Keeping Cool on a Warm Night a.k.a Steps to installing an A/C in the back of a truck

As I have mentioned often in recent posts, leaving the cool mountains to come to the hot and humid plains of Kansas has been quite a shock to my system.  Something had to be done!  Living out of the back of our truck in 109 degrees F heat (42 degrees C for our readers outside of the USA)  can be, to say the least, a little uncomfortable.  Necessity is the mother of invention and we definitely needed to cool things down.  Today's blog will show step by step how we installed an air conditioner in the back of our truck.

The first thing I needed to do was figure out what materials I would need to even be able to start this project.  I started by purchasing a tarp for about $5, five Velcro strips for about the same price, a heavy duty extension cord that could handle the amp load of an A/C which costs about $20, and a 5,000 BTU window unit air conditioner for about $100.

Next, I took the measurements of the A/C unit and cut the tarp near the lower right hand side of it.  (I did leave a little bit of tarp in the extreme lower right hand corner to fill the gap created by the accordion side panel).  Then we placed two Velcro pieces on the top of the A/C (and the corresponding places on the tarp) to help tighten the tarp above the vent that blows the cold air.

All that was left was to able to make sure that the top of the tarp is gap free.  We used bungee cords stretched from the handle on the back window, across the top corners of the tarp, and then down to the tire wells.  At highest part of the tarp we have a couple of pieces of duct tape that we can attach to the top of the window which in turn helps keep the cold air from escaping through the any openings created above.  I should mention that I place the front part of A/C on a piece of a board to keep front part of it slightly higher than the back.  Also, the accordion side panels are centered between the bed of the truck and the tailgate.  All that is needed now is to plug it in and enjoy the cold air!  Life is good!  Happy cool trails to all!

How to Stay Cool on the Hot Summer Plains?

As we drove out of the cool dry mountains a couple of days ago, one of the first things that we noticed was IT WAS HOT!!!  We truly had been spoiled by our time in the mountains.  We want to continue our boondocking ways but it has proven to be a more formidable task than I had anticipated.  In fact, the title of this blog is more of a question than a statement.   I would love to hear comments from people that live without an air conditioner in hot humid places, and what they do to stay cool.    However, I will share with you a plan that I have to solve this dilemma. I actually got the idea online from looking at how tent campers stay cool using an air conditioner. 

First of all, I must say that I will not be able to boondock using this strategy.  It will require that I be hooked into at least a 15 amp socket.  The reason is that I have purchased a 5000 BTU air conditioner that I plan to set up in the back of my truck.  This will require a lot more wattage than my solar generator can produced.  However, by looking at my favorite low cost campground finder (www.freecampgrounds.com), I hope to be able to find a spot to set up camp.  The real question for me was how to set up the A/C unit so it will cool down the area in the back of the truck. The answer I think will involve a tarp, Velcro, and maybe, a little duct tape.

Tomorrow we will be heading to Kansas to spend some time with my sister-in-law.  I hope to be able to work on this project as soon as possible.  There are so many beautiful places in the area to visit, especially in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri.  I will keep you posted on how my plan is coming together.  It should prove interesting.  Until then, Happy Trails!