider this a good practice but none the less. –

Afterall Popups are basically tents on both ends, and if you own a popup you know those two ends are hard to keep cool!
Popup and motor home people don’t get me wrong if I could afford one, I would be right there with you Ac’s a blazing but I don’t have the 5k-500k to do so, That is why I am trying to do the best I can to make my family comfortable. I have been saving every penny I can for the last 4 years to be able to take my family on a trip to spend one day at the park and seven nights at the camp grounds. Money is tight these days for allot of people. We suffered a huge loss about 4 years ago due to our house being completely burned down. So everything I have purchased has been on clearance or on sale for this trip and Yes I do admit comfort is a factor to being able to enjoy this trip.

So to answer your comment Evi, Yes I know exactly how bad this is environmentally- Far Far less than most. With gas the way it is these days we are not hauling a camper, so we are saving on fuel + Emissions . We are not Running near the Amps a Popup camper would be. Also Note: Many Campsites in FL do charge an extra fee if you are using a tent or a pop up with AC.

I could have rented a motel room at Disney for 300 + a night and from my experience in Fl you would normally have to leave the Ac on all day to get the rooms to cool down which would be normally 10 time the impact on your overall green foot print.

As Evi stated her opinion this is mine, I think people should look at both sides of the coin, It always doesn’t land the same way.

 

[brat]

Instacamper

If we are at Fort at the same time you are welcome to come over to our RV to cool down or just visit.

Our AC will be on full-time. We have solar on the roof of the RV and a couple of portable solat panels.

Our RV is rebuild so not a fancy one.

I have never done AC in a tent but thought that maybe the foam insalation sheets we put in our RV windows might also help keep you cooler as well.

 

[ob1quixote]

5Kbtu is 5Kbtu, whether it is cooling a tent or my little Ye Olde Breade Trucke RV.

And 5Kbtu is a whole lot less than the modern and often multiple units on bigger RVs. And I dont deny them the comfort I want for myself.

Instead of a tarp over/under the rain fly, you might try a layer of Reflectix under the rain fly. This is basically bubble wrap with a reflective metallic foil attached, just like some auto sun shades.

I use it to insulate all the windows in my lil RV, cutting them to fit as needed. 4ftX50ft for about $45 from my local Lowes. I use aluminum foil tape to connect sections that the 4ft span wont allow continuous coverage. Works great!

 

[InstaCamper]

Brat, thank you for the Invite! We will be at the fort Jun 13th-20th, one thing I really look forward to on this trip is getting to meet some new people. Also I want to try and make my setup as comfortable as possible for my family to be able to have a great time, I sort of look at it as a challenge. I have gotten a bucket load of ideas and advice from all the posts on the Disney camping boards. Thanks to everyone

Ps, I would love to see your setup, it sounds really COOL-

 

[2goofycampers]

My opinion is, go and have the best time ever. And be comfortable while doing it.

 

[brat]

DH and I are both the duct tape do as much as we can ourselves to save money type.We love info input and the help other campers and friends have given us.

I do not know yet are dates, we had delayed our trip.We reschedule after our twins Drs appointment in the morning.

We got our RV as "you haul it off" freebie. DH looked at it and decided it was a good deal as the damage was not to the motor or drive train. We rebuilt it to suit our family.We also will tow a" little guy" trailer and bring a tent for a second site since our family goes over the 10 on a site limit so we will rent 2 sites.

This will be our first trip to Fort.

I have been reading posts here to get more info. about Fort.
We are driveing in from AZ.

 

[YensidCamper]

InstaCamper -- run the darn AC! You will have paid for the power whether you use it or not! Demand drives the prices of the campsites not the power consumption. How many people leave their value resort with the AC running? More power is wasted opening any door in the Magic Kingdom than someone running their small AC in their tent. Carbon footprint awareness is good but c'mon...this is a vacation.

 

[allmydisneydreams]

We used an AC in our tent at the Fort last November. Now, it wasn't actually that hot the whole time we were there, it was even downright cold our last night. But I was really glad to have the AC for two reasons - the sun warmed the tent up considerably in the afternoon during the first couple of days, it would have been too hot to be comfy in there and we needed a place for our toddler (and his toddler fatigued mom!) to take an afternoon rest. We have a big tent - it is 9 x 20 and 6+ feet in the middle- and it wasn't ice cold, but certainly a nice room temperature and good for napping We honestly didn't have it set up very efficiently -Just set it up on some bricks and zipped it into one of the front doors, and yes we have a vented roof. So I am not sure that it would have been all that cool had it been summer, but it worked out fine for our fall trip. The second reason I was glad to have it was because it rained the entire second half of our trip, and though it had cooled down and (thank heavens!) our tent didn't leak - it is EXTREMELY humid in a tent in Florida when it rains. Like, your bedding gets damp kind of humid. But the AC acted as a dehumidifier and kept a lot of the dampness at bay. You could feel a serious difference in humidity coming into the tent from outside.

We did leave the AC running when we went out at certain times, we never had a problem. I plan to get back to the Fort one of these days and when that happens we will DEFINITELY bring the AC. Next time I think I might try the tarp and silver blanket ideas that people have given you. Also - I would try to insulate around the edges of the AC, especially in the hot months.

Tenting at the fort is just wonderful - take your AC, you'll be glad you did - and have an amazing time! I can't wait to go back and this is coming from a new camper who is not really all that outdoorsy! Its just such a beautiful and comfy campground! Just perfect and a wonderful place for kids. I absolutely loved tenting there. Add that AC and some nice air mattresses and you'll be more than comfortable. Believe me, you won't want to leave and you'll pine to go back. Have a great trip

 

[kkwis2]

Hey InstaCamper! We'll be checking the same day as you! Haven't stayed at the Fort in many years and can't wait! Look for the MN plates and stop by to say hello to us, too.

See you at the Fort!

Kim

Brat, thank you for the Invite! We will be at the fort Jun 13th-20th, one thing I really look forward to on this trip is getting to meet some new people. Also I want to try and make my setup as comfortable as possible for my family to be able to have a great time, I sort of look at it as a challenge. I have gotten a bucket load of ideas and advice from all the posts on the Disney camping boards. Thanks to everyone

Ps, I would love to see your setup, it sounds really COOL-