It’s hot, hot, hot, in Texas and across the country right now. Usually we get a period of transition here in Texas before the triple digit stuff, but not this year. We pretty much dove right into it. As a result, energy providers here were warning folks to dial back on their power usage. We have had a number of blips in the power coming to the house – nothing major as of yet.

Camping in these conditions presents certain difficulties. The first is just being able to keep your travel trailer cool. Keep in mind that the best you can expect (usually) is about a 20 degree drop from outside air temperature. So if it is 100 degrees outside not only is it going to take a long time to cool the trailer but you had better be happy at 80 degrees inside. Personally if it’s 100 degrees outside, 80 is probably going to be pretty cool when you come in.

UV Tint being applied to the Travel Trailer Windows

There are other things you can do to maximize the temperature inside your travel trailer:

  1. Limit the amount of in and out activity. The more the entry door opens the more heat comes into the trailer.
  2. Park in a shady spot if at all possible in order to limit the amount of direct sunlight on the RV.
  3. There are insulation products available to put on windows and vents to reduce the outside heat coming into the trailer. We had a UV tint product put on all of our trailers windows; it greatly reduces the amount of heat coming into the trailer. At the very least you will want to have your window blinds closed.
  4. Of course a second air conditioner on larger trailers is a benefit. Regardless of how many units you have, you need to keep them clean to help with their efficiency. Inspect and regularly clean the AC filters.
  5. Use a portable fan to move the air inside the trailer.
  6. Do all your cooking outside the trailer.

These items will help you control the travel trailers internal temperature. HOWEVER, if power at the campground or a mechanical failure should occur, the temperature in the travel trailer will increase quickly.

The reason I bring up power outages is because they are a very real possibility in this heat. Whether it is bad campground infrastructure, rolling brownouts, or a travel trailer mechanical (AC) breakdown; power outages happen.

You might think that the temperature in the trailer won’t increase quickly but that would be incorrect. Studies show that a travel trailer will get dangerously hot in one to two hours. If you are gone and you have left a pet in the trailer, it can, and will be a deadly situation for them. This is why I recommend that everyone who travels with a pet get some sort of power and temperature monitoring device.

There are a number of different units on the market, we chose the MarCELL unit. Quite frankly we love the MarCELL unit and can offer you a $20.00 discount at checkout using the code TTN20 (at www.meetmarcell.com). However, regardless of whether it is a MarCELL unit or another brand, for the sake of your family pet, please get a monitoring system. Your floor children will thank you!

Eva and our portable fan.

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