Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Choosing Tent Air Conditioner for Camping Activity

Tent AC
Best Tent Air Conditioner for Camping When you feel the heat when camping then you need air conditioning to keep you cool. A tent air conditioner removes excess heat and humidity from a family camping tent and offers campers a good night's sleep as well as relief during the daytime. It is especially useful on days where the humidity is as difficult to tolerate as the heat.

For tent campers in very warm, humid climates, an air conditioner can make the difference between enjoying tent camping and staying home.

Because tent air conditioners need to remove both heat and humidity from the tent body, they consume a fair amount of electric current and require a 120-volt power source at the campsite.

Window air conditioners

Tent campers favor window air conditioners over other types.

Window A/C's are widely available in various sizes and offer the most cooling power for the price. However, they need to be mounted through a tent doorway, window or wall.

Portable room air conditioners

Room air conditioners are upright units, which sit entirely inside a chamber and feature an exhaust hose to vent warm air out window opening or a tent doorway.

Water condenses into a reservoir that needs to be emptied as often as every few hours in humid climates.

Although easier to set up than a window air conditioner, these units are costlier and heavier for the same amount of cooling ability.


Tent Air Conditioner Sizes


Window air conditioners suitable for tent camping come in various sizes:

1. 5000 BTU

A 5000-BTU window air conditioner is the most popular size for family tent camping. These units are often designed to be as small and as quiet as possible.

A 5000-BTU A/C is suited to about any size family-dome tent.

It should also perform for a medium-size cabin tent with a 10' by 10', or a 100 square-foot floor plan.

2. 6000 BTU

A 6000-BTU window air conditioner will cool a large or x-large cabin tent up to approximately a 15' by 10', or a 150 square-foot floor plan.

3. 8000 BTU

An 8000-BTU window air conditioner is available for oversize cabin tents or for campers in large tents who want to camp on exceptionally hot and humid days.


Tent air conditioners with good ratings are available online with free shipping, making it economical to shop from home.


Getting good performance from a tent A/C


Pitch the tent in the shade during the hottest part of the day. Shade trees should be to the south or west of the tent.

Direct sunlight striking a tent will cause it to heat up inside, possibly 15 degrees more than the outside temperature. It will be very difficult for the air conditioner to keep up with this "solar gain" heating issue.

If there are no trees near the campsite, either

  • rig a tarp over the tent, or
  • lay a reflector blanket on top of the tent rainfly.

Keep the shiny side of the reflector blanket up, in order to reflect sunlight away from the tent body.

In order to keep too much air from passing through the ceiling mesh, it may also be helpful to lay fabric or plastic over some of the mesh netting. Leave enough ventilation for breathing.

1. General A/C maintenance

Regularly clean the air filter behind the front grill to improve air flow. The filter should be easily accessible, without removing the front cover or housing.

Other maintenance will require removing the front cover and the side and back housing.

If the air filter is missing, the evaporator fins at the front of the A/C may become plugged with debris over time. They can be cleaned with compressed air.

The condenser fins in the back of the A/C occasionally need to be cleaned of debris as well.

2. Electrical tips

These tent air conditioners should all run comfortably on the basic, 120 volt, 15 amp electrical service that is available to any electric campsite.

Even with a 15-amp circuit, there will be electrical capacity left over for other small electrical devices.

Campers should use an outdoor extension cord rated at 15 amps or higher.

The extension cord should be in good condition, with no gaps in the insulation.

3. Rain and electrical tips

The front of the A/C should be sheltered from rain.

Tent campers should try not to run electrical devices when the ground has been wetted by rain.

Before rain can soak the ground, turn off any electrical devices, put on shoes or boots, and carefully unplug the extension cord from the campsite outlet box. Wait for the ground to dry and then plug the extension cord back in.


Keep extension-cord connections off of the ground and sheltered from rain.


Frigidaire Mini Window Air Conditioner



Frigidaire Mini Window Air Conditioner
One of the best choice for Tent AC is Frigidaire Mini Window Air Conditioner,This is an inexpensive, compact, light unit that has been a best seller for ages and is perfect for a tent. It is a 5000BTU unit, so it is strong enough for most tents and it has a low voltage start-up to conserve power. It is a quiet air conditioner and has a high power efficiency rating and only weighs 35lbs.

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