# Tent Air Conditioner



## SWAMPFOX

I plan to do some camping with my grandkids but it's gonna have to be late July/August and in Florida due to their schedules. So I'm thinking that for their comfort and mine to get a tent air conditioner. 

I will be using an 9'x12' outfitter canvas wall tent. 

Anyone here got a suggestion about a tent AC...good 'un, bad 'un...indifferent?

Thanks.


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## Miguel Cervantes

I have thought about the DIY ones for summer tent camping. Here's a simple one, and a more complex one.


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## ryanh487

This ought to do the job: https://www.amazon.com/Global-Air-G...-2&keywords=5000+btu+portable+air+conditioner

I know it would be worth it for me.  Can't sleep worth anything in 70+ degrees, I like it cold or I'm tossing and turning all night. that's why I camp in the mountains by moving water.


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## CAnderson

Tried the DIY route before. It worked, but created an indoor rainfall from the condensation on the inside of the tent walls. Just something to consider.


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## Miguel Cervantes

CAnderson said:


> Tried the DIY route before. It worked, but created an indoor rainfall from the condensation on the inside of the tent walls. Just something to consider.



Hmmm, that's not good.


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## Miguel Cervantes

ryanh487 said:


> This ought to do the job: https://www.amazon.com/Global-Air-G...-2&keywords=5000+btu+portable+air+conditioner
> 
> I know it would be worth it for me.  Can't sleep worth anything in 70+ degrees, I like it cold or I'm tossing and turning all night. that's why I camp in the mountains by moving water.



Home Depot also carries those and if you have an e-port on your tent you could make good use of one in a larger tent. 

This is the smallest one I found on their site. 

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Haier-8-000-BTU-Portable-Air-Conditioner-HPB08XCM/300013684


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## 660griz

Just got back from a camping trip in Florida. Young couple next to us was tent camping. They had a window A/C unit and they said it worked great. Just remember to not put the entire unit inside.


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## 95g atl

2nd on the window A/C.  There are many YouTube videos of how it is done properly.  And you can get a window A/C unit for just over a $100 at most box stores on sale.


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## T-N-T

I have friends who will camp with us in a few weeks who use a $100 window unit in the side of their tent.  
Places on a big plastic tub that they use to transport their gear.  Bungee cord wrapped around the unit to hold the fabric in place.

They tell me that blankets are NEEDED whit this setup in summer.


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## T-N-T

Also on a side note.
Last year the first night with the windw unit setup, they closed the tent up tight.  It did "ok"  but the tent was pressurized due to water tight fabric.

The second night, they opened a zipper on the window and left the bug net closed.  This dramatically improved the cooling


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## NCHillbilly

.........


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## 3ringer

Just a note, some Campgrounds frown on this. A Buddy did this down at West Point lake. A ranger came by and made him take it down. Maybe you should turn the tent so the ac can't be seen from the road just in case. Sometimes it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Other options is to rent a RV. Some campgrounds have Yurts I believe they are called. They are souped up teepees . At Fort Desoto in Florida, a rental company will set you up a tent on stilts with a ac. I found a nice popup with ac on FB for 800 bucks. I sold it for 2700. Good deals come along sometime.


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## 3ringer

Here you go


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## 95g atl

your other option is to get a PORTABLE A/C and run the vent tube out the window or front.  they cannot be seen from the outside.
However, they do cost a bit more.  Around $300 give or take.


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## boatbuilder

It won't help the kids but you can fill a cooler full of cold adult beverages and if you drink enough cold adult beverages you won't need an ac.

If you can find a campsite on the water with a breeze it will be comfortable at night.

The kids will be fine. Camping in the heat builds character.


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## 660griz

boatbuilder said:


> Camping in the heat builds character.



I must have a ton. 

The house where I grew up in Dublin, GA, didn't have A/C. Camping provided a little relief.


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## DEERFU

660griz said:


> Just got back from a camping trip in Florida. Young couple next to us was tent camping. They had a window A/C unit and they said it worked great. Just remember to not put the entire unit inside.



Done this many times in the Florida heat. Tilt it away from the tent so it will drain and zip the door up around it. Works like a charm. I built a small stand out of 2x4's to sit it on and the tilt was built it. Happy Camping when you can sleep comfy


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## jeardley

I tried a portable A/C as linked above for the first time camping in FL about a 1-1/2 months ago and it was a game changer for us. Got down to 64 at night in a 12 man tent (The canvas should do better). If you site doesn't have any/much shade I would suggest stringing a tarp above the tent or maybe a portable canopy. For us when the sun was bearing down the A/C struggled to keep it cool. Still knocked the edge off but it probably would've made a big difference. We never really spent time in the tent during the day, but the kids may want a nap after wearing themselves out.


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## red neck richie

SWAMPFOX said:


> I plan to do some camping with my grandkids but it's gonna have to be late July/August and in Florida due to their schedules. So I'm thinking that for their comfort and mine to get a tent air conditioner.
> 
> I will be using an 9'x12' outfitter canvas wall tent.
> 
> Anyone here got a suggestion about a tent AC...good 'un, bad 'un...indifferent?
> 
> Thanks.




Don't go camping stay at a hotel would be my first suggestion. If you decide to camp and get hot jump in a lake or pond or creek or river or ocean camp near water. No offense but yall sound like a bunch of yuppie city slickers. Pitch your tent under some shade trees.


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## T-N-T

red neck richie said:


> Don't go camping stay at a hotel would be my first suggestion. If you decide to camp and get hot jump in a lake or pond or creek or river or ocean camp near water. No offense but yall sound like a bunch of yuppie city slickers. Pitch your tent under some shade trees.



Thanks for the helpful feedback.

Welcome to the thread.  Glad to have you.


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## red neck richie

T-N-T said:


> Thanks for the helpful feedback.
> 
> Welcome to the thread.  Glad to have you.



Just giving swamp fox a hard time. I guess I'm old school. An air condition in a tent just sounds crazy to me. Part of the camping experience is roughing it. If you want all the modern convenience of home why not just stay in a hotel. Just my 2 cents.


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## Capt Quirk

red neck richie said:


> Just giving swamp fox a hard time. I guess I'm old school. An air condition in a tent just sounds crazy to me. Part of the camping experience is roughing it. If you want all the modern convenience of home why not just stay in a hotel. Just my 2 cents.


We don't even have a/c in our cabin, a stay in a hotel is a special treat


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## T-N-T

It's close to 100 degrees in FL right now.  Well up into the 70s at night in places.  Humidity in 90th percent range.  

If I were stuck camping in a tent I'd go buy an AC too.


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## Nicodemus

red neck richie said:


> Just giving swamp fox a hard time. I guess I'm old school. An air condition in a tent just sounds crazy to me. Part of the camping experience is roughing it. If you want all the modern convenience of home why not just stay in a hotel. Just my 2 cents.




You`re giving a respected elder of this forum a hard time, in his own thread, when he is simply asking for advice. A Gentleman who is old enough to be your Grandfather. 

A word of advice from me. Lay off.


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## Jeff C.

Nicodemus said:


> You`re giving a respected elder of this forum a hard time, in his own thread, when he is simply asking for advice. A Gentleman who is old enough to be your Grandfather.
> 
> A word of advice from me. Lay off.



X10


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## Dirtroad Johnson

Nicodemus said:


> You`re giving a respected elder of this forum a hard time, in his own thread, when he is simply asking for advice. A Gentleman who is old enough to be your Grandfather.
> 
> A word of advice from me. Lay off.


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## Mako22

Id just invest in a pop up camper with AC or install a window unit in a pop up that comes without one.


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## Huntinfool

That's what I would do.  Go rent a pop up.  It's not terribly expensive to do and will make your life a whole lot easier than trying to rig up an air conditioner in a tent.


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## redneck_billcollector

red neck richie said:


> Don't go camping stay at a hotel would be my first suggestion. If you decide to camp and get hot jump in a lake or pond or creek or river or ocean camp near water. No offense but yall sound like a bunch of yuppie city slickers. Pitch your tent under some shade trees.



In my 56 years on this big blue marble I have primitive camped from the costal jungles of Panama (on Uncle Sam's dime) to the tundra of Alaska (my dime) and most interesting places in between.  There is not a thing wrong in the world with wanting to be comfortable while in camp.  When I was in my 20s the heat and humidity of the summer time Everglades was no big deal....but now, South GA can be uncomfortable during the summer.  I am looking for both a decent camp air conditioner and heater myself.  Summer after next I am taking three or four months off of work and driving to the Brooks range in Alaska and plan on camping pretty much the whole trip. I intend to take the North American Trail to Oregon and then back up to Montana to head to the Alcan....exploring and fly fishing along the way.  I want to see North America one more time in its entirety before I am too old.  So any answer to the original post would be helpful.


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## BDD

I bought one of the standalone units for my garage, it’s the kind with a 4 inch exhaust hose that mounts in the window
And the unit sits in the garage.  It’s about the size of a large cooler and I can lift it myself.  Just ran the exhaust out the tent door,
Also very quiet.  $200 -$300 ,  8K – 12K BTU

 I used it in a tent one time and it worked great but everything in the tent was damp from the condensation.  When the 
Cool air inside and the hot air outside meet on the tent roof, you have your own little weather system.


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## specialk

when my son was young we always used a window box fan sitting on a milk crate....it moved enuff air around to keep us cool....


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## walters

*A/c*

When we was camping at the beach last year we seen alot of tents with window units in them, seen some neat setups with them too, one fellow riders him up 2 flex ducks off his window unit, he had central air


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## Artfuldodger

boatbuilder said:


> It won't help the kids but you can fill a cooler full of cold adult beverages and if you drink enough cold adult beverages you won't need an ac.
> 
> If you can find a campsite on the water with a breeze it will be comfortable at night.
> 
> The kids will be fine. Camping in the heat builds character.



With that method you don't even need any insect repellent. You can sleep on a cot outside. 

I don't think one of those DIY evaporation coolers would work in Florida or Georgia humidity. They work good in Arizona. We had a window unit in our pop-up. It was a 5,000 btu unit. I think an a/c in a wall tent would work great. 
I can see where a smaller nylon tent may condense more than a canvas tent. Nylon tents are bad about condensation anyway. So a window cracked open would help with condensation and pressurization. 

X2 on a tarp over a tent if one is trying to keep it cool with an a/c in the daytime. Our a/c in the pop-up didn't quite cut the mustard in the middle of the day. We did try to park in the shade but that's not always an option. 

The only thing about a tarp over a tent would be to get it high enough to allow ventilation to prevent condensation.

Just leave the tent by 8 AM and nap later in a hammock.


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## Artfuldodger

About camping on the water. I've noticed the lower campsites have a better breeze than the higher sites. I often thought that if I camped on a higher bluff  or out on a point, I'd get a better breeze. 
That might depend on the time of year but in the middle of summer, the lower your elevation to the water, the more breeze you'll have.

Also if you have to choose, afternoon shade is better in the summer. Especially if are camping on a sandbar. You might get run out of your tent early but you'll be thankful of the shade while preparing supper.


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## Hit-n-Miss

I built my own swamp cooler out of an IGLOO cube cooler. Took piece of 1" thick house wrap foam board and cut it to fit on the lip recessed in the top of the cooler. I mounted a 5" Electronics cooling 12v fan pushing air into the cooler and 2 pc's of 3" pvc pipes for outflow with elbows slipped on them for directional control. Fill the cooler with frozen milk jugs of water. Will cool and run for days off a car battery.


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