I would get rid of the air conditioner and the generator and put that van and drive and go somewhere else where it’s cool. That’s why it has wheels honey
We had a little heat wave in Chicago, upper 80s and 90s. The portable ac wasn't working to well. Had to rent a room from a buddy, so my dog would be ok.
The issue isn't the portable A/C - (I've owned several units like yours). The issue is that you've partially blocked the A/C vent with your bed. Raise the A/C unit higher so your bed doesn't block it. Plus you keep getting in and out of your Van repeatedly to film this video. Every time you open the door, it lets hot air inside. Next time, unblock the A/C vent and just let it run for 10 to 15 minutes without opening your Van door. Give it time to cool everything down - especially if its scorching hot outside. I also highly recommend a basic fan inside to help circulate the cool air around the Van. Otherwise the cool air rests in the back of the van and never moves to the front.
For the a/c to be more effective, you have to start it early in the morning. Keep your other fans running (not the window fan), and keep the shades up in your windows. A drop down curtain separating the front cabin from the back will greatly increase the effectiveness of your air conditioning.
I find a 5000 btu window ac works great. Cools entire van, and I'm in Florida parked in the sun (for my solar) $160. I have it in the window where you have your Maxaire.
Right, I gave up trying those portable a/c's....they don't work worth a damn...I use a 5k window unit in my slide in truck camper, just put a/c in side window....90's outside, 70's inside
Thanks for showing us how to works. Maybe you can get the front AC run a little bit to help the back AC get cool . Its better than nothing 🙄. But yes it is loud 🤔 ..... 🥵🔥
That's a good point. I remember Matty finding shelter in an underground parking garage during a serious hail storm. It's one of the examples I keep in my head to remind me I probably do not want to switch to a van that's so tall that it won't fit in most parking garages. Out of sight and out of the weather can have its advantages.
@@valeriehancotte-galan4790 Not sure exactly if there is a minimum height garages have to be, but my Dodge Grand Caravan has about a six inch clearance at the most when I go into the underground garage at the large apartment building I'm living in. I couldn't park here with a high top van.
Matty I have a similar set up my generator is sitting on my cargo rack outside and the AC is inside my window is different than you but yeah turn it on when it gets hot You won’t suffer from the heat like you posted yesterday 90° at night that’s hell I also park in a business commercial area so if he gets real hot at night I will be turning it on but California is a little bit different on the weather from where you’re from good job( ps ) you would not need the diesel heater here in California maybe you should think about coming down here just a suggestion I think you’d really it think about it I’ll show you around what life is at the beach it’s great 👍
Yes Matty, use the van's air conditioner to supplement the other air unit especially at start up and your vehicle will cool much quicker. I remember when you put the remote start in, it was a lifesaver for you that summer!
Waiting until the heat of the day and then turning the air conditioner on makes it have to work harder to do anything you really should have turned the air conditioner on earlier in the day before it got hot
Now I have festivals coming up. It may be hot. Generally I will go early to park in the shade. Generally we all are stationary unless we have to leave due to an emergency. I can have door screens too. So my situation will differ. I find it much easier to stay warm than to stay cool!!! Not going around in my birthday suit. Besides that wouldn’t help. I be volunteering. I will only be concerned about sleeping at night. I didn’t have any difficulties with the penguin mobile. I really miss it. It was simple and primarily hassle free. It was going on 31 years. I got a lot of use of that car. Once I adapt to the Ford Transit Connect, I will be calmer. It’s a change.
van life is so cool man.. just the freedom you have and get to just have the world as your home. just the elements can get rough but once everything is dialed in and you know all the tricks i bet vanlife becomes even better and save a ton of money if working as well and city camp. Im saving up for a van from 10k to 15k and build it out for when i vanlife in my 30s maybe :) 29 currently, single, no kids, no debt.
Three things I would do with this set up. 1) Turn the generator so that the exhaust is going into the street. At night with the top closed, people walking along the right side may not even notice it then. 2) Use a couple little USB fans to move the cool air from the back forward, should help a little bit with the forward temp. 3) Always have the windows completely covered when running the A/C. That will make a huge difference, especially if they are covered all day.
It is pretty interesting. It would also help to cool the van if you weren't opening the slider so often. It would probably be ok for overnight so you weren't in the sun. But, then there is the noise from the generator.
Hi Matty, Amazon has a shore power feed through for about $20 bucks. Has a shore power receptical on one end, and either 1 or 2 A/C recepticals on the end of a short pigtail. All you need is a hole saw to install it. Would allow you to close your rear doors without running the extension cord through them. I'd imagine your leaking alot of air through there.
The portable ac might work better if you put it up higher on a platform and can aim the vents straight out to blow to the front instead of up to the ceiling?! Of course, high enough that it doesn't blow directly on you when you're sleeping!
Put some neoprene on the inside walls of the tote and it will muffle the generator more. its a good sound proofer and fireproof. You can get some at thefoamfactory.com
Hot days can really make an Rver suffer. Anytime outside temp rises above about 80, and you are not parked in the shade, it can easily rise to 90 plus inside the RV. Maybe you could find someone willing to let you plug in to their house or business for a fee during hot weather. Usually the mornings before noon or so are very comfortable even on hot days. So you would still be mobile and comfortable in the mornings.
If the van was over 100 degrees inside your van, it will take time to cool the air and everything inside. A barrier at the cab might help. I like how you set it all up.
It's also possible to run an A/C off of solar power in a Van. You need about 1000W to 1200W of solar panels on your roof, and slightly larger battery bank. It might be a better alternative than running the loud generator if you are concerned about the noise the generator creates.
I meant to comment last night but I was really hot. I admire your spirit & that you came back so fast with this video. You'll do well in your travels & I'm looking forward to that!
Please be careful, those type A/C pulls hot air in through small cracks so it can exhaust out the big hose. While it is pulling air in you will get some exhaust fumes from the generator. That happen to me. Please be careful. Window units don't pull air from the outside like portable units. Please study the difference.
You should make an "air cooler" out of a regular cooler. Install some intake and exhaust vents, and use a fan to circulate air over a block of ice. The fan could run off your solar. Also make a raised rack in the cooler and run the intake vent so it blows under the ice. When the air exits the top it will be much cooler.
@@karitunes1 maybe a reflectic blanket from amazon to cover the roof? Could hold it on with magnets while you're parked. But i guess the humidity would still be problem
I just watched a video from "boonedocking with Dennis" he explains how he sleeps in a pickup truck topper all summer in Rockport, Texas. He says the only thing that works is cold compresses and a dewalt fan. Nothing else works to keep his body temperature cool enough to sleep in that kind of heat. He keeps a cooler with fresh ice every night to keep the compresses cold. He switches them when the heat wakes him up. Then he goes back to sleep each time.
This shows the importance of proper insulation and dividing the front of the cab from the rear. I would think the best investment in the generator is a high end low noise system. Not only is it better for not grabbing attention, but your head will thank you. Van life really requires putting more of your funds into certain areas. It's only going to get harder to be a City Van Dweller. Finding shade in the concrete jungle is difficult. The solar batwing concept can not only generate shade for the van, but the amount of power can run small window ac units. Think outside the box. Stay safe. This heat is dangerous.
Love most of this set up. Gonna use the license plate vent and generator box ideas, but I'm gonna buy a portable ac unit that air vents are on top of the the ac units. Good job
Amen brother...I got 88.5 sitting in front of the AC. It was 96 outside. Roof was 117. So 88 is better than 117. 20 degrees below ambient is realistic with fans. My solar doesn't want shade though. Too hot for beer . Thanks for sharing along. That metallic sound was that chain on your generator.
if your a snowbird i suggest rethinking what most ppl do with insulation....a well insulated van will hold heat in for way longer at night. Maybe loosely attach insulation (nobody has to weld it on the walls), then take it out for summer? idk
Great video. I think all that cooling gear still equates to something like you can get some night shift sleep, but it may be marginal. It's a better set up than a window unit between the cab and cargo area. If you had a parking garage space perhaps your set up would be spot on? I also see you have to be close to work and the parking garage might not be available. Great job Matty!---VTown Paddy Patrick
You could try adding a baffle system, basically a box open to your other box with the bottom removed, you can add a wall the sound needs to move around
I like your hitch and storage setup. I am thinking about stuff that may not exist. One is a A/C heater combo window unit. Get one small enough that it can be welded to a panel welding. Maybe all electric. A unit that doesn’t output carbon monoxide. Now I know it has to be vented plus you have to have a electrical outlet or source to power it.
I am in Illinois in my house does not have any air-conditioning. I recommend a lot of fans so the air is moving around. And then at night having the fans blow the cooler air in.
Air conditioner needs room for air to circulate. Don't block the vents. Park in truck stops ,everything else is making noise . You have refrigerator trucks running , you have on board air conditioner s running . What about painting roof with the stuff that cools the top .
Just curious if you have an issue with your ac compressor cutting off or cycling? This is what mine was doing if the van stayed sealed up very long. I had to pull more air from outside. It helped a lot. New Subscriber
I was wondering if you have connected the charge system from the generator to your batteries. I use a laptop charger, I have one that’s just under 20 V putting out 120 W. I stripped those wires and connect them directly to a charge controller where the solar panel would connect. The bare wire is the negative wire. The 20 V and 120 W is exactly the same as a regular solar panel.
Matty does the portable AC by the bed ever get down to 74 degrees when it's 99 or 100 outside? Seems like a waste of money spending it on a portable AC, generator and swing hitch which are all expensive items just to get it down to 95 degrees doesn't seem worth it.
Try "The Noggle" from Amazon. I haven't tried it but have seen it on a couple of yt videos. It is a hose that routes your ac from your front vents to the back. Also, you might try a curtain in front of your bed so you are not trying to cool the hot air and what about set your max air fan to suck out the hot air while cooling with ac. Just make sure the ac air isn't blowing in front of the fan. Just some suggestions that I hope you find helpful. Stay cool.
Love your channel bro👍hey I know there expensive but Honda and I think yamaha makes a ultra quiet generator. Any way hope your ac works out for you. Stay safe and stay cool. All hail the might Edward Van Halen. Take care bro🤘🤟👍🤜🤛
have you tried opening a front window with a fan to vent the heat out? My vans ac takes forever to cool the interior down if I dont open the windows for a few minutes of driving... Its been hot and humid here in florida... if I end up idling overnight I count it as 200-300 miles towards the oil change interval, opening the good a couple inches helps on really hot nights so does a wet towel on the radiator every cpl hours or just spray water on the front of the rad...now get OUT of the sun and find some SHADE !!!
Thanks for posting this. I'm in Florida. I did a bunch of tests with setups like this... My honest findings.. Sorry, respect the R&D, but IMO expensive Rube Goldberg with too much noise and points of failure. In my small converted van when I want AC, I just park under a tree and turn my OEM AC to high. I'll do for it up 2 hours at a time and have done it 1000s of times over 6 years with no issues at all. Never overheats and theory that this damages modern engines is false. Even Scotty agrees it's fine. I do it when I need to get some work done in the van, to take a nap after lunch and before I go to bed. It consumes almost no gasoline in my tiny 4 cylinder 2.0L. It also serves to charge up a giant 155ah sealed AGM gel starter/house battery under the hood. my phone and laptop. Otherwise I've got a giant hole in my roof under a giant 20w solar panel with a 12v .5amp fan that pushes a lot of fresh air onto my body. I sleep great at night without AC even when it's 80F outside and where my offgrid land is in Central Florida it's rarely over 80F after midnight. Under lots of shade and I even spray water on the van.
Does your fan exhaust air out or just pull air in? I am wondering, have you tried turning the fan on to exhaust the hot air out for a few minutes when you first turn on the air conditioner?
Use your shovel to hold the reflectix down for now My sportsman 1000watt generator inverter is running my 5000 btu ac fine. My only complaint is it has a small gas tank and I have to get up every 3 hours to fill it up which makes for a sleepless night
My little Honda generator has an adaptation to the gas cap so I can connect it to a 6 gallon boat gas tank, We get like six hours per 1 gallon, but with the 6 gallon tank we get nearly 2 days.
Have you thought about putting something in the windows behind the curtains to insulate? @MoBang FoYoBuck did a video on 5 types of window coverings, the gym mats you can buy that are like puzzle pieces seemed promising.
Hello again, how about putting a blackout curtain in front of your bed so that the AC is only Cool your bedroom Area while sleeping. Hope that helps you.b
That generator is close to where you sleep. I’ve been wanting to do something similar but everyone tells me to be careful with carbon monoxide. Any thoughts on this?
Wow, is that a window ac unit? I heard the portable ac units are not good. Did u ever look into a mini split? I saw a guy put one in his class c. Channel name is GONE BOONDOCKING. An ad I recently saw for a diy mini split said to check it out on the net. I believe they said website was mrcooldiy.com but not sure. Otherwise u have to climb a mountain to higher elevations. Cheers, Mo in NJ
Apparently no one here is going to talk about carbon monoxide poisoning, having a generator this close to a potential air intake on this van is dangerous. Do you not have any open air source deer ran within 20 feet of any generator
I'm surprised nobody in comments suggested that you should insulate the van. You're living in a tiny space already so 3" on all sides won't make it much smaller and won't make you no longer fit into the space. And maybe the floor is ok with 2" and the roof with 2.5" but if you're going to do it might as well put in enough that it works. We got this mentality that we can't give up any inches and every inch is sooo precious. But all we really need is a bed and storage. You might have to rotate your bed and change your storage containers but big deal. You'll have a great bed, just as much storage and a space that's easy to keep warm and cool. Just my opinion of course.
Thank you for showing how it is! I love how honest and real you are. I wonder: would a night in a camping with electricity available cost less than running the generator? I ask because I really have no idea how much any of these things costs. Sorry if it's a stupid question.🌻
those portables create a vacuum in the van which aggressively sucks in hot air from outside. the window units work best. the portables are borderline scam
That type of A/C is the worst performing one. It only operates half effeciency because of the design. It takes some of the cold air inside and blow it to the outside. I have one of that before trying to cool a 600 square feet room. It would run all day!
why do you have such a looud generator? i have a honda 3000 fully encased generator, that I run a sound system on for parades... it is soooo quiet!!! also, great on gas! during hurricans, runs fridge, all lights and fans easily.... +
