AC solution for sleeping in the car (1 Viewer)

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Are there any 12v fan options? I find fans pretty effective as an AC alternative at home..never tried them in a car though.

Would need less power for sure.
 
Buy a cheap small inverter like this one: Amazon product ASIN B07T1G8WZ9That will run 2Xnormal oscillating fans and keep your laptop and phones charging/running. A normal car battery will run a laptop about 14 hours. It will run 2X fans 8 or more hours. In the morning while you're cooking up breakfast, let the car idle and put some jumper cables on the spare battery to charge it back up.......................There are small 12V fans, but I don't know of any big ones.
 
I currently use an Endless breeze fan and usually have the hatch or 1 window open so it can draw air from outside. I’ve been sleeping in the car for I think 5 months now and rarely have needed to wake up to turn AC on for a little bit. I think 2 endless breeze/powerful 12V fans would be good.

I considered getting the Bluetti AC200 (1700wH), when it goes live on July first (first 200 gets 50% off so $999 total), which has fast enough discharge for a 5000BTU window AC, and enough capacity to run it for about 2 hours before needing to be charged. 2 hours isn’t much but it will be enough to get you through peak hours. Also, when it cycles off it won’t use as much electricity so realistically you will be able to keep the car cool for longer. It won’t need to run for long to cool such a small living area.

Honestly if I had a thousand dollars still, I’d still go for the AC200 when it comes out In a few days. It’s a great power bank for that price... also can take 700W from solar panels which is a nice thought for running AC during a hot sunny day.
 
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You could do what those people with the super small campers do..
5000 btu a/c unit hooked to some 4" hoses, running on a very small generator.
 
I currently use an Endless breeze fan and usually have the hatch or 1 window open so it can draw air from outside. I’ve been sleeping in the car for I think 5 months now and rarely have needed to wake up to turn AC on for a little bit. I think 2 endless breeze/powerful 12V fans would be good.

I considered getting the Bluetti AC200 (1700wH), when it goes live on July first (first 200 gets 50% off so $999 total), which has fast enough discharge for a 5000BTU window AC, and enough capacity to run it for about 2 hours before needing to be charged. 2 hours isn’t much but it will be enough to get you through peak hours. Also, when it cycles off it won’t use as much electricity so realistically you will be able to keep the car cool for longer. It won’t need to run for long to cool such a small living area.

Honestly if I had a thousand dollars still, I’d still go for the AC200 when it comes out In a few days. It’s a great power bank for that price... also can take 700W from solar panels which is a nice thought for running AC during a hot sunny day.
This generator: Amazon product ASIN B01M8L2RTS
With this boost capacitor: Amazon product ASIN B0002YTLFE
Is what I have used to run and start a 5000BTU window AC.

It is a very small light 4 cycle generator and runs 4-6 hours on a gallon of fuel. If you place it 50ft or more away from the truck with exhaust facing away chances are you won't hear it inside over the noise of the AC. If you use your shovel and dig a hole then place it in the hole with a small piece of plywood over the top with a gap for exhaust and air and some dirt on the plywood it will be very quiet.........On my cuddy cabin boat I can hang the generator in the air from a bungee connected to a pole in a rod holder on the stern so it doesn't transmit vibration to the boat. It is relatively hard to hear over the sound of the AC going in the cuddy cabin.
If you upgrade to a 2K 4stroke inverter generator it may even be quieter because you could run it in "efficiency mode" where the engine is throttled back. The small 1K generator will not start and run the AC in efficiency mode so it has to be running full bore all the time. 2K genset is more than double the size and weighs 44lb.
If you try to run the AC off of batteries and a inverter I'd suggest you try to get a "dumb inverter" perhaps a 24V Solar inverter that has a wide range of voltage that it accepts and still produces AC power. Some of the Solar inverters have a wide range of say 21-30V before they stop working. Most standard12 V inveters will often shut down once voltage drops below 11V...................Your common Analog 5000BTU window unit will probably work just fine on only 100V AC still pumping out cold air. Anything that is made to work in Japan as well as the US must be made to tolerate 100V 50hz Japan standard as well as 120V 60 cycle US.
 
This generator: Amazon product ASIN B01M8L2RTS
With this boost capacitor: Amazon product ASIN B0002YTLFE
Is what I have used to run and start a 5000BTU window AC.

It is a very small light 4 cycle generator and runs 4-6 hours on a gallon of fuel. If you place it 50ft or more away from the truck with exhaust facing away chances are you won't hear it inside over the noise of the AC. If you use your shovel and dig a hole then place it in the hole with a small piece of plywood over the top with a gap for exhaust and air and some dirt on the plywood it will be very quiet.........On my cuddy cabin boat I can hang the generator in the air from a bungee connected to a pole in a rod holder on the stern so it doesn't transmit vibration to the boat. It is relatively hard to hear over the sound of the AC going in the cuddy cabin.
If you upgrade to a 2K 4stroke inverter generator it may even be quieter because you could run it in "efficiency mode" where the engine is throttled back. The small 1K generator will not start and run the AC in efficiency mode so it has to be running full bore all the time. 2K genset is more than double the size and weighs 44lb.
If you try to run the AC off of batteries and a inverter I'd suggest you try to get a "dumb inverter" perhaps a 24V Solar inverter that has a wide range of voltage that it accepts and still produces AC power. Some of the Solar inverters have a wide range of say 21-30V before they stop working. Most standard12 V inveters will often shut down once voltage drops below 11V...................Your common Analog 5000BTU window unit will probably work just fine on only 100V AC still pumping out cold air. Anything that is made to work in Japan as well as the US must be made to tolerate 100V 50hz Japan standard as well as 120V 60 cycle US.

Not a bad idea! I'm definitely going to look into this. My friend got a TailGator from Harber Freight today and it definitely made me reconsider generators, but this one seems relatively quiet compared to that little 2-stroke. Size seems very reasonable as well and the weight is a big factor me. Really appreciate you taking the time to share that.
 
In reality however, you don't need a air conditioner. If you carry one extra car battery and a small 400 watt inverter you can run 2X household electric fans blowing on high across your beds all night. You charge up the battery off the vehicle in the morning. You go to sleep on top of sheets in your skivvies and then about 2 AM you pull up a blanket because your cool. ......If you intend to sleep in the vehicle it is best to cover with a tarp with airgap between tarp and vehicle so the early morning sun is not bearing down on the sheetmetal. This will give you another couple hours before it gets too unbearably hot inside. We do this tent camping in June in the Carolinas which are hot and humid. It's comfortable in the tent till about 8:30AM then it starts getting hot, even with the fan.
this, use the laws of physics to your advantage n be your own swamp cooler. moving humid air will still make you feel cooler
 
Just saw these on Luno Life’s website, 12v and can be powered off USB. Bit expensive and not a lot of reviews but look like a neat option.


I have a Luno Life mattress and love it and they provided a 10% off coupon with my purchase I don’t really need but am happy to pass on.



 
You probably burn less than 1/2 gal per hr idling the engine w/AC on. If you have remote start, go to bed and use the remote start to start it up. If you run it for 6 hrs of the night, that's probably 2 gallons of gas, depending on engine size, etc. 2 gallons of gas right now costs approx $6. That's a lot of nights with AC to equal the cost of the expensive solutions being talked about so far.
 
You probably burn less than 1/2 gal per hr idling the engine w/AC on. If you have remote start, go to bed and use the remote start to start it up. If you run it for 6 hrs of the night, that's probably 2 gallons of gas, depending on engine size, etc. 2 gallons of gas right now costs approx $6. That's a lot of nights with AC to equal the cost of the expensive solutions being talked about so far.
Idling with AC on for hours is problematic for many vehicles. There are some safety issues with carbon monoxide and sleeping in a running vehicle. We've all done it at some point, but there are alot of people on the forum with modified 4wd's that might not have factory exhaust in which case there is more potential for danger..............You are however right about the finance part. 1X extra car battery at around $50 from walmart, 1X 300 watt inverter for about $40, and a normal electric fan blowing on you and you can go to sleep most any night without AC. The battery will run the fan all night and you charge it with jumper cables the next day. That's the cheap way to do it. Actual air conditioning gets expensive.
 

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