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πŸ‘‰ Article: Campervan Air Conditioners: Staying Cool for Vanlife

Hey, thanks for tuning in to the camper van podcast. Once again, I'm glad you're listening. Another question about air conditioning. Can you use a portable air conditioner in a camper van?

So can you use a portable air conditioner and camper van? You, you absolutely can. There are advantages and disadvantages.

The biggest advantage is that there's no installation. You simply go buy aΒ  110 or 240 volt portable air conditioner, the freestanding kind that you see in people's homes and offices and shops, et cetera.

And you stand it up in the van, you plug it in, you run the vent hose that comes with your freestanding, portable air conditioner out through a window or a hole cut in the side of the van. And now you're cooling down at 5,000 BTU's or 7,500 or 10,000 BTUs, depending on how powerful your portable AC unit is.

Another advantage of using a portable air conditioner in a camper van or RV is they're reasonably priced.

There are also several disadvantages. The number one disadvantage is the power consumption. They're not built to be as efficient as the RV , camper and campervan specific AC units that are available such as the ones that Mount to your roof, or the Marine style that mount in cabinets and are vented through the hull or side of your van.

What I mean by that is, the fans and the motors in the RV and Camper van specific air conditioning systems are balanced, lighter weight, they tend to be better insulated and they're designed to withstand the vibration of a motor vehicle such as an RV or Campervan.

RV air conditioners are built to be more quiet and run more efficiently because the manufacturers know that you have less power at your disposal because oftentimes if you're running off battery and solar,

Also, you need the thing to be quiet because it's right above your head in the camper or RV when you're sleeping. So there's another disadvantage of DC powered portable air conditioners. they're going to be louder.

Another disadvantage aside from the power consumption and the noise is that they take up more space. They stand in the middle of the room and, and I don't know about you, but I don't have room for one of those.

That's why so often air conditioning systems are mounted to the roof of campervans because they need to be up and out of the way.

That also solves the venting issue because it's not even in the van. It's outside of the van. So the venting takes care of itself with a camper van air conditioner.

Another issue with regard to portable air conditioners is that they are not durable since they're made for homes, they aren't made to be joggled around In the rolling earthquake that is the back of your camper van.

So aside from the fact that they take up a ton of space, the thing's going to fall apart over time or quickly.

Now, granted, you could set it up on the mattress every time you're driving and make sure that it...