Morning all.
Just wondering if anyone has any experience good/bad of portable air con units?
I am not talking about the permanent roof mounted ones (Unless you have a negative story you wish to share)
I am not talking about the evaporation fan units you put ice/cold water in
I am not really talking about the split units you mount either side of the window.
I am talking mainly about the all-in-one units that you then run the warm air hose out of a window/vent.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Yes, I've got one, though think I'm a minority, so you may not get many other replies.
Couldn't justify either the purchase cost for an installed one for an oldish van (7-8 years old) when I considered a/c, or the permanently diminished, already not great payload.
Looked at the 'hang half out the window' types, but decided performance wasn't great for the significant cost, and lugging a heavy lump (still attached by is fixed umbilical) in and out of windows was a PITA.
I bought a compact 9000BTU portable domestic a/c (sold as suitable for caravans) for less than half the price of the 'half in-half out' type, that lives and works at home most of the time, but gets put in the caravan if weather looks to be hot when I go away.
I've got convertible bunk beds/dinette permanently set up, without the cushions, as 'shelves'/storage space' in the van. The a/c gets transported on the lower shelf, which stops it moving around in transit, then placed on the floor opposite the door where it's not an obstruction, the exhaust hose goes out of the roof vent directly above.
Only been used on a couple of trips over past couple of years, but brilliant. A few days where it would have been fairly uncomfortable in the van without, not just the heat, but the sticky/cloying high humidity too.
Few things to consider, I did my homework before buying! Size - will it fit through habitation door, mine only just does? Weight - mines quite light at 27Kg, but it's heavy enough, can you lift into your caravan/MH? Payload - they are hefty lumps, make sure you have the payload capacity! Power - mine draws about 4.8A, unlikely to be a problem in UK with mostly 16A or 10A EHU, but pushing a bit hard (with other devices) on a continental 6A EHU.
They've discontinued the unit I bought, so can't give a link to it.
We had one at home but have since permanently lent it to our son. It was very noisy, far to noisy for me. It worked but that's all I can say about it.
We have a Dandy folding caravan/camper which is really cool in hot weather. It has insulated PVC instead of canvas, actually PVC impregnated polyester, similar to curtain sided lorries.
The roof is white and very shiny so I think the suns heat is simply reflected away and there are very few windows.
If I keep it closed up all day it is like a fridge inside. No AC needed.
Caravans have lots of very big windows including 2 or 3 in the roof. These let in far too much light and masses of heat. They make the inside unbearable in hot weather.
At home, we had new windows fitted a few years ago. I went for Pilkington K glass which lets heat from the sun in when the sun is low but keeps it out when the sun is high. So, warm in winter and cool in summer. Our living room has a large south facing picture window which is why we bought the AC unit. Since having the new windows it is a lot cooler in summer.
I didn't realize how heavy they are ............. we have the payload but not the muscles ;-)
My idea for the unit over a fixed one in the roof was so that it could be used at home as like most people on here that is where we spend most of our life :-(
I think I will probably scrap the idea and just open more windows/seek shade a bit more
Thank you once again for the replies
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Quote: Originally posted by navver on 14/7/2025
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Caravans have lots of very big windows including 2 or 3 in the roof. These let in far too much light and masses of heat. They make the inside unbearable in hot weather.
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Spot on, my van has a long skylight near length of seating area, and a couple of smaller ones, plus quite a lot of large windows. QUICKLY learnt it's wise to pull the reflective sun blinds when the sun is out, otherwise it's a positive greenhouse! The skylights are by far the worse for sun heat, it's rays penetrate from near sunrise to sunset! - with the side windows it's only one side/end at a time as the sun traverses.
My van has shiny white roof and walls, and walls are well insulated for winter use, but can still get uncomfortably toasty on really hot days. Grateful for the a/c then!
We have a really nice portable unit that has been effective in our bedroom and in the caravan, but last summer arriving on our first day to 39 degrees finished it off. It seemed that once over 30 degrees it gave up.
My OH (a few years ago) made up a rig of 4 computer fans to fit on a board that fitted into an open window (allowing for the insect blind to be brought down).
He has now rigged up a tower of 4 computer fans with a pipe leading out of the floor of the caravan. This will suck in the cooler air from underneath the caravan and circulate throughout the caravan.
It's quite a cheap idea, has low noise and is effective.
Hi, just returned from our 9week tour of Europe with our caravan.
we were worried about high temperatures ,and looked into ways of cooling the van.
We considered most options roof mounted, floor mounted. unable to fit on rof due to roof construction,ducting issues,weight,expense for floor mounted.
we settled on a split removable system ( through the window type)
it was a life saver..
very happy with it.
It wasn't noisy in our experience. We chose the lighter 18kg unit,we had experience of a heavier 24kg unit.. Our Dutch neighbours. Our unit was able to give us comfortable temperatures. Our van has mid bathroom, so we closed th doors to I decrease the are it needed to cool, The heavier 24kgs cooled the entire van.
It's Brunner..
As it needs to be ,lifted,man handled a bit,well and I help guide it,rather than lifting.plus we put it on a camping table under the outside window to limit .moving it. So a two person operation.
We’ve got a large 25 kg Black and Decker unit, bought for the house but also with our trip to France in mind. It is bulky and we carried it in our car. It was used when we got to Bordeaux and cooled the van. We had the vent out if the front window and covered over to stop any blow back.
Not perfect but when the temps went up it was pure bliss.
Obviously you have to keep an eye on the electrical side. Switch off for kettle etc. we had issues with the fridge. I think that was the campsite electrics struggling as it kept trying to switch to gas.
Worth every penny
We were away for 28 days and used it only 9 days.
Hi,
My ingenious husband created a panel that fits across an open window. It is made with four old computer fans and is rigged into the electrics. The window mesh and the foil blind comes down to fit snuggly. We run it at night with the option of 2 or 4 fans running. It blows cool air across us all night and is quite quiet.
We did then get a larger portable ac unit for our house and thought we could use it in the caravan. Well it gave up at 30 degrees.
This year we knew it was going to be ultra-hot so we put our heads together and decided to use the floor vent hole to rig up a small tower of fans about a foot high to fit in a recess. This ran during the day sucking cool air from under the caravan and circulating it round the caravan. On the outside we used the skirt rails on both side to hang awning skirts and this kept hot air out of the area under the caravan.
These both work on a really low ampage and were very cheap to make; and we love how cool they keep us.
Both of these set up's really worked
Just back from a 25 day two centre holiday (Derbyshire and the Lake District) in my caravan, and have to say my portable domestic A/C (as in home, NOT the 'Dometic' brand!) was a much appreciated bit of 'baggage'! In two minds whether to take it or not (that's one of the benefits of a portable A/C, you don't have the payload penalty when you don't need it!), but erred on side of forecast that was for 'toasty' temps, and a wise choice with hindsight. The custom fit 'adaptor' I made to vent the exhaust hose out of the roof vent worked brilliantly, stopped the 'blowback' of vented warm air coming back into the van a treat.
Temperatures got up to high 20's many days, but it was the accompanying frequent 85-90% plus humidity that does for me, I just can't stand it, but the A/C drags it way down to tolerable levels. Had nice comfy temps and humidity in the van during the daytime when I was in it, but the greatest appreciation was evenings and overnight when the humidity really peaked, some nights the temp remained in low 20's, so not inherently comfortable sleeping conditions for most, and certainly not me. My dog is also getting old (11 years) and seemingly more uncomfortable with high temps and humidity than she used to be, and it's quite tangibly obvious that she is more settled and sleeping better when the A/C is on in the van.
Now you WON'T be altering the humidity levels with all the ordinary fans in the world blowing air around you, and the evaporative 'coolers' actually make it worse! The higher the humidity level, the less effective fans become at cooling you, as they require evaporation of sweat from your skin to provide the cooling, and that doesn't happen as atmospheric humidity nears saturation point (100%). With a proper A/C the refrigeration unit condenses the moisture out of the air it blows into the room, so actively lowers humidity to comfortable levels.
20 odd years ago, I would have poo-poo'd the notion of needing A/C in UK domestic situations, but now, I'm a firm believer in it's worth. That may be a combination of climate change and old age on my part reducing my resilience to 'uncomfortable' temps, but A/C's are here to stay in my world.
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Topic: Has anyone experience of PORTABLE air con
via mobile 07/8/2025 at 8:59pm
