It's Hot! Dealing with Heat

[John&Vicki]

The weird weather cycle thst we have been in here in Oregon for over a year continues. It's 100 degrees here in NW Oregon! We're dealing with it by hiking deep in the woods in the morning (we're good at woods here in Oregon), running the hated A/C, drinking lots of iced tea, sitting in the shade, the usual.

I realize the my trailer has wheels on it and we can move (we're only 40 miles from the cool Oregon Coast) but we're here at Stub Stewart SP, a great park that we really enjoy, and we're only here for one more night. I'm thinking that there might be more creative ways in dealing with the heat than moving and using the hated A/C. Maybe spray the outside of the trailer down with water? Get naked and sit in a kiddie pool (folks probably wouldn't mind my wife doing that, but I would be a problem). Erect a giant sail over the trailer (very fashionable in the stick house world these days)?

What things have you come up with?

Cheers (at least it's Happy Hour),
John

[mandolindave]

#1 Stay the heck out of the camper

#2 Find a crick ( creek ) they are shadier than lakes

#3 Put a lawn chair in the crick

#4 Get wet

#5 Stay wet

I can not count how many times, I forgot why I was in the crick, and started to walk back to the camper. Get 20 feet away, turn around , go back to the crick. I like to pass the time by playing mandolin, reading, and looking for nice rocks.

[Sbb]

Cold showers, no need for hot ones, sit in front of fans.

[rodsterinfl]

That's it, water!

Use the AC when sleeping.

[Fly at Night]

Slip those little cooler ice packs down the front and back.

[m.hony]

Originally Posted by John&Vicki

The weird weather cycle thst we have been in here in Oregon for over a year continues. It's 100 degrees here in NW Oregon! We're dealing with it by hiking deep in the woods in the morning (we're good at woods here in Oregon), running the hated A/C, drinking lots of iced tea, sitting in the shade, the usual.

I realize the my trailer has wheels on it and we can move (we're only 40 miles from the cool Oregon Coast) but we're here at Stub Stewart SP, a great park that we really enjoy, and we're only here for one more night. I'm thinking that there might be more creative ways in dealing with the heat than moving and using the hated A/C. Maybe spray the outside of the trailer down with water? Get naked and sit in a kiddie pool (folks probably wouldn't mind my wife doing that, but I would be a problem). Erect a giant sail over the trailer (very fashionable in the stick house world these days)?

What things have you come up with?

Cheers (at least it's Happy Hour),
John

Don't drink tea! It is a diuretic! It will dehydrate you!
Drink water 90% of the time with an occasional sports drink (Gatorade) to replenish electrolytes in the body.

[AWCHIEF]

Shade and air flow works for me. That and of course lots of cold iced tea.

[68 TWind]

We were camping last week, hot and humid. We found a site that stayed in the shade all day and had a big fan out under the awning so it wasn't too bad. The old Armstrong kept the inside of the trailer nice and cool (yes it is original). I did have issues with the fridge just not being able to keep cool as I like it. I tried both gas and electric modes, it's a 5 year old Dometic. About a 50 degree difference between inside and outside temp was the best it would do. I'd love to hear from others on how their refridgerators do in the heat and humidity. I've been checking it here at the house for a few days and the 50 degree delta t, is the best is can do even with a small computer fan mounted just below and blowing on the upper fins in the rear of the unit.

[bobmiller1]

Again 94 here in Lancaster, PA. When I bought the 325 I thought the fridge was shot, but during phase 1 of the overhaul I removed the steel wall in the cabinet over the fridge. I put my wet/dry vac hose in there just over the top of the upper fins on the back of the fridge. Used a 30" blow gun from outside and blew up, even cleaned out the roof vent and guess what...it works like new. The fridge is packed with all of our food for the week and the number 4 setting out of 5 is plenty cool for all the food and ice !

[Gnorts]

Our A/C is a noisy beast, but it does OK up to about 95F outside. We use a $15 fan from Target to circulate the air and it helps. We put the fan on the floor and point it up just a bit. The cool air from the A/C all ends up close to the floor, and the fan helps to stir it up. Our 4 year old Dometic fridge will hold 40 to 42F and I think it will do better when we get the long awning for the road side this coming winter. The wine cooler holds a steady 64F in the closet!

[m.hony]

Deal with the noise?
Or bake like a chicken in an oven?
Hmm...


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[basecamper]

I originally posted this in another thread on this forum:
We have an Airstream Basecamp. In the heat of summer, when we are parked in the sun, we strategically place three triangular shade sails (Amazon) to block the direct sunlight on the roof and sides....and it makes a huge difference. Shade sails are rain and wind permeable, so you don't have to worry about the wind getting under them/lifting them up, plus you still get breezes underneath. We attach them to the top of the Basecamp with bungees and to the ground with bungees and lightweight metal stakes. The shade sails even look "cool"....not at all like tarps.
Someone asked if I had photos, and this was my answer:
I should have taken photos, but I didn't...so I'll try and describe exactly what we do with shade sails. A big part of the solar gain from sunlight hitting directly on the Basecamp is from the sides (not so much from the top). We attach one corner of each triangle to the top with bungees. (The Basecamp has some bars on top that we can attach to.) We then bring the remaining two corners of each triangle OUT and downward toward the ground and, using bungees and lightweight aluminum tent stakes, attach to the ground. So, the shade sail is actually at about a 45-degree angle in relation to the Basecamp. (You can walk underneath between the Basecamp and the shade sail.) We do this with all three shade sails, overlapping them in places and placing them where they will best follow the path of the sun as it moves across the sky. (We ordered our shade sails from Amazon. Prices were reasonable there. They are available in triangles or squares in various colors and sizes. Our blue triangles are very cool....both in appearance and function!)

[HiHoAgRV]

We camped this last weekend, full sun and it was HOT! The outside thermometer is in the shade...



The fridge did ok, low 40's was as high as it got.

[68 TWind]

Vernon, that's HOT.
We weren't that hot last week on our trip but oh so humid up at David Crockett State Park in Tn. A great place to camp by the way.
I've been monitoring my fridge for 3 days and in the morning with temps around 80 it will cool to around 36 and then at the peak in the afternoon with ambient temp of round 92-95 it is holding 40-42. Guess that is just about all it will do. I switched to LP today and the numbers are within a degree of what I was getting with electricity. This is with no AC on just a hot trailer.

[Don McKelvay]

For our 34 footer I have used the silver bubble wrap that normally is used to wrap hot water heaters in all the windows and the door. They are flat and store nicely under our mattresses when not needed. They help whether it is HOT or COLD. Still wish we had two air conditioners, but....

[J. Morgan]

We just spent two months in southern New Mexico, no shade where I parked at all.

I still use the original Armstrong 11,000 btu AC.

I put that above mentioned silver bubble wrap stuff between the screen and glass of every window, sacrifice the bathroom to the heat, and run the AC 24/7 set on 72 degrees. (I was also always saying "shut the door"... )

Using these techniques, I managed to keep the stream comfortable, even when it got dang hot.

[Foiled Again]

Originally Posted by bobmiller1

Again 94 here in Lancaster, PA. When I bought the 325 I thought the fridge was shot, but during phase 1 of the overhaul I removed the steel wall in the cabinet over the fridge. I put my wet/dry vac hose in there just over the top of the upper fins on the back of the fridge. Used a 30" blow gun from outside and blew up, even cleaned out the roof vent and guess what...it works like new. The fridge is packed with all of our food for the week and the number 4 setting out of 5 is plenty cool for all the food and ice !

EXCELLENT reminder - a minor amount of crud can seriously interfere with air movement and cooling. I like the idea of blowing the crud out of the refrigerator's roof vent with a wet dry vac nozzle. I haven't cleaned my A/C inside filters yet this month - could be losing a few degrees of cooling right there. Not a bad idea to check them weekly.

Thank you.
Paula

[thehandyman]

Painted the roof on ours big difference in surface temps. We hardly ever run AC on high will cool just as good on low with out the extra fan noise. Never turned temp down more than half way before painting. Did a test this weekend full sun AC on low got down to 72 inside outside was high 90s and humid. Got a nice nap in during testing hard work.

[NavyCorpsman]

A spray bottle filled with water (set to mist) works great. Just don't start a watergun fight with the wife.......

[AWCHIEF]

Last week the folks next to me were using similar fan to this one under their awning. They were in a beautifully restored little vintage Shasta with no AC.

http://www.amazon.com/Lasko-7050-Mis...ds=Misting+fan