Tenting fans--how do you take the heat

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Hubby surprised us with a tent trip next week to FW--we are only staying a couple of days...he invested in some portable AC contraption that goes on top of a cooler filled with ice so that he won't be sweaty :hyper:

My question is -- how do you other tent campers cope with the heat. I've lived in Florida since 1992--and I cope at home with an AC, and our new addition of a swimming pool.

Don't get me wrong, I love tenting--just don't do it often enough.

How do you make the best of things?

[Memph1s]

The only way I have found to cope with tent camping down here in the summer is an 110 volt A/C and an old style cabin tent. The new tents with the screen roofs and rain fly are so well vented its hard for the A/C to do anything at all. You must set your tent up in shade or put a canopy over it for shade. We have box fans for outside and use water misters and always have a shower set up for a quick cool down. I have camped by many people in tents with no a/c or even a fan. I swear I have no idea how they take it. I have lived in the South and worked out in the heat all my life but I have to have it cool to get a good nights sleep. Now with the Pop up and 13500 Btu A/C I can sleep in a meat locker under the covers.

[clkelley]

I just use a fan in the tent at Ft. Wilderness. I have one of the very well ventilated tents. I only tent camp in the winter at Ft. Wilderness

For our Scout camping with no electricity, we try and go to places up in the mountains during the summer where the breezes are blowing nicely and it gets cooler in the evening.

Carol

[BoardwalkBabe]

We camped last August at FW and while the day temps were a bit brutal, things cooled off a bit at night because of the late afternoon showers. We had a fan in our tent and it worked out fine for us. You definitely want to have some kind of ventilation and keep the air moving inside the tent.

[Mikelly1221]

Did your DH get a Kooleraire? I saw that on the internet and was wondering how well it worked. I want to tent camp, but with DS involved now in sports on the weekends in fall, winter, & spring, more and more it's looking like summer is the only time. Will you let us know how well the air conditioner thing worked? Thanks!

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Will do, Mikelly1221!

We just got the box today--yes I believe we got the Kooleraire.
I will let you know how it turns out!

We will only have a one-room tent.

Just told hubby that the ice machines cost money at FW...he wasn't happy about that until I explained that since we are not staying at a hotel, they aren't exactly providing ice buckets :) And pretty much all ice is used for is to fill a cooler. So of course they will charge us to freeze water :)

[Lisa loves Pooh]

We are testing the kooleraire in our office right now--it is giving me the chills at the moment and I am borderline cold--but we are in an AC'd house right now...hopefully it proves reliable on site..we'll just have to wait a couple of nights to see.

[LMC]

Do they really charge for ice at FW? I saw an ice machine outside the cs but I just figured that you put your cooler under it to get FREE ice just like at a hotel.

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I thought they did in the past--maybe I'm mistaken...I think at one time I wanted to get ice--got there and had no quarters. Perhaps they don't anymore.

[Memph1s]

They DO charge for ice and have for years and years. It is $2 a bag and is only 32 deg (not like what you get out of your home freezer) so it does not last long. The machines do dispense a generous amount normally overflowing the bag they provide so bring your own large bag to catch it all.

[Mikelly1221]

Thanks Lisa! :D

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Good news and bad news though---

The good news--I enjoyed the weather temp wise--it did get hot--but we were in 1500, just a hop skip and a jump from the Meadow Pool.

Hubby HATES the heat--why he planned this--I don't know--but he got hot and sweaty and just doens't cope well with that.

Anyway--he insisted on trying the kooleraire right away. Cool air does blow out of it--we used the frozen bottles method.

BUT....We did not know the sides of our tent and screens for walls--or at least have of the wall. Privacy was maintained with the rain fly that covered the entire tent. Since we couldn't zip the walls closed--cannot honestly report that the kooleraire gave any benefit at all. Also--it got into the 60s at night--for us Floridians--that was chilly--so we didn't really need the kooleraire at night.

It was an enjoyable couple of days--just not sure if my husband is ready for the "big time" in the tent camping world :hyper:

[Mikelly1221]

Again..thanks Lisa! :teeth:

[CarolynNC]

We tent camped for two weeks in August 2000. We have a large, newer 3 room tent with the vented top and rain fly. I took a small room air conditioner and it kept the tent cold (not cool). We put a tarp over the top to help keep in the cool air. Our tent is a cabin tent with 2 doors on each short side. We put the a/c in the side which has our large 'living' room and used the other 3 doors for entrance & exits. We also turned a large screen room over the end making a t shape. We kept our dorm refrigerator, microwave, and toaster in the screen room on a camping table. We also had room to string a laundry line for hanging up towels and bathing suits. Add in a rug in the living area, chairs, tv, cots and aero beds (with Disney bedding) and we had our own little suite. It was one of our most enjoyable trips. We usually fly but I'm considering driving down next summer for another camping trip.

We tent camp at the beach (in NC) so we already had the equipment. Our dog is bothered by heat so we use this set up whenever we go. Camping is cheaper than hotel rooms so we can make longer trips and go more often.

Carolyn

[campingcorgi]

CarolynNC--what a setup! It sounds like fun!

[auntie]

Sounds like your husband is ready for the Pop up with A/C...would probably make life a little easier and happier all the way around! Cooler for him...happier for you!

[unctigger]

were in your tent...just you and DH or others in your party?

My DH keeps trying to get me to try tent camping...says we can bring an AC, cots, TV, etc, but I've resisted. He and the kids did it once...we have all the stuff, large tent though I'm not sure it is as large as your's sounds.

I love FW, but we sold our camper a few years back because we never seemed to be able to get everyone's schedule together..school, sports,work.

Donna

[stevenpensacola]

Was the AC unit physically located outside of the tent, except for the vents?

[Memph1s]

We set the A/C in one of the doorways or even better if your tent has the small side access doors for storage you can put it there. We just set the A/C on a small plastic crate with the front of the a/c inside the tent and the back of the A/C outside just like you would a window unit at home. Then zip the door closed on the side of the A/C. You need to be sure the A/C has a slight slope lower on the outside than in the tent so the water will flow out the back of the unit and not into the tent.

[stevenpensacola]

just thinking about this makes me sleepy.....

laying there listening to the "hum" of the a/c, while it's pumping its little heart out filling the tent with cold air.:faint:

[Tigger1]

DH set up a Air conditioner n out tent window. We used boxes and duck tape to make duck work. The first night I froze. I did not care for it at all. The second night it did not work as well and I could sleep. I did not feel it was worth taking the pace in the van. We were packed tight. DH enjoyed it though.

The children had no air and just a small fan. Some of them slept in the screen tent the second night so that they could get better air flow. Next year I will buy them a tent sized fan. It the AC can take car space so can their fan.

[DisneyRo]

We tent camped at FW one July. It was miserable. FW is beautiful, but it was much to hot to sleep in a tent at that time of year. We got so little rest, we were exhausted for the parks. Thought we were saving money, but we were all hot, tired and crabby for the entire trip. The next trip was to AKL. Much better!

[jnke1]

We drive from missouri to florida every year and to me the hotter the weather the happier I am lol my family does not like it as hot as I do. Three years ago while driving to california my husband came up with something that I had seen people do but had forgotten (we had no air conditioning in the car and because of the hot temps. the portable fan didnt do much good), he soaked a small hand towel, rung it out and laid it over his head..the girls did the same thing. There was no more complaining about the long drive or hot temperatures and they have continued that routine every year on our way to florida. As for our tent we keep a small fan in the tent and bring baby powder (it helps to cool you off at night when you sprinkle it on your bed before you lay down. It also helps if you sweat at night because of the warm temp. The worst part for us was when you first wake up in the morning as we ALWAYS seem to wind up with our tent in the sunniest part of the campground :crazy: