21 methods to maintain your camper cool in scorching climate

Are you melting in your motorhome, campervan or caravan in scorching climate? Unsure in case you want air-con or not? Should you wrestle with the recent climate in your van and need some tricks to preserve your camper cool in summer season warmth wherever you might be, these are the most effective methods to cope with scorching days!

Don’t neglect to seize your FREE motorhome journey guidelines under that will help you keep organised earlier than you head out.

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Summer season Van Life

It’s scorching. Loopy scorching. Garments-sticking-to-your-back scorching. And sure, we’re at present in a motorhome within the UK. Thank goodness we’re not motorhoming in Spain!

I hate to complain about good climate, however typically it may be a bit TOO good. In ‘regular’ instances, we choose to move to the mountains with our motorhome, fairly than courageous the warmth and crowds of France or Spain throughout the summer season months.

Nonetheless, it’s effectively over 30 within the UK proper now and journey isn’t an choice, so we’re having to deal. Listed below are a few of our greatest ideas for staying cool in a motorhome or campervan throughout a warmth wave, to try to make vanlife a bit extra bearable.

Keep Cool in Your Motorhome by Parking within the Shade

This will likely not all the time be potential, however when you’ve got a alternative of parking spots or pitches on the campsite, attempt to decide one within the shade if the climate is forecast to be scorching. Even when it’s solely shaded for a part of the day, it can make it way more bearable to be inside in excessive temperatures. 

Open At Least Two Hatches or Home windows to Enable Airflow in Your Van

The extra airflow you may get into your van, the higher. Opening roof vents, hatches or home windows on each side helps to create airflow, which in flip helps your motorhome really feel cooler. 

Attempt to open them on reverse sides or ends to encourage much more air motion. One other additional advantage to an open window and permitting contemporary air in is that it helps cease condensation and mildew in your van from the nice and cozy air. 

We hope you discovered the video helpful. Should you did, we’d find it irresistible if you adopted us on Youtube. New movies with ideas for motorhoming and campervanning within the UK and Europe are launched weekly.

Maintain Blinds Closed or Use a Display

Take a tip from the Europeans and preserve your motorhome blinds or hatch screens closed. In case you have a reflective display screen or reflective insulation, use it. Simply stopping a bit direct daylight utilizing window shades is a good way to scale back the inside temperature dramatically, particularly within the hottest a part of the day. 

That is much more vital when you’ve got giant home windows as they’ll actually create a lot warmth inside your van- like residing in a greenhouse!

Notice: Verify any warning labels in your roof skylights for closing the blind absolutely with out the window being open. Most advise to not absolutely shut the the bind within the scorching climate as this may warp the plastic skylight (attributable to warmth and never capable of escape).

Keep Cool in Your Van by Protecting Indoor Cooking to a Minimal

Utilizing a hob, grill or oven in your motorhome is simply going to make issues even hotter inside. As a lot as potential, attempt to cook dinner exterior so the warmth doesn’t construct up. Some campsites have an out of doors kitchen you need to use as a substitute of yours, which is all the time an excellent choice as a substitute of a scorching van.  Alternatively, use an air fryer! 

Should you like a heat drink even on a scorching day (weirdo ?) then attempt to use a gasoline burner exterior as a substitute of the hob or kettle inside. 

Don’t neglect that many campsites both don’t enable BBQs or they insist they’re saved off the ground. You possibly can discover our favorite BBQs for motorhomes and caravans right here. 

Attempt to Put Your Awning on the Sunniest Aspect, so it Protects the Hottest Spot

A easy trick, however it requires a bit planning while you first park up at a website. Strive to determine which manner is south, after which put your motorhome or rv awning on that aspect if potential. The extra solar you possibly can preserve off the aspect of your motorhome, the cooler it can really feel inside, even in partial shade. 

That is particularly helpful in case you’re motorhoming in Europe and want to flee the recent air and excessive summer season temperatures. Once more, some campsites insist on you parking a sure manner, so it isn’t all the time potential BUT it’s value a attempt the place you possibly can.

New to motorhome or camper journey in Europe? You may discover these posts useful:

See all our Europe motorhoming posts right here

NEED GEAR? Should you want any package or necessities for motorhoming in Europe, right here’s what we suggest and the place to search out it

For a Cooler Summer season Vanlife, Head to the Mountains

We like to go to the mountains throughout summer season, particularly now we’ve a canine. The cool air at increased elevations is a welcome break from the acute warmth of southern Europe. 

Don’t be fooled- you possibly can nonetheless get sunburn up a mountain, however residing in a van and summer season street journeys will likely be way more bearable within the cooler air. 

A few of our favorite summer season mountain locations embody:

Park Close to Water if You Can – Though You Could Get Midges

We like to park close to water as a lot as potential. Partly for the views and partly as a result of our canine likes to swim. Being close to the water makes all the things really feel just a bit bit cooler than it does inland.

Nonetheless, some locations have midges or mosquitos close to water. And in some locations, they’re so unhealthy they’ll completely smash your vacation. Should you’re going motorhoming in Scotland, don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Don’t neglect to seize your free motorhome wild tenting guidelines right here that will help you arrange your van to remain in a single day with out electrical energy or services.

Use Moveable Followers to Maintain a Motorhome Cool in Summer season

We now have a number of USB moveable followers within the van to assist transfer air round and preserve issues feeling cooler. These are those we’ve– they’re simple to make use of and cost, and aren’t too loud to make use of at night time.

We additionally use small followers which we are able to persist with the edges of the van, or put within the roof vents to create a selfmade ceiling fan. Battery-powered ones are good for this. 

Different moveable followers to have a look at:

In case you have the arrange in your van, or are primarily on campsites, then there is no such thing as a purpose you possibly can’t use a family flooring fan, like these ones. My buddy makes use of the Berssen one and swears by it!:

Keep in mind Lights Give Off Warmth 

Should you’re planning to spend any time staying off grid along with your motorhome (also called motorhome wild tenting), then we extremely suggest switching out your van lights for low energy LED ones. This can assist scale back the quantity of battery energy you utilize AND they’ll give off much less heat- win win.

Set up a Mounted Motorhome Air Conditioning Unit

Should you’re planning to spend so much of time in nations the place it will get REALLY heat throughout summer season, you may need to sacrifice a piece of your motorhome payload with a purpose to match a correct motorhome air-con unit.

These are very efficient, however they do weigh rather a lot, so make sure you do your analysis earlier than you select and set up one.

Purchase a 12v Moveable Air Conditioning Unit

An alternate choice to a fitted air-con unit within the van is to hold a moveable 12v air-con unit. There are many these in the marketplace. Some are ‘correct’ moveable air conditioner models, and a few are referred to as ‘swamp cooler’ or evaporative coolers.

We purchased a Transcool unit a number of years in the past and it does the job pretty effectively, utilizing chilly water to chill the air down. You possibly can see our assessment of it right here:

We hope you discovered the video helpful. Should you did, we’d find it irresistible if you adopted us on Youtube. New movies with ideas for motorhoming and campervanning within the UK and Europe are launched weekly.

As expertise advances within the motorhome / camper business, so does the package you should purchase. Ecoflow has just lately purchased out a moveable air-conditioning unit particularly for all times on the street, which is meant to be wonderful. (I swear by my Ecoflow powerbank!)

If you’re primarily on campsites and utilizing electrical hook up, you need to use 230v units for air-con, however do be aware of the facility utilization so that you don’t journey out the electrical!

Extra Tricks to Assist Maintain Your Cool in Scorching Climate

In addition to the above tricks to preserve your van or motorhome as cool and welcoming as potential in heat climate, there are some issues you are able to do to guard your self.

Should you’re travelling with canine, make sure you stroll them early/ late within the day when the climate is cooler.

For your self, make sure you drink much more than standard and bear in mind to put on solar safety! It’s also possible to get a conveyable ice maker to assist preserve your drinks cool within the warmth of the summer season. 

Do you’ve got every other ideas for having fun with vanlife when the climate is heat? Drop them within the feedback under so we are able to all profit?

Final replace on 2024-04-30 / Affiliate hyperlinks / Pictures from Amazon Product Promoting API

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