# Tent ac



## justjohn

Anyone use an ac unit in a tent? Do you have to put a drain line?


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## Fishtexx

I have tried it and found it to be a waste of time. A small fan works pretty well, and I use a top and bottom sheet on the top of my sleeping bag when it is hot outside.


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## Orion85

I have friends that use window units zipped up in the door. It all depends on your tent design really and the size of the ac unit.


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## scotccrn

Used my window unit through a zippered hole in the side of my tent and sealed up gaps with duct tape. I elevated the unit off the ground by about 2 inches using a platform that you would put your potted plants on your deck. Did not use a drain line. Worked out great. My father made fun of me at first saying I was not roughing it much. However, guess who was caught taking a nap in my tent? Wife would not have gone camping unless without the A/C.


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## huntnetime

I've done it before just zippering it up in one of the doors on my tent and using duct tape to seal it off. Raised it off the ground a few inches using scrap 2x4s and tilted it back so that no water ran into the tent. Worked pretty well. It was REALLY NICE at night when it was warm, muggy, and still. Even with just a fan, I have a real hard time being comfortable sleeping on a sleeping bag on the floor of a tent with those kinds of conditions. During the day, it basically made the tent just tolerable enough for an afternoon nap.


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## driftwood2

What type of fan, 110v 12v, battery? What are some good ones?


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## sweenyite

I've seen people do it. As mentioned, get it up off the ground a few inches. It's probably going to work better if you don't have the removable rain fly type. A one piece tent would probably get a little cooler.


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## mas360

First try installing a/c at the door. It is no good unless we get in and not get out but once in a good long while.










Second try. I cut a hole in tent wall and sew a cloth window into it. It works great. You need to look for a tent without the open screen top, that would make it nicer. I have a screen top, which I covers up with several huge towels.










How it looks inside









For a six-man tent, this 4,000 btu unit provides nice cool tent during the day if it is kept under shade. At night, it is a tad too cold and we have to get inside sleeping bags to be able to sleep.

After all this work, I ended up buying a full up camper.....


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## iridered2003

been there, done that at 65% all night in the middle of july.


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## mas360

mas360 said:


> First try installing a/c at the door. It is no good unless we get in and not get out but once in a good long while.
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> Second try. I cut a hole in tent wall and sew a cloth window into it. It works great. You need to look for a tent without the open screen top, that would make it nicer. I have a screen top, which I covers up with several huge towels.
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> How it looks inside
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> For a six-man tent, this 4,000 btu unit provides nice cool tent during the day if it is kept under shade. At night, it is a tad too cold and we have to get inside sleeping bags to be able to sleep.
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> After all this work, I ended up buying a full up camper.....


Sorry, I accidentally deleted the pictures. 
Here they are.


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## wisslbritches

This thread is useful for the fireworks stand managers


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## poppadawg

Im suprised nobody makes an AC tent


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## sixshootertexan

Have you looked at the portable units?

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZc4m4/h_d2/Navigation?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051


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## Slip

I have a portable ac for the house in emergencies and should work great for a tent other than likely oversized and won't run long enough. But can run on low to help. Mine is. 12,000 btu. Still would keep you cool in a tent and much smaller exhaust to deal with compared to a window unit to try to rig in a tent. I kept mine as a backup for the RV also during very hot times, but my ac in RV keeps up fine, so will not continue to carry with me any more.


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## pshay4

When my son was in high school, we took 4 or 5 of his friends with us to Goose Island during the summer. There was not room in our travel trailer, so we took a tent and small window ac. The older style tent had zip-out windows that could be used as doors, so we did. We zipped the door around the ac and duct taped it up. The tent was sealed well and did not have the mesh ceiling that so many have nowdays. The ac inflated it and the metal poles fell off. It was erected in the shade and was quite comfortable. Downright cold at night and condensation running off of it during the day. Definitely a hit with the guys!


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## Brian10

I have a tent with a pet door that fits my AC perfectly. I elevate it with a couple of bricks I bring. The tent doesn't retain the cool air, but it does help when it's really hot out.


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## saltbranch

Our tent had 2 doors, I put the 5000 btu ac unit on a stool, zip door as much as I could and fill in gap with foam I had cut. Kept the tent tolerable during the day and cold enough at night I had to turn it down, this was in August @ New Braunfels. We made a lot of camping trips in the summer time, that we normally would not have done.


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## iridered2003

sleep naked:ac550::ac550::ac550:


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## Baconeer

How do you power it ? Generator or powered campsite ? What generator for what AC unit ? Thanks.


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## iridered2003

Baconeer said:


> How do you power it ? Generator or powered campsite ? What generator for what AC unit ? Thanks.


you dont need much for 500btu's. we used a 2500 watt gen


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## mas360

A 5,000 BTU unit draws 3.5 amps in steady state and 8 amps during the first ten seconds long in rush period. You may even get by with a 1,000 watt gen if you have a soft start kit installed in the a/c.


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## saltbranch

We always rented a camp site with electricity. I dont think the primitive sites without elect. allow generators?? The Honda 2k should do the trick though.


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## iridered2003

saltbranch said:


> We always rented a camp site with electricity. I dont think the primitive sites without elect. allow generators?? The Honda 2k should do the trick though.


most dont, but those that do have a quit time of 10pm to 7am


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## mikeloveslife

summertime is not the time to camp in texas. i camp here in texas between november-early march


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## mas360

Frio river, Garner state park is best during summer months, especially if you have young kids, due to the cold spring-fed water. You cannot swim in it the rest of the year.


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## ATX 4x4

http://www.acboot.com/

Just did a quick search and found the above link. Rather pricey and no experience with their stuff. There are numerous links to companies that sell tents with ac ports etc.

Could always find an upholsterer to do it. We set ours up just like iridered pictured. We only use campsites with electric and its the only way I'll tent camp now. The smaller the tent the better and as mentioned, preferably one without the rain fly option.


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## Part Timer

ATX 4x4 said:


> http://www.acboot.com/
> 
> Just did a quick search and found the above link. Rather pricey and no experience with their stuff. There are numerous links to companies that sell tents with ac ports etc.
> 
> Could always find an upholsterer to do it. We set ours up just like iridered pictured. We only use campsites with electric and its the only way I'll tent camp now. The smaller the tent the better and as mentioned, preferably one without the rain fly option.


A buddy of mine bought this product. He said it was simple to do and worked great.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2


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## Twitch-Twitch-Boom

A few years back on July 4th weekend we decided last minute to go float the Guadalupe. We stayed at a packed campground full of tents and campers but it did have electricity. I had a 6 person tent and an older 8,000 BTU(I believe) A/C unit. My other buddies had their small tent as well. All my buddies were laughing and saying that won't work. You talk about envy, when my buddies who didn't have a/c in their tent and mine was ice cold. They Wern't laughing then, lol.

I put that A/C unit on top of a small cooler, opened the front zipper and then closed the zipper as much as I could. I only had about a 8" hole and then I used duct tape and taped a towel to cover the gap. 

At 5pm July 4th after floating the river there was no better feeling than going in to that tent which was easily 64 degrees. It was COLDDDD. It was super easy to do and I have done it multiple times since. Just make sure u stay at a place with electricity. Many campsites do not allow generators.

A/C also acts as a very useful resource during hurricane season in the event you lose power. 

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2


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## Bob Keyes

*Yall sure doin' it the hard way*

Just leave the Yeti open you could ski by morning in the tent:bounce:


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## jjordan

Here's a cheaper idea that works pretty well. 54 qt igloo, small 5-6 " diameter fan, a few pieces of 5" duct pieces. Cut a hole on one side of lid the fan sits in. Cut hole on other side of lid for duct work to stick out of. At night fill cooler full of ice, turn fan on. The fan blows air into cooler, the air blowing onto ice cools and comes out the duct work. Works pretty good. Camping in July and the tent will be 15 degrees cooler than outside.you can get a visual of the idea on you tube. Search homemade a/c


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## iridered2003

jjordan said:


> Here's a cheaper idea that works pretty well. 54 qt igloo, small 5-6 " diameter fan, a few pieces of 5" duct pieces. Cut a hole on one side of lid the fan sits in. Cut hole on other side of lid for duct work to stick out of. At night fill cooler full of ice, turn fan on. The fan blows air into cooler, the air blowing onto ice cools and comes out the duct work. Works pretty good. Camping in July and the tent will be 15 degrees cooler than outside.you can get a visual of the idea on you tube. Search homemade a/c


wonder how long it will last????? all night? 3 or 4 hours? I like that.


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## jjordan

Bags of ice in a 54qt igloo in 90degree weather last 3-4 hrs. Frozen 2liters with a few bags of ice in same weather will last 7-8 hrs


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## madbayrunner

a/c for a tent? maybe don't go camping. JHC
summer may not be your thing


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## printman

There is nothing wrong with tent with a/c. Just makes it nice at night when you lay down. You can pack like this and go camp in comfort.


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## printman

Back before campers and motorhomes I used to go all summer with tent a/c. I had a great night sleep bundled up in summer heat.


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## huntnetime

Just saw this on youtube...pretty neat idea...


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## iridered2003

printman,NICE! 2's better then one any day of the week


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## Jamessims

Just fill up a few 5 gallon buckets and freeze a couple and boom good to go

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## sea hunt 202

heck yeah keeps those smells down


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## ninner

We went down that road before buying an RV, the setup that worked the best was a 12k btu portable ac with a drain line run far away from the tent, the air in the tent doesn't dry out very well and the ac unit puts off several gallons of water. One night before switching to the hose drain we woke up with a tent full of ice cold water. Also you need to seal the exhaust line and cover the roof vents if your tent has them. A 12k unit can freeze your *** off in a fairly large tent.


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## peckerwood

I wonder what our friends up north think of this thread?


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## sea hunt 202

who cares what they thing


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## Fearless

mas360 said:


> Sorry, I accidentally deleted the pictures.
> Here they are.
> 
> LOL!


LOL, now that's funny. Anyone that goes camping in Texas in the summer needs help.


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## peckerwood

There's been many nights trying to sleep in a tent on Red River when it's still 95 degrees at midnight that I would've paid real big money to get in that tent.The sound of it running and 60 degrees after drinking beer all day and burning up fishing,I'd go into a coma.


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## Chasinit69

peckerwood said:


> There's been many nights trying to sleep in a tent on Red River when it's still 95 degrees at midnight that I would've paid real big money to get in that tent.The sound of it running and 60 degrees after drinking beer all day and burning up fishing,I'd go into a coma.


 X2


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## mikeloveslife

if you need ac in your tent , you're camping during the wrong season..


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## iridered2003

mikeloveslife said:


> if you need ac in your tent , you're camping during the wrong season..


yep, that's about right. I love camping this time of the year, its to nice out there right now


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