Can't stand the heat?: tips and tricks for very hot condition driving ??

[MN_Traveler]

We are heading down to the desert southwest the second half of July (Big Bend national park, Bryce Canyon, arches national park, etc. other than the usual "check the tire pressure "cold" in the morning, and making sure the generator coolant and oil are ok, any thoughts or experiences on how to handle the conditions???

[Jim T.]

Close the door to your bedroom & run your genset & front roof air.


Jim & Shirley & Abbie (Scottie)
2013 Newmar Canyon Star 3911
2005 Dodge Grand Caravan

🎓 I always think I know more than I actually do! I'm not a 🚀 scientist, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night. 🏩

[redcolorado]

Make some kind of window covers to go on the inside of your all your windows. We use the silver film bubble wrap materiel from Home Depot. I had covers for all the windows except the front and drivers and passengers. Those have curtains and a powered visor for the windshield. We got to Las Vegas 2 weeks ago 110 degrees. Even with all the shields installed the air conditioners could not keep up. Off to Home Depot, got a 4X25 ft roll of the silver bubble wrap and made a shield that covers the driver, passenger and front windows. Made a world of difference within a couple of hours the air conditioners were able to keep up. We also start the generator and air conditioners about 3 hours before we get to the camp ground and leave the generator running until we are on shore power. It is easier to keep the coach cool than it is to get it cool. Good Luck and stay cool.

[Ray,IN]

I agree, run the A/C continually when RVing in HOT weather. When you open windows and doors it allows anything stuffed sofas, etc., to absorb humidity, even when the ambient temperature is 70*F and the A/C compressor doesn't run if turned on. When you do decide to run the A/C, now it has to play catch-up with removing humidity instead of maintaining humidity, and temperature.
An aside to air conditioners; the inventor was trying to design a dehumidifier, cold air was a useless byproduct at that time.

[RamblinOn]

If you haven't already figured it out, a set of fitted Sun Shades for your greenhouse (windshield and side windows) are essential. Also, as stated above, the solar bubble insulated stuff works great. DO NOT use any type of adhesive or duct tape to hold them to the window. The extreme heat build up will cause the adhesive in things like duct tape to break down leaving a goo on your window or frame resembling gum on a hot sidewalk. Besides, you really need a way for the heat to escape else risk window damage. I cut mine to fit, then hold in place with small wooden dowel rods as they tend to collapse as gravity and the heat take their toll.
Vent pillows or shields will also help. I use the thick fitted pillow type plugs in mine.
If you have window awnings as well as your main awning, give them a good UV treatment prior to departing and be sure to use them....they make a huge difference on our coach.

[Fiesta48]

We've used a clear shower curtain and rod across the back of the 2 captains chairs to keep the cool/heat in front while driving. (No passengers)
Aluminum bubble wrap in the windows in hot and cold weather. Our new Discovery has small double pane well sealed windows that really work.

[George Schweikle]

Not sure if you are placing bubble wrap on the double pane windows, but I have heard this can cause problems; fogging, leaky seal, etc. This may be an urban legend, but I only place bubble wrap on our windshield and it really works (everything else is double pane).

Originally Posted by Fiesta48

...Aluminum bubble wrap in the windows in hot and cold weather. Our new Discovery has small double pane well sealed windows that really work.

[briankstan]

Originally Posted by MN_Traveler

We are heading down to the desert southwest the second half of July (Big Bend national park, Bryce Canyon, arches national park, etc. other than the usual "check the tire pressure "cold" in the morning, and making sure the generator coolant and oil are ok, any thoughts or experiences on how to handle the conditions???

We just Got back from 4 days Lake Powell (Southern Utah) we would run the coach AC and had no problem keeping it comfortable in the coach even with the temps reaching 106 we could get to 75 inside running both AC's. While driving home we had the gen running and the AC's as well as the front one and it was too cold for everyone, we ended up shutting down the Coach AC's and stayed comfortable with just the chassis AC going.

the only thing we struggled with was keeping the fridge cold enough in the high temps sitting in the sun all day with the sun beating down and the kids kept opening the fridge to look for snacks . I think for the next trip in the heat we'll also keep a block of ice in one of the fridge containers as well.

have fun, we were at Arches last Fall and Bryce Canyon a month ago. both are great places and you'll need several days at both if you are planning to really see them and go on the hikes, some long, some not so long.

[CampDaven]

If it is too hot or too cold we don't go there.
We like to be outside!

[MN_Traveler]

reflective bubble wrap - got it.

to tell the truth, I was NOT thinking about turning off the A/C


thanks all!

[zman-az]

Get your front/side driver and passenger windows tinted as dark as legally possible with tint that blocks uv, in fact do all the windows if they don't have any uv protection. This will help a lot, especially when driving. I also pull down the white portion on my mcd window shades, the black shade cloth just absorbs heat. I also got some white pillow stuffing from Walmart and installed between my shower skylight panels and also put some in the front cap where the black tinting is on my full front windshield. In addition some pillow stuffers in the ceiling fans are easy to install.

[MN_Traveler]

Not sure if I have time for tinting. :-(. Great idea though :-)

Picked up some of the reflective bubble wrap, and will definitely NOT turn off the AC.

Thank you ALL for the great ideas!!!