Hey Chad and Tara, I am stationary living full time. When the heat gets above 90 I place a 10" round fan in all just above the steps. This helps pull the cold air down the hall and pushes it into bye main living area. It also helps cool down the hallway. This keeps the5th wheel in the upper 70s. Worked in 117 degree heat. We have 3 a/c s going and it works. 2 adults and 2 toddlers. Reflects in the windows. I wanna thank you both for channel, it helps me learn how to keep are home safe and maintained.
I was there a few weeks ago. I cannot imagine trying to tough it out in an RV! Walking into that wall of heat when you step outside must be experienced to truly understand. Glad you all survived.
We use Micro Air Easy Starts on our Airstream and it's amazing how low the amps become with those in use and have never had an issue with our AC's starting and staying on during high heat situations. Highly recommend you get those put on your rig Chad. You won't regret it!
I've been working in 110 heat for 12 hours a day in full coveralls. You learn to adapt. Also, electrolyte packs that you put in water are great. Like gatorade but without the sugar.
Bought our first RV in May in AZ! A super C w/ two ac’s. Due to new RV issues and delayed parts, we are still here! Boy did these newbies learn a lot about living in the RV in 122 heat!! I put decorative pillows in the overhead fans until I happened upon the pillow you showed in your video, at an RV store! It also took us a while to find reflective stuff as we didn’t know what it was, lol, and happened upon it in a hardware store by accident! We also did what you suggested by lowering our thermostat in the evenings and that really worked! We admire y’all and felt proud of ourselves after watching this video and realizing we did some of the easy stuff you suggested!
Chad, FYI. A good hack for low voltage problems is to run a small water line (1/4" poly flow) to a mister nozzle in front of condenser. Makes a small mess but will lower compressor amperage alot.
Word of advice. The foam pillows for the vents will reflects the heat back up to the cover and side walls of the vent. We installed that on our vent and it warped the plastic frame of the vent, to the point that the fan started to touch the side wall. So, just be aware.
Been there, done that. A few tips I learned from camping in Phoenix, Vegas and my old home of Fontana, Ca. Solar Screens knock out 90% of the sun and heat and are on the outside of the glass before the heat even makes it's way in. Reflextix needs a small air gap to be really effective, 1/2" usually suffices. Reflectix on the AC bulkhead where the motor is mounted (Coleman style units). The air is drawn in through the read and pulled through the condenser coil and blown at the bulkhead. On the other side of that bulkhead is your cool plenum. I cut sheets to fit around the motor, wire and refrigerant line entrances at the bulkhead to help block some of that heat from the bulkhead wall. Block off your heater vent to the inside. Your cargo bays collect heat and that heat makes its way into the rig through the heater vent. I used cardboard before but reflectix this year. Want to know how much air moves through this vent, place your hand over it and open a slide with the doors and windows closed. You'll move a lot of air through here. Easy Starts make a big difference when your compressor cycles, get busy and get them installed, they're easy to do. I'll bet part of your GoPower issue was overloads when the compressor cycled. The easy start fixes that. When you program your easy start be on shore power pass thru or the easy start will not learn properly to your compressor's detriment. A couple of fans inside to circulate air will help too. I position one in my bedroom to move air out of that box into the hallway and one in the rear living area to circulate air around. Open your closets and cupboards at night as well to allow the heat out. Relefectix on the outboard cupboard walls help with this but i've never subscribed to this as my outside walls never feel hot from inside the cupboard. A FLIR camera can show hot inside areas that need to be dealt with. Solar panels do help keep some of the sun off your roof and help keep the inside cooler. I have one RV Airflow on my mid AC unit, my rear main unit is a whisper quiet and my bedroom unit I left in the standard config. When I get to a camp site after driving all day I can close the bedroom door and open the dumps to really cool down the bedroom in a hurry, then close the dumps and go back to ducts to assist with cooling the rest of the rig. For power and I was going to write you about this on the solar video but here goes for this video. I have two Victron 24/2000/70 Multiplus inverters (I went 24v for cabling size efficiency and gains from the MPPT). These inverters are each fed a leg from my shore power connection, I don't have an onboard generator because I wanted the space for blue power gear. Inverter 1 is the master and inverter 2 is the split phase slave so in this configuration I'm supplying 240v to the rig's power panel. Now the issue I found after this install was live after a few months is that leg 2 has heavier loads with 2 ACs on it vs leg 1 just has 1 AC. This makes inverter 2 work harder while inverter 1 naps. So I installed a Victron Autotransformer to load balance the output and now each inverter production is even and I have access to all of the available power. I've run all 3 ACs, residential fridge, TV and laptop off of the inverters in island mode (no shore power). Now with all of that load of course the batteries aren't going to hold out long even with 1300 watts of solar helping. So I can either plug into 50A shore power and both inverter go into power assist so if the pedestal power is weak the inverters make up the difference from the batteries/solar or 30A shore/inverter generator will supply 1 inverter on leg 1 while the second inverter takes power from the batteries. Solar and inverter 1 then charge the batteries for the new difference. The side effect for all of this is a happy me but also heat. The Victron inverters have a output curve where the hotter they get the less current the deliver. The inverters are rated at 2400 watts All of my gear is also mounted in my forward bay below the bedroom and the floor gets toasty. To help with the power curve issue and toasty floor, plus equipment life I installed a boat bilge fan controlled by a temperature controller. The fan pulls heat from the top of the compartment and blows it out the driver side propane compartment via a dryer duct. The duct is below the propane tank deck so the heat doesn't affect the tanks. The cool (relatively) air comes from the passenger side propane compartment which I use for storage since my Jayco Northpoint 377RLBH has both main propane tanks on the driver side; the third tank for genny prep lives on the passenger side normally. You'll have the same heat issues as I do with that small compartment, before the fan I would just open the bay door completely, now I just leave it part way open, just hanging on it's hinges open. With this system I can start the ACs about 45 minutes or so before arriving so the cool down process has already started. This will leave me plenty of battery left for any unforeseen issues that come up before or at the campground. I'm about to increase my battery capacity by going from 6 12v 105ah Lion Energy batteries (24v wired) to 6 DIY EVE battery sets at 310Ah each 12v set. The Victrons also have a low voltage cut off where they'll not accept voltage that is too low to be useful, this is where the Hughes Autoformer or a Victron Autotransformer comes in handy but iirc the low voltage is like 99 volts before shore is ignored. I've moochdocked on 15A outlets with all 3 ACs running so these inverters are very powerful in their capabilities. I live 30 minutes NW of San Antonio in the Hill Country and would love to help you or just show my install, one of these days I'll have to film my setup but I don't have Tara to edit it so it'll just be relatively raw.
That sounds like a great setup, Jeremy! I've also been pondering how to cool that front bay as we have tripped the overtemp on our gopower a couple of times. I'm just not sure about venting into the propane compartments as I would be limited on the driver side (with the genny) to a vent higher up in the compartment. So, I'm still at the drawing board there.. My "hack" plan is just a box fan in the door...
@@ChangingLanes Thanks. Maybe a dryer duct vent and cover out the side wall of the rig or even the front bay door itself. The great thing about the bilge fans is they're sealed since they're made to vent fumes out of the boat bilge and engine compartments. Don't forget that your batteries enjoy cool temps as well.
About how much would all this (keeping camper cool) cost? Just a ballpark figure. I want to know how much we would need to save for all this. Thank you so much.
@@cindydavis597 My setup all in all cost around 15k with the most expensive part being the batteries, i installed everything myself. You can write 26% of the costs off on your taxes with the solar credit.
@@ChangingLanes NOT SURE WHY the RV makers have not gone to the MINI-SPLITS the only need 500-800 WATTS to run 12,000 BTUs unlike that (3) bricks you call AC-Units @ 1,300 +++ WATTS (@4,000 Watts)
Mini Split 3 zone compressor mounted in your Garage will use just slightly more power than 1 of your roof AC units and provide more AC or Heat to all 3 areas at a much lower decibel level. Just enclose the compressor unit and large vent to outside then remove those old roof units and seal and insulate the opening. Or at the least do 1 in the bedroom for the lower sound level.
Another great video. Some things we do: We run our covered fans when we’re driving to a hot area so when we get there it doesn’t take as long to get the RV cooled down. We have a Lifan 7000 generator that runs both of our ACs and because it is not onboard we don’t have to worry about any heat it produces. We added additional reflective tinting to our patio doors (huge difference) We also put reflective shades in all the other windows. Here’s to surviving the heat.
Two things for advice. The military uses a screen type of tarp over our tents in Kuwait extreme heat for sure. They are breathable but provide shade to create air space between the inner and outer surface. Second the cover on the A/C are critical to divert air flow through the coils and condenser. Without the cover the fans just blows into the air and not through the system. White covers with additional air ports are helpful to divert more air through the system. Good luck in the heat. Drink water!!
RV'd in Vegas for 2 months during the summer...warning for the reflextics...we put it on all the windows and it worked great. Drawback is the TREMENDUS HEAT BUILDUP between the reflextics and window. Be careful of things that can be damaged by heat. I totally warped the window divides in the front of the coach's sliding windows. The windows had to be replaced because they could not be repaired. I recommend getting magnets and securing the reflectics on the outside of the glass!!
Having lived in the desert for the last 57 years, you did a great job quickly figuring out good tactics for surviving the heat. Evaporation is another tool. In addition to fans wetting down towels, tea towels, pillow cases, anything that will absorb some water. If you have a drying frame, using it to hang towels in front of fans creates an evaporative cooler. Self-cooling things like wet (not dripping, but if you get your clothes wet that’ll be fine!) towels, clothes-cotton, mesh, white. Keep covered, seems odd to wear long sleeves, but very loose open ended white shirts and pants. Think about the open robe designs of the desert nomads, wide bell arms and legs (or dress like at the bottom). Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate you and your pets. I drink at least 1 gal/day in the summer heat. Glad you survived, great tips!
you mentioned your skylights being too bright. In the morning, I too don't like being blinded by the brightness in the bathroom. I have sprayed the outside translucent cover of my skylights with Krylon Fusion white paint. A couple of coats, and the light is diminished by half. This will also block the UV that will degrade the skylight plastic making it brittle. I have noticed a big reduction in heat coming thru the skylight.
Helps refrig: to shade driver side of RV with tarp or solar screen, open outside refrig cover, and also have heard where use of 2 computer fans to exhaust the heat. Can use frozen jugs of water & blow fan behind it to cool the air. My hubby was on our RV roof working on AC unit at 100 degrees, so 120 had to be hell. AC cleaning done before going to beach from then on. White AC covers makes more sense to reflect
Putting soft starts on all the AC’s may allow you to run all of them on the generator. I would think the compressor start ups may cause the amp problem.
The best tip for keeping your RV cool in the summer heat is,…..’You have wheels, move to a cooler climate!’ Hehe 😜 Your video was great info and I didn’t know about the RV Shades til now. Great idea. You guys covered it all. Stay cool 😎👍.
I grew up in Az and moved to Fl. I love when ppl say "oh, but az is a dry heat"...ya, no shit, have you ever opened an oven and get slapped in the face with that "dry" heat. That's how it feels. No thanks, I'll take the humidity and swamp ass any day over that dry heat BS. Always fun to watch you two.
I have a very small fan inside the refrigerator that I bought online years ago. It is like a computer fan, along with a fan in the outside compartment to blow air across the coils. It helps tremendously in high heat.
We live in Palm Springs and we deal with Temps like these every summer!! Our a/c man says even home units are not made to work properly over 105! With the RV refrigerator I had a string of misters so I tucked one head on this line up in front of the cooling fins are and this along with fans I had previously installed that blows air up thru the cooling fins. And the fine spray of just a little water spraying made a huge difference!
Y’all. We watched this as a kind of painful nostalgia! We sold our 397 last October and rented a house with a view of Lake Mead. Even in the house we had trouble staying cool during that heat wave, but at least it didn’t go up to 90 like it did in the rig. I survived last summer wearing a ThermApparel cooling vest. I have the Extended Cool Packs plus a set to swap out. It has assisted me though 100 degree Bike Nights here as well. I hate that we didn’t get to say hi while y’all were here. Ride safe and stay cool!
I acted on the comments about covering floor registers to keep the cool air inside the living area from escaping into the basement. I have also covered the furnace air intake grates for the same reason. Just remember to remove all these coverings before you fire up your furnace!
Being a Floridian this video really opened my eyes to things I still need to learn. Afterall I will be doing adventures with my 2 Grandchildren. AC is very important. So much to learn my heads spinning. But you really are helping people like us. From my heart thank you. Safe travels
Been watching for some time. We plan to start our RV adventure in 7-8 years. As we empty nest. We plan to move south and start a home base home with space for our RV. And travel the country in spurts. Maybe 1-2 months at a time. Do you have a home base or always on the road? Was looking for information on: 1- RV insurance. what is / not covered. Maybe you can cover what you carry in insurance. 2- Major repairs. Is it hard to find help on the road to address major issues. Say broken axle or problem with the hitch box. 3- What if a tree limb falls on your RV at a site and causes enough damage you can not tow. What is the plan to get assistance with those repairs? 4- Do you ever run from storms? Obviously yes to a hurricane but have you found the need to run from others?
You can put reflectix on the back wall (ie the outside wall) of your cabinets. My spouse has fitted all of the cabinets in our class A with reflectix & has cut coverings for all the windows. Also we have made a thick rigid foam insert for the skylight in the shower, just pops out when we shower. You can gain a lot of heat from those skylights.
I was thinking similar thing with cabinets, or anyplace a where outside walls are accessible. Using Dynamat like the car upfitters use. It is for insulation/heat reflection, noise abatement (nice feature for any RV. Easy to cut, self sticking. In bulk for use with walls, should be cheaper than reflectix. Just a thought.
I agree the post should have been as expected, but I do have a SoftStart and I’ve found it makes a HUGE difference. It requires much less power to run my AC and my AC is MUCH quieter, which means there’s much lower likelihood of blowing a breaker. I’m definitely a fan!! I also have a diagnosing surge protector that would have proven to that campground that the post was at least part of the underlying issue.
I saw a video a couple of years ago where he modified the AC cover to increase air flow across the condenser coil. Basically cut out the plastic vertical pieces and put in hardware cloth. Claimed with increased airflow across the coil, RV was cooling better.
I came over here from Phil and Stacy’s channel. You’ve given us some good information. I will be checking out more of your videos especially on maintaining the AC. I’ve cleaned the inside part of the unit and changed filters but never the outside. Guessing we are overdue for that.
The one thing that I did that made the most difference was covering my furnace ducts, I discovered this by accident one day when I got my face close to the furnace discharge and there was a cold stream of air coming out( cold air sinks, it makes sense). I went from the ac’s running all day, to them actually cycling off some.
I can totally relate to your experience in Vegas. during my deployment to Kuwait and Iraq, the summer months were brutal, (120-130 deg) had to wear gloves to handle our weapons and open the doors on the vehicles. Stepping out into the heat was like opening the door on Thanksgiving day to check the turkey. I was fortunate to be there before the vehicles came with any AC. Praise to you guys for getting through your stay.
Wife and I were camping in Maine this year during June when temperatures were reaching 96F. Our campsite electric hookup was cycling between 110 and 102 Volts which was blowing our surge protector and shutting off our AC/frig. I was worried that our compressor frig and AC unit might be damaged from the low voltage, so I ran them off our LiFePO4 battery bank through our inverter and used the non-surge protected low voltage campsite hookup to charge the batteries. The AC and frig saw good voltage from our inverter and the batteries stayed topped off. We ran that way for 5 days without issue. Sometime you have to MacGyver your systems when the campsite utilities are dubious.
Great tip about putting a fan by the circuit panel. I didn’t know they were tripped but heat. We stayed at a park in upstate New York where my EMS kept tripping due to low voltage. It showed 95 volts. The park electrician tried to convince me that there was a problem with my RV. When I showed him that my EMS worked fine with my generator he admitted that the park had power issues and that they had a 3 year plan to upgrade the electrical in the park.
Another great helpful video! Ty for helping people in this way. If I can add one thing. 104v and lower WILL damage electronics! I hope people will get something that will monitor this. I use a power watchdog. And it automatically cuts power at 104v. Even if your starting voltage is 113v or so. It can and does dip below 104v without you knowing when others around you use more power. I just battled low voltage for 3 weeks. Starting voltage was 117v. Around dinner time, 4 to 8pm. EVERYDAY my watchdog would shut it off so much I found myself sitting in the dark watching TH-cam on my phone. Thank goodness I didn't need my A/C. I hope this helps someone.
Just started watching your you tube channel and we love it. We had an RV that never cooled no matter what and we ended up buying a portable dual hose a/c and it worked amazing. We just cut the plastic that vents out the window and set it up in the slide by the couch. Out of the way and helped tremendously.
Oh, I forgot. a humidifier helps the AC cool the air down as well. I rarely see condensate drip in dry hot desert environments, he AC needs humidity to fully chill the air. This will help with Tara's fire skin.
We just brought our new 5th wheel home and for craps and giggles we tried the A/C and it ran for at least 45 minutes then the house circuit blew. Its only plugged into 110 but we had the house ac going, lights on etc. Its one of those Whisper Quiet A/C's so not sure if it has a soft start but our Rockwood just had a regular RV A/C and it would pop a circuit in a second. It's been hot and humid here too in the NE, put a coat of wax on the new rig and swear I lost like 10lbs, its 43ft long so it took me a bit. Seems like you guys did everything you could possibly do. One thing I love about this new rig is residential fridge/freezer! No more stupid rv fridge getting into the 40's.
I put 1-1/2" of foam board on top of refrigerator under slideout roof. Made a big difference. The temp we were in was 88 degrees and slideout roof was just over 100 degrees. So protected the top of freezer from extreme heat. Put in aux fans in bottom vent and top vent to push air then pull out. Haven't had a need to use them yet.
Born and raised Vegas here.. No where in Vegas can support your fancy rig. Lmao. We are fulltime RV as well but we never go anywhere hotter than 80 degrees now. Love seeing tourists melt. Was it worth it? Your 3 ACs knocked out my moms power for hours in the ghetto RV park across town in her 1995 18ft travel trailer. Thanks.
Yes I was in AZ in my off grid house when it hit 126 one day. I only had a swamp cooler and knew it wouldn't keep the house cool, so I went and bought an inverter AC just for the bedroom. I had to switch off my solar over to running my Honda generator during the night to run the AC in the Bedroom and the Swamp cooler for the living room and kitchen. My house has vaulted ceilings and you could feel the heat radiating from the ceiling during the day. I did the same and put reflectics in all the windows which helped a ton. I had my motor-home down there to bring back to WA state but waited till we finally had a cool day of 108 to leave. Lucky for my by the time I got to Vegas they were having thunderstorms and rain so I was cool the rest of the drive. You gave the best video on dealing with the heat in an RV I have seen. Good job
My last RV trip to Las Vegas in the summer, I called around to the hotels and just asked “I’m in town for a six-week project, do you have any deals?” I ended up in a great room, excellent A/C, I gave my freezer & Fridge food away or carried it into my hotel room (had a small dorm fridge), and they let my park in their parking lot for free too, against a side that gave maximum shade during the day.
Great video. After watching, I went out to my unit and was going to do this modification. However, I found that my plenum was built and sealed pretty well. It had a very rigid divider. This was great because the insert you showed probably would not fit anyway - there are wires and a control box in the way. Anyway, one big discovery I must thank you for is that I found my dump vent slider greatly restricted the outflow of cold air even when it was open. Fortunately, I can triple (I guess-stimate) the outbound cold air flow just by removing that half of the cover panel, which is easily done. Should make at least 15-30% air flow gain. Side comment - I built some inch thick window inserts out of common foam board and wrapped the edges. I painted one side (the non-silvered side, reflective side goes out) to match the interior of our rig. They snug-fit easily. They came out very elegant looking and even had some visitors state they thought they were an OEM option. We use them mostly at night for cold nights, and they black out the interior so you can sleep in late if you want. They would also work in the really hot days. I have been intermittently watching your videos and now I will become a subscriber. Thanks!
8:28 do not leave the cowling off because the fans in the ac pulls air through the condenser coil the best is to alter the cowling by removing the plastic vent intake from the cowling and replace with a metal screen like stucco mesh that way the strain on the fan is less . Along with white cowlings. This is a minor improvement but every little bit helps
If you have water, a mister (in the irrigation section) will greatly help remove the heat from the coils and make your AC more efficent. in an arid climate such as Las Vegas, the water will evaporate quickly; Also while boondocking, a small spot cooler (12,000 btu) runs on 120 volts (less than 1000 watts)for less that $400.00. .A small quiet generator is about 67db (quiet) and will handle 2000 watts (1600 continuous). Harbor Freight has a quiet generator for less than $600.00. Will not bother people at Harvest Host etc.
All good tips. We do mostly dog shows and try to avoid summer but sometimes we get surprised by 110-115 degrees. One thing we added was window awnings to our class A and they help a lot. We have the Hughes Autoformer and it has been a life saver. At the dog shows you have a parking lot full of 200-300 RV's all running the AC in the heat of the day via a very stretched thin electrical distribution system of spider boexs and 20A circuits to duplex receptacles all in the hot sun. Again, without the Hughes we would be stuck do to low voltage.
Great tips guys! Thanks! We were there the same time as y’all and our dash AC (class A) went out on the drive there! Not fun! Our generator was also hating the heat too! The struggle was real! Luckily we stayed in a park (we usually boondock) and didn’t have any voltage problems running our 2 AC units. 🥵
We spent a month in Boulder City where the temp was 116 every day. Previously I had installed reflexit in every cabinet and had cut outs for every window and windshield. I went to Ace Hardware and bought a Patio Water Mister Kit like the ones used at Disney World. I installed them on top of each air conditioner and pointed them toward the cooling fins. I also ran a line down the middle of the roof. Water Misters, reflexit, clean ac units helped us maintain 80 inside. Make sure you have soft water to avoid mineral stains on the side of the rv. We have one and most of the time the water never came off the roof. We have a 2011 Tiffin Allegro Bus 40'. Another solution would be a Soaker Hose for the roof and Water Mister for the ac cooling fins.
By the way, went to Ventura Beach RV last weekend, it was only in the 70s. I had watched your water system cleanout video and used the knowledge I gained. Thanks. Keep them coming.
Very timely! We have to go to Salt Lake City mid August to drop kids at college. I am installing the fridge vent fan today and added fridge interior fan last night. Need to look at the A/C unit for cleanliness next.
I just added fans behind our fridge one at the top one on bottom. Put them on a push button switch so I can control them and turn on when I need. In 90 degree temps I was able to run fridge on 4 and still get below 40.
Hi Tara, Unrelated to the subject at hand, but I've been wondering how you find snippets of movies or T.V. you insert that are relative to the subject at hand. They always seem to be the perfect clip for the video and generally humorous. You are such a pro in your editing. Thanx, -keith
Hi Guys, Can definitely relate we have been in Quartzsite Az since June. Installed 2 Micro air easy starts in our Ac units along with RV Airflow thanks to you. We have 2020 Grand Design Reflection 29rs. Haven't thought to check the voltage at the pedestal but with the soft starts have had no problems with tripping breakers the temperatures here were as hot as Vegas if not hotter managed to get 23 to 25degrees cooler than outside. Our rig is only 31 feet but between both upgrades along with slide toppers we're hanging in there. We can relate to the hot wind too. Today is the coolest day we've had since we got back here. We alternate Ac's bedroom at night and living room during the day both if it gets to hot as our pooches need to stay cool too. Former Nevadans from the Reno area. Take care and try to stay cool. D & C Hopper
If you add the RV Air Silencer in conjunction with the RV Air Flow, it drastically reduces the noise. I installed the Air Flow system based on your video and had the silencer already. What a difference the combination makes.
RV Air Silencer? I also got 3 RV air flow. 2 installed .Being lazy on the last one in the bedroom. It is a little quieter but not sure on the flow. I dont have the tools the boss has. lol
I am a travel nurse that was in ridgecrest last year that was 122 at the fair grounds with no shade. I had to do the fans to the fridge (I did dryer louvers so when not in use stayed covered), the airflow ac hack, reflectix in the windows made 15 degree difference, reflectix in all the cabinets that touch the outside (this included my closet), black covers for the maxi air and bathroom fans, relectix in the shower as well with ivy tape.. you could tell in the evening when the sun heat let up cause it would start to get cool again.. I bought booties for the pup as well.. the coldest place was the spot that went to the crate for pup and the bathroom after covering fan/skylight. I have a reflection. I saw in bakerfield ca a nurse who had the sunshade and said it worked. In bakersfield many of them put in a window unit that ran better than the rv ac. This year I am in fresno with 110 ish and with shade, soooo it's a tad better cause hot shade is still hot. the 120 plus days the rv did get to low 90 in rv and with a fan was tolerable but no way fun at all... I am going to get me a ice maker this year to put ice in bins in fridge to help.. I am doing water bottles but the freezer take a few days to freeze them..
You need to get the Soft Start devices for your roof air conditioners. They not only help to get them started without the big current surge but they help with the overall operation of the air units to last longer.
I really enjoy all the movie clips you put in your videos. They are so much fun trying to guess the movie. Thanks for the laughs and all your great content.
This was really insightful! We love Vegas, but have only ever flown there. We've looked at planning a cross country trip there, but never considered it being "too hot" to comfortably camp. Vegas in the winter, here we come!
I would be careful air cooling the breakers because the rest of the wiring behind it is still getting too hot and now it will get even hotter which could be dangerous. It’s currently 103° here in Grand Junction Colorado and inside our RV it is 81 and we aren’t using our roof air conditioner at all. The reason is we put two window air conditioners in because we are mooch docking on 2 15 amp circuits and these are way more efficient when you compare the BTUs to the amperage draw. so we can leave those two running all day and they are four times more quiet than the rooftop air conditioner. Then we fire up our generator for about two hours a day to add the rooftop air conditioner to the mix and that helps. We also taped reflect decks over our skylights and put foam in one of our events but we need to do the other two. Pulling the shade curtains helps block some of the heat game and the awnings definitely help. We also choose not to wear clothes inside our RV in the daytime as no one can see into the windows anyway. We sometimes put an oscillating fan in here to keep the air moving better also. Another thought is that I installed solar all over the roof of our RV and because that sits a few inches above the roof, I think it actually shades our roof and helps keep it a little bit cooler while generating electricity at the same time.
Glad y’all made it through. Definitely not any fun. Tara, you by far out did yourself with the movie clip inserts this time! Appropriate would be an understatement. Looking forward to the fun stuff with Phil and Stacy- especially zip lining over the downtown area. I get the “stunts” shirt now, Tara. You’ve earned that one. Thanks for the tips, guys. Troy
I need to check out those roof covers! For the inside I purchased magnetic vent covers for my floor registers. I did not want any of that precious cold air going under the floor where I could not enjoy it. To make them less visible I applied adhesive contact paper to blend in with the floor. It’s not a perfect match but way less visible than the stark white of the plain magnets. Thanks for sharing your tips!
I go to Vegas every summer to play in the WSOP but this summer we had the RV and it was tough keeping it cool! I was happy that they moved the WSOP to October so we could leave that hot weather! Great tips guys..thanks!!!
Instead of blocking my vents, I open them. Hot air rises and that allows some of it to escape. Seems to lower the temp of the return air to the a/c as well, although I haven't measured if. To keep the sunlight from getting in, I picked up a couple of cheap car window shades (the retractable ones with the tiny holes for the side windows) and put them over the vents light side out. Helps me tremendously 90-105°. Haven't had to try it at 120°.
I use emergency blankets on my windows to reflect heat out but let some light in. You can also tape emergency blankets on top of unit. Emergency Blanket is cheep.
We full time here in Vegas at the base and it was hard during that heat wave! But luckily, the base has nice spots with a lot of bigger trees to help with shade!
Another tip is to take a look at your doors! Both external and internal, they all should have some sort of gasket, although lately, with the cost cutting going on with RV companies, there are alot being sold without them. If your gasket material is old or compressed enough where you're not getting a good seal, or are non-existent, have them replaced. In a pinch you can use towels to put in-between the door and the frame when shut. You can test whether you're getting a good seal by shaking the door while closed, if you can see/feel lateral movement you're not sealed. Also with internal doors, I've seen some very well gasketed seals but with a huge gap under the door. You really want to seal that gap with towels or blankets to keep that (hopefully) cold air from leaving that room you're in. Stay cool!
We made the mistake 3 years ago of being down there in the 115 degree heatwave, and it was miserable. It was even worse because we were out at the Famcamp, and when the winds came through they were 100mph gusts that were tearing awning off rigs if they were extended, so in the day you put it out, but as soon as it got dark you brought them back in. Not one of our better RV camping memories to be sure! We also put our solar shade on the outside of our front windshield, plus covers on the inside to help keep the heat away from the front end as much as possible.
The park will probably not like it but you can use a splitter on the water (which we all have anyway), run another hose, and spray the rv down to take away some of the heat. Really works well at or around sundown. I spoke to a man one time that said it was 72 degrees or below wherever he was. Go North in the summer and South in the winter. Lucky man.
We stayed at Thousand Trails Soledad Canyon and it too had line volts around 103v during the summer. My Victron Inverters didn't care though, they'll run down to 96v. The hybrid function came in handy as we could run both our AC units on a 30amp breaker by simply supplementing with solar and turning down the shore power limiter. Though that won't help the main RV breaker over-heating problem as the "assist" feature just boosts up some DC to match the incoming line voltage at whatever level is coming in.
Have you thought of tinting your windows with ceramic window tinting? I tinted my windows and it makes a huge difference here in South Florida and the best thing is that we can still see outside.
A timely video for me as I happen to be in Vegas right now here in mid July. Yuk. 104° at 1am. OMG 😱. I've even done most of the tricks/hacks that you have done. I'm a 37' 5th wheel running 2 ac's. Fortunately this RV park have full hookups with 120/122v at the pole. I also had issues that had to be taken care here in Vegas at this time. Also was in the northern Ca., thinking it would be cooler but the tamarac 🔥 fires and smoke drove me out. This heat and smoke is no joke.
We had issues camping in the heat too. We have done everything you have done but had a problem with the refrigerator warming up as it's on the side with no shade! We needed an umbrella on that side.
Since you have solar you can always set your inverter to assist just like you would if you mooch dock, same thing happen to me at a KOA low voltage down to 96 volts. PS Love you guys and Phil and Stacy
I have taken vitamin E for years to limit my migraine headaches. I may get a mild one once or twice a year now. The next time you have to be in Vegas during the heat, try to get a spot up near Mount Charleston. It is nearly 2,000 feet higher and cooler. We have gone there a couple of times to get away from the heat.
We were in Vegas June 16-19 this year and stayed at the KOA Journey at Sam's Town. It was 124 when we rolled into town. We have a single AC in our travel trailer and it did ok, but the fridge couldn't keep up which was super frustrating because we lost all of our lunchmeat. We had the fridge on propane to reduce the electrical load. There was NO shade at our park which didn't help. Voltage was 118 because the park was pretty empty. The breakers didn't pop. It was nice to not need our water heater because the water coming out of the ground was hot enough for a shower. In fact, we had to let the cold water cool off before using it.
We camped in the extreme heat without using our air conditioning. We are at a permanent campsite with only 30 amp power. We open windows in the late evening/early am. We close the blinds where the sun would hit, we keep our awning out to help keep the rv cooler. I keep a small bucket filled with water and soak my feet in it when I get too hot. I also wear a neck scarf that you soak in colder water and wear around your neck. It makes a HUGE difference. Also keep lots of cold water in the fridge, get any physical work/exercise done in the early am. We also invested in a dyson hot/cold fan and we use the fan at night. Also if we were hot and sticky we would have a quick shower a couple of times a day. Open your fridge/fridges as little as possible to keep the heat out. Do your hot cooking/baking late at night or early in the am. We turn our fantastic fans throughout the day, we have 3, to help draw the hot air out.
Hello from Fresno. We use about 4 frozen 1 gallon jugs to help keep the fridge cold in summer. I have 6 I always keep at home in the freezer, they stay mostly frozen for about 4 days. They definitely help keep it cooler too, most the time we are dry camping so it is only running on propane.
INSTALL the soft starts last week in VIRGINIA IT WAS 90 plus all week ran my 2 AC units in my KZ Durango gold on a predator 3500 watt inverter generator 30 amps. Best thing only took 30 minutes to install.
I installed mine soft starts last year. Been a life saver in this Texas heat. I made my own airflow system from a TH-cam video. My 4500 watt generator purrs like a kitten and keeps me cool.
What a great informative video. We just suffered everything you did and are newbies to RVing. I wish we would have seen this video before our tirp. But we survived and will use ALL of this info, which would have helped us, going forward. Thank you!
One regular maintenance that our home AC unit gets in Arizona is being hosed down. Check your RV's AC manual to see if that is needed or suggested for helping with the dust & keeping it properly maintained. Especially if you have experienced dry blowing dust.
Use that reflectex to block the return air opening that your furnace uses … it’s like you are trying to cool you basement. If your furnace floor registers can be closed, close them. This too is cool air leak into your basement.
I use ice packs in my refrigerator when I go camping in hot days Put him in the freezer at night and then move into the fridge during the day
Hey Chad and Tara, I am stationary living full time. When the heat gets above 90 I place a 10" round fan in all just above the steps. This helps pull the cold air down the hall and pushes it into bye main living area. It also helps cool down the hallway. This keeps the5th wheel in the upper 70s. Worked in 117 degree heat. We have 3 a/c s going and it works. 2 adults and 2 toddlers. Reflects in the windows. I wanna thank you both for channel, it helps me learn how to keep are home safe and maintained.
I was there a few weeks ago. I cannot imagine trying to tough it out in an RV! Walking into that wall of heat when you step outside must be experienced to truly understand. Glad you all survived.
We use Micro Air Easy Starts on our Airstream and it's amazing how low the amps become with those in use and have never had an issue with our AC's starting and staying on during high heat situations. Highly recommend you get those put on your rig Chad. You won't regret it!
I've been working in 110 heat for 12 hours a day in full coveralls. You learn to adapt. Also, electrolyte packs that you put in water are great. Like gatorade but without the sugar.
Bought our first RV in May in AZ! A super C w/ two ac’s. Due to new RV issues and delayed parts, we are still here! Boy did these newbies learn a lot about living in the RV in 122 heat!! I put decorative pillows in the overhead fans until I happened upon the pillow you showed in your video, at an RV store! It also took us a while to find reflective stuff as we didn’t know what it was, lol, and happened upon it in a hardware store by accident! We also did what you suggested by lowering our thermostat in the evenings and that really worked! We admire y’all and felt proud of ourselves after watching this video and realizing we did some of the easy stuff you suggested!
Chad, FYI. A good hack for low voltage problems is to run a small water line (1/4" poly flow) to a mister nozzle in front of condenser. Makes a small mess but will lower compressor amperage alot.
Word of advice. The foam pillows for the vents will reflects the heat back up to the cover and side walls of the vent. We installed that on our vent and it warped the plastic frame of the vent, to the point that the fan started to touch the side wall. So, just be aware.
Been there, done that. A few tips I learned from camping in Phoenix, Vegas and my old home of Fontana, Ca.
Solar Screens knock out 90% of the sun and heat and are on the outside of the glass before the heat even makes it's way in.
Reflextix needs a small air gap to be really effective, 1/2" usually suffices.
Reflectix on the AC bulkhead where the motor is mounted (Coleman style units). The air is drawn in through the read and pulled through the condenser coil and blown at the bulkhead. On the other side of that bulkhead is your cool plenum. I cut sheets to fit around the motor, wire and refrigerant line entrances at the bulkhead to help block some of that heat from the bulkhead wall.
Block off your heater vent to the inside. Your cargo bays collect heat and that heat makes its way into the rig through the heater vent. I used cardboard before but reflectix this year. Want to know how much air moves through this vent, place your hand over it and open a slide with the doors and windows closed. You'll move a lot of air through here.
Easy Starts make a big difference when your compressor cycles, get busy and get them installed, they're easy to do. I'll bet part of your GoPower issue was overloads when the compressor cycled. The easy start fixes that. When you program your easy start be on shore power pass thru or the easy start will not learn properly to your compressor's detriment.
A couple of fans inside to circulate air will help too. I position one in my bedroom to move air out of that box into the hallway and one in the rear living area to circulate air around.
Open your closets and cupboards at night as well to allow the heat out. Relefectix on the outboard cupboard walls help with this but i've never subscribed to this as my outside walls never feel hot from inside the cupboard.
A FLIR camera can show hot inside areas that need to be dealt with.
Solar panels do help keep some of the sun off your roof and help keep the inside cooler.
I have one RV Airflow on my mid AC unit, my rear main unit is a whisper quiet and my bedroom unit I left in the standard config. When I get to a camp site after driving all day I can close the bedroom door and open the dumps to really cool down the bedroom in a hurry, then close the dumps and go back to ducts to assist with cooling the rest of the rig.
For power and I was going to write you about this on the solar video but here goes for this video.
I have two Victron 24/2000/70 Multiplus inverters (I went 24v for cabling size efficiency and gains from the MPPT). These inverters are each fed a leg from my shore power connection, I don't have an onboard generator because I wanted the space for blue power gear. Inverter 1 is the master and inverter 2 is the split phase slave so in this configuration I'm supplying 240v to the rig's power panel. Now the issue I found after this install was live after a few months is that leg 2 has heavier loads with 2 ACs on it vs leg 1 just has 1 AC. This makes inverter 2 work harder while inverter 1 naps. So I installed a Victron Autotransformer to load balance the output and now each inverter production is even and I have access to all of the available power. I've run all 3 ACs, residential fridge, TV and laptop off of the inverters in island mode (no shore power). Now with all of that load of course the batteries aren't going to hold out long even with 1300 watts of solar helping. So I can either plug into 50A shore power and both inverter go into power assist so if the pedestal power is weak the inverters make up the difference from the batteries/solar or 30A shore/inverter generator will supply 1 inverter on leg 1 while the second inverter takes power from the batteries. Solar and inverter 1 then charge the batteries for the new difference.
The side effect for all of this is a happy me but also heat. The Victron inverters have a output curve where the hotter they get the less current the deliver. The inverters are rated at 2400 watts All of my gear is also mounted in my forward bay below the bedroom and the floor gets toasty. To help with the power curve issue and toasty floor, plus equipment life I installed a boat bilge fan controlled by a temperature controller. The fan pulls heat from the top of the compartment and blows it out the driver side propane compartment via a dryer duct. The duct is below the propane tank deck so the heat doesn't affect the tanks. The cool (relatively) air comes from the passenger side propane compartment which I use for storage since my Jayco Northpoint 377RLBH has both main propane tanks on the driver side; the third tank for genny prep lives on the passenger side normally. You'll have the same heat issues as I do with that small compartment, before the fan I would just open the bay door completely, now I just leave it part way open, just hanging on it's hinges open.
With this system I can start the ACs about 45 minutes or so before arriving so the cool down process has already started. This will leave me plenty of battery left for any unforeseen issues that come up before or at the campground. I'm about to increase my battery capacity by going from 6 12v 105ah Lion Energy batteries (24v wired) to 6 DIY EVE battery sets at 310Ah each 12v set.
The Victrons also have a low voltage cut off where they'll not accept voltage that is too low to be useful, this is where the Hughes Autoformer or a Victron Autotransformer comes in handy but iirc the low voltage is like 99 volts before shore is ignored. I've moochdocked on 15A outlets with all 3 ACs running so these inverters are very powerful in their capabilities.
I live 30 minutes NW of San Antonio in the Hill Country and would love to help you or just show my install, one of these days I'll have to film my setup but I don't have Tara to edit it so it'll just be relatively raw.
That sounds like a great setup, Jeremy! I've also been pondering how to cool that front bay as we have tripped the overtemp on our gopower a couple of times. I'm just not sure about venting into the propane compartments as I would be limited on the driver side (with the genny) to a vent higher up in the compartment. So, I'm still at the drawing board there.. My "hack" plan is just a box fan in the door...
@@ChangingLanes Thanks. Maybe a dryer duct vent and cover out the side wall of the rig or even the front bay door itself. The great thing about the bilge fans is they're sealed since they're made to vent fumes out of the boat bilge and engine compartments.
Don't forget that your batteries enjoy cool temps as well.
About how much would all this (keeping camper cool) cost? Just a ballpark figure. I want to know how much we would need to save for all this. Thank you so much.
@@cindydavis597 My setup all in all cost around 15k with the most expensive part being the batteries, i installed everything myself. You can write 26% of the costs off on your taxes with the solar credit.
@@ChangingLanes NOT SURE WHY the RV makers have not gone to the MINI-SPLITS the only need 500-800 WATTS to run 12,000 BTUs
unlike that (3) bricks you call AC-Units @ 1,300 +++ WATTS (@4,000 Watts)
After living in Yuma AZ for 10 years, it is so funny to hear people talk about the heat.
Right? I live in PHX
Sure, like the people in Flagstaff and Pine top AZ. They think its too hot in Phoenix in summer time yet they live in Arizona, what a surprise!
Mini Split 3 zone compressor mounted in your Garage will use just slightly more power than 1 of your roof AC units and provide more AC or Heat to all 3 areas at a much lower decibel level. Just enclose the compressor unit and large vent to outside then remove those old roof units and seal and insulate the opening. Or at the least do 1 in the bedroom for the lower sound level.
Another great video. Some things we do: We run our covered fans when we’re driving to a hot area so when we get there it doesn’t take as long to get the RV cooled down. We have a Lifan 7000 generator that runs both of our ACs and because it is not onboard we don’t have to worry about any heat it produces. We added additional reflective tinting to our patio doors (huge difference) We also put reflective shades in all the other windows. Here’s to surviving the heat.
Two things for advice. The military uses a screen type of tarp over our tents in Kuwait extreme heat for sure. They are breathable but provide shade to create air space between the inner and outer surface. Second the cover on the A/C are critical to divert air flow through the coils and condenser. Without the cover the fans just blows into the air and not through the system. White covers with additional air ports are helpful to divert more air through the system. Good luck in the heat. Drink water!!
RV'd in Vegas for 2 months during the summer...warning for the reflextics...we put it on all the windows and it worked great. Drawback is the TREMENDUS HEAT BUILDUP between the reflextics and window. Be careful of things that can be damaged by heat. I totally warped the window divides in the front of the coach's sliding windows. The windows had to be replaced because they could not be repaired. I recommend getting magnets and securing the reflectics on the outside of the glass!!
You guys do great vids. Thanks! Shade is critical, your comments about servicing AC are appreciated.
Can't wait to see yall on the RV TV show and what awesome new adventures to come your way, love yall 3000!
Could you please tell me what RV TV show it is? . We love watching shows about RVs, but they just don’t have any on Television anymore. Thank you!
Having lived in the desert for the last 57 years, you did a great job quickly figuring out good tactics for surviving the heat. Evaporation is another tool. In addition to fans wetting down towels, tea towels, pillow cases, anything that will absorb some water. If you have a drying frame, using it to hang towels in front of fans creates an evaporative cooler. Self-cooling things like wet (not dripping, but if you get your clothes wet that’ll be fine!) towels, clothes-cotton, mesh, white. Keep covered, seems odd to wear long sleeves, but very loose open ended white shirts and pants. Think about the open robe designs of the desert nomads, wide bell arms and legs (or dress like at the bottom). Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate you and your pets. I drink at least 1 gal/day in the summer heat. Glad you survived, great tips!
you mentioned your skylights being too bright. In the morning, I too don't like being blinded by the brightness in the bathroom. I have sprayed the outside translucent cover of my skylights with Krylon Fusion white paint. A couple of coats, and the light is diminished by half. This will also block the UV that will degrade the skylight plastic making it brittle. I have noticed a big reduction in heat coming thru the skylight.
Great tip! Might try that out.. 👍🏼
Helps refrig: to shade driver side of RV with tarp or solar screen, open outside refrig cover, and also have heard where use of 2 computer fans to exhaust the heat. Can use frozen jugs of water & blow fan behind it to cool the air. My hubby was on our RV roof working on AC unit at 100 degrees, so 120 had to be hell. AC cleaning done before going to beach from then on. White AC covers makes more sense to reflect
Putting soft starts on all the AC’s may allow you to run all of them on the generator. I would think the compressor start ups may cause the amp problem.
The best tip for keeping your RV cool in the summer heat is,…..’You have wheels, move to a cooler climate!’ Hehe 😜
Your video was great info and I didn’t know about the RV Shades til now. Great idea. You guys covered it all. Stay cool 😎👍.
Pretty much the whole reason to have an RV in the 1st place...
I grew up in Az and moved to Fl. I love when ppl say "oh, but az is a dry heat"...ya, no shit, have you ever opened an oven and get slapped in the face with that "dry" heat. That's how it feels. No thanks, I'll take the humidity and swamp ass any day over that dry heat BS. Always fun to watch you two.
Hughes AutoFormer will help with voltage sag. I never plug in without it. Titan fans behind the fridge.
One of your best videos so far! Great information on a serious subject. Thanks!
The new small swamp coolers work great in Vegas, it adds humidity
I have a very small fan inside the refrigerator that I bought online years ago. It is like a computer fan, along with a fan in the outside compartment to blow air across the coils. It helps tremendously in high heat.
We live in Palm Springs and we deal with Temps like these every summer!! Our a/c man says even home units are not made to work properly over 105! With the RV refrigerator I had a string of misters so I tucked one head on this line up in front of the cooling fins are and this along with fans I had previously installed that blows air up thru the cooling fins. And the fine spray of just a little water spraying made a huge difference!
Y’all. We watched this as a kind of painful nostalgia! We sold our 397 last October and rented a house with a view of Lake Mead. Even in the house we had trouble staying cool during that heat wave, but at least it didn’t go up to 90 like it did in the rig. I survived last summer wearing a ThermApparel cooling vest. I have the Extended Cool Packs plus a set to swap out. It has assisted me though 100 degree Bike Nights here as well. I hate that we didn’t get to say hi while y’all were here. Ride safe and stay cool!
I acted on the comments about covering floor registers to keep the cool air inside the living area from escaping into the basement. I have also covered the furnace air intake grates for the same reason. Just remember to remove all these coverings before you fire up your furnace!
Being a Floridian this video really opened my eyes to things I still need to learn. Afterall I will be doing adventures with my 2 Grandchildren. AC is very important. So much to learn my heads spinning. But you really are helping people like us. From my heart thank you. Safe travels
Been watching for some time. We plan to start our RV adventure in 7-8 years. As we empty nest. We plan to move south and start a home base home with space for our RV. And travel the country in spurts. Maybe 1-2 months at a time. Do you have a home base or always on the road?
Was looking for information on:
1- RV insurance. what is / not covered. Maybe you can cover what you carry in insurance.
2- Major repairs. Is it hard to find help on the road to address major issues. Say broken axle or problem with the hitch box.
3- What if a tree limb falls on your RV at a site and causes enough damage you can not tow. What is the plan to get assistance with those repairs?
4- Do you ever run from storms? Obviously yes to a hurricane but have you found the need to run from others?
You can put reflectix on the back wall (ie the outside wall) of your cabinets. My spouse has fitted all of the cabinets in our class A with reflectix & has cut coverings for all the windows. Also we have made a thick rigid foam insert for the skylight in the shower, just pops out when we shower. You can gain a lot of heat from those skylights.
I was thinking similar thing with cabinets, or anyplace a where outside walls are accessible. Using Dynamat like the car upfitters use. It is for insulation/heat reflection, noise abatement (nice feature for any RV. Easy to cut, self sticking. In bulk for use with walls, should be cheaper than reflectix. Just a thought.
I agree the post should have been as expected, but I do have a SoftStart and I’ve found it makes a HUGE difference. It requires much less power to run my AC and my AC is MUCH quieter, which means there’s much lower likelihood of blowing a breaker. I’m definitely a fan!! I also have a diagnosing surge protector that would have proven to that campground that the post was at least part of the underlying issue.
I saw a video a couple of years ago where he modified the AC cover to increase air flow across the condenser coil. Basically cut out the plastic vertical pieces and put in hardware cloth. Claimed with increased airflow across the coil, RV was cooling better.
I came over here from Phil and Stacy’s channel. You’ve given us some good information. I will be checking out more of your videos especially on maintaining the AC. I’ve cleaned the inside part of the unit and changed filters but never the outside. Guessing we are overdue for that.
The one thing that I did that made the most difference was covering my furnace ducts, I discovered this by accident one day when I got my face close to the furnace discharge and there was a cold stream of air coming out( cold air sinks, it makes sense). I went from the ac’s running all day, to them actually cycling off some.
I also used reflection on walls inside pantry and cabinets. That seems to help with our heat here in FL.
I can totally relate to your experience in Vegas. during my deployment to Kuwait and Iraq, the summer months were brutal, (120-130 deg) had to wear gloves to handle our weapons and open the doors on the vehicles. Stepping out into the heat was like opening the door on Thanksgiving day to check the turkey. I was fortunate to be there before the vehicles came with any AC. Praise to you guys for getting through your stay.
Thank you for your service.
Wife and I were camping in Maine this year during June when temperatures were reaching 96F. Our campsite electric hookup was cycling between 110 and 102 Volts which was blowing our surge protector and shutting off our AC/frig. I was worried that our compressor frig and AC unit might be damaged from the low voltage, so I ran them off our LiFePO4 battery bank through our inverter and used the non-surge protected low voltage campsite hookup to charge the batteries. The AC and frig saw good voltage from our inverter and the batteries stayed topped off. We ran that way for 5 days without issue. Sometime you have to MacGyver your systems when the campsite utilities are dubious.
The soft starts will work great with the 5500 watt generator. I was amazed at the difference they make on my 5th wheel.
Great tip about putting a fan by the circuit panel. I didn’t know they were tripped but heat. We stayed at a park in upstate New York where my EMS kept tripping due to low voltage. It showed 95 volts. The park electrician tried to convince me that there was a problem with my RV. When I showed him that my EMS worked fine with my generator he admitted that the park had power issues and that they had a 3 year plan to upgrade the electrical in the park.
Another great helpful video! Ty for helping people in this way.
If I can add one thing. 104v and lower WILL damage electronics! I hope people will get something that will monitor this. I use a power watchdog. And it automatically cuts power at 104v. Even if your starting voltage is 113v or so. It can and does dip below 104v without you knowing when others around you use more power.
I just battled low voltage for 3 weeks. Starting voltage was 117v. Around dinner time, 4 to 8pm. EVERYDAY my watchdog would shut it off so much I found myself sitting in the dark watching TH-cam on my phone. Thank goodness I didn't need my A/C.
I hope this helps someone.
Just started watching your you tube channel and we love it. We had an RV that never cooled no matter what and we ended up buying a portable dual hose a/c and it worked amazing. We just cut the plastic that vents out the window and set it up in the slide by the couch. Out of the way and helped tremendously.
Welcome to our channel! 😊
Oh, I forgot. a humidifier helps the AC cool the air down as well. I rarely see condensate drip in dry hot desert environments, he AC needs humidity to fully chill the air. This will help with Tara's fire skin.
We just brought our new 5th wheel home and for craps and giggles we tried the A/C and it ran for at least 45 minutes then the house circuit blew. Its only plugged into 110 but we had the house ac going, lights on etc. Its one of those Whisper Quiet A/C's so not sure if it has a soft start but our Rockwood just had a regular RV A/C and it would pop a circuit in a second. It's been hot and humid here too in the NE, put a coat of wax on the new rig and swear I lost like 10lbs, its 43ft long so it took me a bit. Seems like you guys did everything you could possibly do. One thing I love about this new rig is residential fridge/freezer! No more stupid rv fridge getting into the 40's.
I put 1-1/2" of foam board on top of refrigerator under slideout roof. Made a big difference. The temp we were in was 88 degrees and slideout roof was just over 100 degrees. So protected the top of freezer from extreme heat. Put in aux fans in bottom vent and top vent to push air then pull out. Haven't had a need to use them yet.
We rode around the Williams AZ area on a 119°F day during that same time. It was NUTS!
I love how you insert the video clips! So funny. Love your videos guy’s and thank you for all the tips, tricks and knowledge. Always safe travels!
Thanks!😎
Born and raised Vegas here.. No where in Vegas can support your fancy rig. Lmao. We are fulltime RV as well but we never go anywhere hotter than 80 degrees now. Love seeing tourists melt. Was it worth it? Your 3 ACs knocked out my moms power for hours in the ghetto RV park across town in her 1995 18ft travel trailer. Thanks.
Glad to see you back, hope everything is going well for you and yours.
Yes I was in AZ in my off grid house when it hit 126 one day. I only had a swamp cooler and knew it wouldn't keep the house cool, so I went and bought an inverter AC just for the bedroom. I had to switch off my solar over to running my Honda generator during the night to run the AC in the Bedroom and the Swamp cooler for the living room and kitchen. My house has vaulted ceilings and you could feel the heat radiating from the ceiling during the day. I did the same and put reflectics in all the windows which helped a ton. I had my motor-home down there to bring back to WA state but waited till we finally had a cool day of 108 to leave. Lucky for my by the time I got to Vegas they were having thunderstorms and rain so I was cool the rest of the drive. You gave the best video on dealing with the heat in an RV I have seen. Good job
My last RV trip to Las Vegas in the summer, I called around to the hotels and just asked “I’m in town for a six-week project, do you have any deals?” I ended up in a great room, excellent A/C, I gave my freezer & Fridge food away or carried it into my hotel room (had a small dorm fridge), and they let my park in their parking lot for free too, against a side that gave maximum shade during the day.
Great video. After watching, I went out to my unit and was going to do this modification. However, I found that my plenum was built and sealed pretty well. It had a very rigid divider. This was great because the insert you showed probably would not fit anyway - there are wires and a control box in the way. Anyway, one big discovery I must thank you for is that I found my dump vent slider greatly restricted the outflow of cold air even when it was open. Fortunately, I can triple (I guess-stimate) the outbound cold air flow just by removing that half of the cover panel, which is easily done. Should make at least 15-30% air flow gain. Side comment - I built some inch thick window inserts out of common foam board and wrapped the edges. I painted one side (the non-silvered side, reflective side goes out) to match the interior of our rig. They snug-fit easily. They came out very elegant looking and even had some visitors state they thought they were an OEM option. We use them mostly at night for cold nights, and they black out the interior so you can sleep in late if you want. They would also work in the really hot days.
I have been intermittently watching your videos and now I will become a subscriber. Thanks!
8:28 do not leave the cowling off because the fans in the ac pulls air through the condenser coil the best is to alter the cowling by removing the plastic vent intake from the cowling and replace with a metal screen like stucco mesh that way the strain on the fan is less . Along with white cowlings. This is a minor improvement but every little bit helps
Y’all need to put a “mini split” in somehow. They are 30seer and can run on your new solar system.
If you have water, a mister (in the irrigation section) will greatly help remove the heat from the coils and make your AC more efficent. in an arid climate such as Las Vegas, the water will evaporate quickly;
Also while boondocking, a small spot cooler (12,000 btu) runs on 120 volts (less than 1000 watts)for less that $400.00. .A small quiet generator is about 67db (quiet) and will handle 2000 watts (1600 continuous). Harbor Freight has a quiet generator for less than $600.00.
Will not bother people at Harvest Host etc.
All good tips. We do mostly dog shows and try to avoid summer but sometimes we get surprised by 110-115 degrees. One thing we added was window awnings to our class A and they help a lot. We have the Hughes Autoformer and it has been a life saver. At the dog shows you have a parking lot full of 200-300 RV's all running the AC in the heat of the day via a very stretched thin electrical distribution system of spider boexs and 20A circuits to duplex receptacles all in the hot sun. Again, without the Hughes we would be stuck do to low voltage.
Great content keeps me coming back. We just bought a Grand Design 297QB and are waiting to pick up. Can’t wait! These videos help.
Great tips guys! Thanks! We were there the same time as y’all and our dash AC (class A) went out on the drive there! Not fun! Our generator was also hating the heat too! The struggle was real! Luckily we stayed in a park (we usually boondock) and didn’t have any voltage problems running our 2 AC units. 🥵
I love all the injects, lol. Especially the Raiders of the Lost Ark! Very creative.
We spent a month in Boulder City where the temp was 116 every day. Previously I had installed reflexit in every cabinet and had cut outs for every window and windshield. I went to Ace Hardware and bought a Patio Water Mister Kit like the ones used at Disney World. I installed them on top of each air conditioner and pointed them toward the cooling fins. I also ran a line down the middle of the roof. Water Misters, reflexit, clean ac units helped us maintain 80 inside. Make sure you have soft water to avoid mineral stains on the side of the rv. We have one and most of the time the water never came off the roof. We have a 2011 Tiffin Allegro Bus 40'. Another solution would be a Soaker Hose for the roof and Water Mister for the ac cooling fins.
By the way, went to Ventura Beach RV last weekend, it was only in the 70s. I had watched your water system cleanout video and used the knowledge I gained. Thanks. Keep them coming.
Very timely! We have to go to Salt Lake City mid August to drop kids at college. I am installing the fridge vent fan today and added fridge interior fan last night. Need to look at the A/C unit for cleanliness next.
I just added fans behind our fridge one at the top one on bottom. Put them on a push button switch so I can control them and turn on when I need. In 90 degree temps I was able to run fridge on 4 and still get below 40.
Hi Tara, Unrelated to the subject at hand, but I've been wondering how you find snippets of movies or T.V. you insert that are relative to the subject at hand. They always seem to be the perfect clip for the video and generally humorous. You are such a pro in your editing. Thanx, -keith
Some we just grab off youtube and some we cut from movies we own. Our brains are full of useless 80's movie clips! LOL
I don't like when folks use snippets.
@@johneddy9083 Can't please everyone:-)
Hi Guys, Can definitely relate we have been in Quartzsite Az since June. Installed 2 Micro air easy starts in our Ac units along with RV Airflow thanks to you. We have 2020 Grand Design Reflection 29rs. Haven't thought to check the voltage at the pedestal but with the soft starts have had no problems with tripping breakers the temperatures here were as hot as Vegas if not hotter managed to get 23 to 25degrees cooler than outside. Our rig is only 31 feet but between both upgrades along with slide toppers we're hanging in there. We can relate to the hot wind too. Today is the coolest day we've had since we got back here. We alternate Ac's bedroom at night and living room during the day both if it gets to hot as our pooches need to stay cool too.
Former Nevadans from the Reno area.
Take care and try to stay cool.
D & C Hopper
We have the pillows for years love them when all the black out shades down and the pillows in the Vents and door it is total darkness
If you add the RV Air Silencer in conjunction with the RV Air Flow, it drastically reduces the noise. I installed the Air Flow system based on your video and had the silencer already. What a difference the combination makes.
RV Air Silencer? I also got 3 RV air flow. 2 installed .Being lazy on the last one in the bedroom. It is a little quieter but not sure on the flow. I dont have the tools the boss has. lol
@@scottl4124 yes google rvairsilen cer. It reduced my sound by about 6 dB per unit. I don't even hardly hear our front unit.
@@danasweet4961 Thank you. I will.
I am a travel nurse that was in ridgecrest last year that was 122 at the fair grounds with no shade. I had to do the fans to the fridge (I did dryer louvers so when not in use stayed covered), the airflow ac hack, reflectix in the windows made 15 degree difference, reflectix in all the cabinets that touch the outside (this included my closet), black covers for the maxi air and bathroom fans, relectix in the shower as well with ivy tape.. you could tell in the evening when the sun heat let up cause it would start to get cool again.. I bought booties for the pup as well.. the coldest place was the spot that went to the crate for pup and the bathroom after covering fan/skylight. I have a reflection. I saw in bakerfield ca a nurse who had the sunshade and said it worked. In bakersfield many of them put in a window unit that ran better than the rv ac. This year I am in fresno with 110 ish and with shade, soooo it's a tad better cause hot shade is still hot. the 120 plus days the rv did get to low 90 in rv and with a fan was tolerable but no way fun at all... I am going to get me a ice maker this year to put ice in bins in fridge to help.. I am doing water bottles but the freezer take a few days to freeze them..
You need to get the Soft Start devices for your roof air conditioners. They not only help to get them started without the big current surge but they help with the overall operation of the air units to last longer.
Oh, forgot we used cheap clip fans through out RV to move the AC air. Work really well & decrease AC working so hard.
I put misters spraying directly on the A/C fins.
I really enjoy all the movie clips you put in your videos. They are so much fun trying to guess the movie. Thanks for the laughs and all your great content.
This was really insightful! We love Vegas, but have only ever flown there. We've looked at planning a cross country trip there, but never considered it being "too hot" to comfortably camp. Vegas in the winter, here we come!
So glad we have remote returns to quiet the airflow. Not sure what the flow difference is though but I sure appreciate the quietness
I would be careful air cooling the breakers because the rest of the wiring behind it is still getting too hot and now it will get even hotter which could be dangerous.
It’s currently 103° here in Grand Junction Colorado and inside our RV it is 81 and we aren’t using our roof air conditioner at all. The reason is we put two window air conditioners in because we are mooch docking on 2 15 amp circuits and these are way more efficient when you compare the BTUs to the amperage draw. so we can leave those two running all day and they are four times more quiet than the rooftop air conditioner.
Then we fire up our generator for about two hours a day to add the rooftop air conditioner to the mix and that helps.
We also taped reflect decks over our skylights and put foam in one of our events but we need to do the other two. Pulling the shade curtains helps block some of the heat game and the awnings definitely help.
We also choose not to wear clothes inside our RV in the daytime as no one can see into the windows anyway. We sometimes put an oscillating fan in here to keep the air moving better also.
Another thought is that I installed solar all over the roof of our RV and because that sits a few inches above the roof, I think it actually shades our roof and helps keep it a little bit cooler while generating electricity at the same time.
Glad y’all made it through. Definitely not any fun. Tara, you by far out did yourself with the movie clip inserts this time! Appropriate would be an understatement. Looking forward to the fun stuff with Phil and Stacy- especially zip lining over the downtown area. I get the “stunts” shirt now, Tara. You’ve earned that one. Thanks for the tips, guys. Troy
I need to check out those roof covers! For the inside I purchased magnetic vent covers for my floor registers. I did not want any of that precious cold air going under the floor where I could not enjoy it. To make them less visible I applied adhesive contact paper to blend in with the floor. It’s not a perfect match but way less visible than the stark white of the plain magnets. Thanks for sharing your tips!
I go to Vegas every summer to play in the WSOP but this summer we had the RV and it was tough keeping it cool! I was happy that they moved the WSOP to October so we could leave that hot weather! Great tips guys..thanks!!!
Instead of blocking my vents, I open them. Hot air rises and that allows some of it to escape. Seems to lower the temp of the return air to the a/c as well, although I haven't measured if. To keep the sunlight from getting in, I picked up a couple of cheap car window shades (the retractable ones with the tiny holes for the side windows) and put them over the vents light side out. Helps me tremendously 90-105°. Haven't had to try it at 120°.
Yes it makes your videos better when you reference Classic Star Trek and Indiana Jones!
I use emergency blankets on my windows to reflect heat out but let some light in. You can also tape emergency blankets on top of unit. Emergency Blanket is cheep.
We full time here in Vegas at the base and it was hard during that heat wave! But luckily, the base has nice spots with a lot of bigger trees to help with shade!
Another tip is to take a look at your doors! Both external and internal, they all should have some sort of gasket, although lately, with the cost cutting going on with RV companies, there are alot being sold without them. If your gasket material is old or compressed enough where you're not getting a good seal, or are non-existent, have them replaced. In a pinch you can use towels to put in-between the door and the frame when shut. You can test whether you're getting a good seal by shaking the door while closed, if you can see/feel lateral movement you're not sealed. Also with internal doors, I've seen some very well gasketed seals but with a huge gap under the door. You really want to seal that gap with towels or blankets to keep that (hopefully) cold air from leaving that room you're in. Stay cool!
We made the mistake 3 years ago of being down there in the 115 degree heatwave, and it was miserable. It was even worse because we were out at the Famcamp, and when the winds came through they were 100mph gusts that were tearing awning off rigs if they were extended, so in the day you put it out, but as soon as it got dark you brought them back in. Not one of our better RV camping memories to be sure! We also put our solar shade on the outside of our front windshield, plus covers on the inside to help keep the heat away from the front end as much as possible.
I used a 120 volt apartment AC to also help when I live in Vegas. Really helped a lot.
The park will probably not like it but you can use a splitter on the water (which we all have anyway), run another hose, and spray the rv down to take away some of the heat. Really works well at or around sundown. I spoke to a man one time that said it was 72 degrees or below wherever he was. Go North in the summer and South in the winter. Lucky man.
We stayed at Thousand Trails Soledad Canyon and it too had line volts around 103v during the summer. My Victron Inverters didn't care though, they'll run down to 96v. The hybrid function came in handy as we could run both our AC units on a 30amp breaker by simply supplementing with solar and turning down the shore power limiter. Though that won't help the main RV breaker over-heating problem as the "assist" feature just boosts up some DC to match the incoming line voltage at whatever level is coming in.
Have you thought of tinting your windows with ceramic window tinting? I tinted my windows and it makes a huge difference here in South Florida and the best thing is that we can still see outside.
A timely video for me as I happen to be in Vegas right now here in mid July. Yuk. 104° at 1am. OMG 😱. I've even done most of the tricks/hacks that you have done. I'm a 37' 5th wheel running 2 ac's. Fortunately this RV park have full hookups with 120/122v at the pole. I also had issues that had to be taken care here in Vegas at this time. Also was in the northern Ca., thinking it would be cooler but the tamarac 🔥 fires and smoke drove me out. This heat and smoke is no joke.
We had issues camping in the heat too. We have done everything you have done but had a problem with the refrigerator warming up as it's on the side with no shade! We needed an umbrella on that side.
Since you have solar you can always set your inverter to assist just like you would if you mooch dock, same thing happen to me at a KOA low voltage down to 96 volts. PS Love you guys and Phil and Stacy
Loved the video. My first time in Vegas was in July I felt like a turkey in an oven 🔥🌶
I have taken vitamin E for years to limit my migraine headaches. I may get a mild one once or twice a year now. The next time you have to be in Vegas during the heat, try to get a spot up near Mount Charleston. It is nearly 2,000 feet higher and cooler. We have gone there a couple of times to get away from the heat.
We were in Vegas June 16-19 this year and stayed at the KOA Journey at Sam's Town. It was 124 when we rolled into town. We have a single AC in our travel trailer and it did ok, but the fridge couldn't keep up which was super frustrating because we lost all of our lunchmeat. We had the fridge on propane to reduce the electrical load. There was NO shade at our park which didn't help. Voltage was 118 because the park was pretty empty. The breakers didn't pop. It was nice to not need our water heater because the water coming out of the ground was hot enough for a shower. In fact, we had to let the cold water cool off before using it.
We camped in the extreme heat without using our air conditioning. We are at a permanent campsite with only 30 amp power. We open windows in the late evening/early am. We close the blinds where the sun would hit, we keep our awning out to help keep the rv cooler. I keep a small bucket filled with water and soak my feet in it when I get too hot. I also wear a neck scarf that you soak in colder water and wear around your neck. It makes a HUGE difference. Also keep lots of cold water in the fridge, get any physical work/exercise done in the early am. We also invested in a dyson hot/cold fan and we use the fan at night. Also if we were hot and sticky we would have a quick shower a couple of times a day. Open your fridge/fridges as little as possible to keep the heat out. Do your hot cooking/baking late at night or early in the am. We turn our fantastic fans throughout the day, we have 3, to help draw the hot air out.
Hello from Fresno. We use about 4 frozen 1 gallon jugs to help keep the fridge cold in summer. I have 6 I always keep at home in the freezer, they stay mostly frozen for about 4 days. They definitely help keep it cooler too, most the time we are dry camping so it is only running on propane.
INSTALL the soft starts last week in VIRGINIA IT WAS 90 plus all week ran my 2 AC units in my KZ Durango gold on a predator 3500 watt inverter generator 30 amps. Best thing only took 30 minutes to install.
I installed mine soft starts last year. Been a life saver in this Texas heat. I made my own airflow system from a TH-cam video. My 4500 watt generator purrs like a kitten and keeps me cool.
What a great informative video. We just suffered everything you did and are newbies to RVing. I wish we would have seen this video before our tirp. But we survived and will use ALL of this info, which would have helped us, going forward. Thank you!
One regular maintenance that our home AC unit gets in Arizona is being hosed down. Check your RV's AC manual to see if that is needed or suggested for helping with the dust & keeping it properly maintained. Especially if you have experienced dry blowing dust.
Use that reflectex to block the return air opening that your furnace uses … it’s like you are trying to cool you basement. If your furnace floor registers can be closed, close them. This too is cool air leak into your basement.