Full-timing in Desert Heat in Summer

[Superslif]

Still comes down to how well your RV is insulated, dual pane windows. Our ORV trailer is overly insulated, add in thermal pane windows. During a few days of Midwest humid 95 degree temps last summer, our single AC unit only cycled on 50% of the time, where everyone else was running full time....

[YooperVer]

If you are in the shade in the afternoons should be no problem. If sitting out in the blazing sun, both AC units will run and still not keep RV cool on real hot days. Reducing solar load is key. Awnings over windows will be a big help if out in the sun, but really want entire RV in the shade if possible.

[CoachDitka]

Originally Posted by followingsea

]
The whole idea of an RV is to be somewhere where it is nice outside.

It helps me be in that place on the weekends. Just not during the workweek.

You are correct that I will sleep at night so daytime temps aren't that important. I do have a dog, but she likes it hot anyway. I want to keep it below 90 during the day, as close to 80 as possible realizing anything less is probably unrealistic.

I guess my question for people talking about shade is, what can I do to be in the shade if the only choices at the RV park with 50 amp are direct sunlight?

Does anyone have any experience with any kind of portable tent to provide shade?

[theroc]

We used Reflextix on the windows and it made a LOT of difference. I remember spending several weeks in Laughlin during the summer in 115+ temperatures with no shade and we were able to keep the temperatures during the day around 85-ish which was quite comfortable when temps were 115 outside. In fact, keeping it at 80-85 during the day actually made it possible to sleep at night with just the Fantastic fans running without A/C.

[CoachDitka]

What do you do with the Reflectix exactly? Just cover all the windows from the inside with it?

[vito.a]

Originally Posted by CoachDitka

What do you do with the Reflectix exactly? Just cover all the windows from the inside with it?

What year/model motor home do you have? Do the windows have two glass panes separated by a thin air space? Is there any tint on the windows? What size are your AC units?

I'm currently staying in Antelope Valley CA where electric is five times the national average (the Mohave desert just south of you). I turn the temp up to 88 during the day while away and down to 72 at night.
Cover the front windshield well and any windows exposed to afternoon sun. I use Reflectix cut to fit and blue masking tape to hold it in place. I do not put the slides in. I upgraded one of our AC units to a 15,000 BTU and that helps cool down on hot days.
During the summer months our electric can reach $250 per month.

[theroc]

Originally Posted by CoachDitka

What do you do with the Reflectix exactly? Just cover all the windows from the inside with it?

We used panels cut to match the windows we wanted them to cover similar to the example in the video. We did experiment with different ways to hold the panels in place and like one of the comments made below the video, we ended up using magnetic tape that actually stuck to the frames. That way, it was very easy to put up and take down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwIJQDNUFIo

[CoachDitka]

Originally Posted by vito.a

What year/model motor home do you have? Do the windows have two glass panes separated by a thin air space? Is there any tint on the windows? What size are your AC units?

I'm currently staying in Antelope Valley CA where electric is five times the national average (the Mohave desert just south of you). I turn the temp up to 88 during the day while away and down to 72 at night.
Cover the front windshield well and any windows exposed to afternoon sun. I use Reflectix cut to fit and blue masking tape to hold it in place. I do not put the slides in. I upgraded one of our AC units to a 15,000 BTU and that helps cool down on hot days.
During the summer months our electric can reach $250 per month.

2017 Thor Windsport 34P. Two 13,500 roof units. I haven't looked that closely at the windows but they are tinted pretty heavily.

I am considering getting a 10,000 BTU portable unit as well--one of the ones with the hose to vent the hot air.

That's about what I figured for electricity costs. At that price I will be saving quite a bit by using an unmetered hookup even if the daily rate is higher than the monthly by a little bit.

[jackreno]

Originally Posted by CoachDitka

Not Phoenix, but similar enough I think--Las Vegas.

I've heard it's going to be tough, but hoping that with two or maybe three A/Cs I can get it to 80. I'll pull the slides in if necessary.

One suggestion I got was to just have it on full blast all night and hopefully get it down as low as possible and then just hopefully it doesn't go up too much during the day.

If it's going to be absolutely unliveable I can put it in storage and rent a place but man do I like the idea of living in this thing full time.

I live in Vegas and we get hot here as well, sometimes our summers can be 116 degrees and the sun burns bad, the best thing to do if you can get the south side of RV shaded and cover all windows, people do live in their RV's here in Vegas year round.

[CoachDitka]

Originally Posted by jackreno

I live in Vegas and we get hot here as well

Not sure who the "as well" is to but I am here in Vegas too! What do you do in the summer time?

I'm not sure what Main Street Station or the CCSC will let me do as far as setting up a shade structure.

Would love to talk to someone that has information specific to Vegas if you have lived in an RV here in the summer or know someone who has.

[winniman]

Originally Posted by CoachDitka

I don't know about the windows. How would I know??

Tell me more about the shades please.

Dual pane windows have two panes with a thermal break in between. If you take a lighter, or a match, and light it in front of the window, you will see two flames in the reflection if it is dual pane. If they are single pane, you will only see one flame. Not very likely you would have triple pane windows, but if you did, you would see three flames in the reflection. Cheers.

[GoneToTheDog]

If you have a dog......please re-think this. We have a friend.....had a dog....2 air conditioner units. Sounds good. But while he was at work.....in Phoenix, summer time, 110 degree day....the power went out for a few hours. Doesn't take long to reach extremely dangerous temps in an RV with no air conditioning. He came home to a dead dog.

[wildeflowers]

Originally Posted by CoachDitka

Ok, what if I had 50 amps, brought the slides in, and added a third A/C like this:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Danby-10...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

It's rated for a 450 square foot space, which is larger than the whole coach, especially with the slides in. Obviously it's the insulation not the square footage that's the issue, but it seems like this should be sufficient...

You’ll have to do the math to figure out if you can run all 3 on 50 amps. I’m not sure. How many amps do the rooftop ones pull and how many for the portable? How reliable is the electric at the site? Desert heat in Vegas is the same as desert heat anywhere. What if all the rvs in the campground pull too much power and it goes down? What if your air conditioners all come on and pop a fuse.

Unfortunately I have to agree with Gonetothedogs. If anything goes wrong at all, you will come home to a dead dog. Though I might suggest an internal WiFi temp gauge and perhaps a WiFi camera so you can monitor? How fast could you get there if something did go wrong?

[ThePowells]

I have reflectix in the bedroom windows as I am a day sleeper. I went back and bought https://www.lowes.com/pd/Common-1-in...lation/3365576
I have cut these panels to fit on the inside of the bedroom closets and cabinets and they have been great at keeping it warmer. I am eventually going to get them on every inside part of the exterior walls inside of cabinets. I have also cut them to fit the roof vents and skylights in the living area. I covered them with material the same color as the furniture so they aren't really noticeable and much cheaper than CW or RV upgrades. I have also taken two full sheets and have them across the passage from the living area to cab, with two layers also across the top. I am eventually going to replace the window refletix with the sheet as soon as I can get to Home Depot and get a round tuit. If wind isn't a problem, you can probably fashion a outside window cover from the sheet and Gorilla tape and use suction cups to hold them and use them on the south and west facing sides. If you use reflectix on the windshield, it need to be either on the outside or tight to the glass as the heat that gets through the glass and to the reflectix will stay in that air space and continue to gain heat as it reflects between the reflectix and windshield.
Another easy helper is to pull your slides in as much as you can since they seal much better in rather than out.


I hope that this helps.