Keeping Your RV Cool

As the temperatures soar outside, they’re likely also soaring inside your RV. Even if you have them, air conditioning units take a lot of power to run, so if you’re trying to save energy, you’re probably looking for other ways to stay cool when you’re camping. Instead of reaching for a magazine to fan yourself in a futile attempt to beat the heat, why not try some of these handy tips, courtesy of Howdy Ranch RV? Our dealership is in Mathis, Texas, so if anything on your RV isn’t working correctly (like your A/C unit!), make an appointment with our mechanics and we’ll get it fixed up.

Park In The Shade

Avoiding direct sunlight at all costs is the way to go when trying to reduce the ambient temperature of your camper. By parking in the shade, you’ll instantly make your RV several degrees cooler. While RVs are often painted white to reflect sunlight, this won’t be much use when temperatures creep towards the triple digits. Find a spot under trees if you possibly can, and park so that your windows don’t face the afternoon sun to the west. The door side of your RV usually has an awning you can pull down, so if you have to park with one side facing west, make it that one.

Open The Vents

Ventilation helps immensely when you’re trying to draw out hot air. If your RV doesn’t have attic vents, you should have some installed, and these should be open whenever skies are clear. This will permit increased airflow, which will take some of that stuffy, hot air out in favor of air that’s a little fresher and cooler.

Keep Windows Covered

Window coverings will block out the sun effectively, giving you a dark, cool respite inside your camper. You can put reflective coatings on your RV windows to reduce the amount of sunlight absorbed through the glass. Curtains you can pull will also keep things cooler, as any sunlight that gets in will warm up your camper.

Install LED Lighting

LEDs are both economically and ecologically friendly. While they are more expensive than incandescent or fluorescent lighting, they last a very long time while requiring much less energy to run. That reduction in energy means they don’t generate much heat while still producing amounts of light comparable to more traditional lighting. Replace as many of your RV’s lights with LEDs as you can and you’ll notice a reduction in heat pretty quickly, as well as a reduction in how much energy you spend lighting your camper.

Cook Outside

The kitchen of an RV is a fairly confined space, so turning on the oven or stove generates a pretty noticeable amount of heat quickly, and that heat doesn’t go away very fast. Instead, you can cook outside, using either your grill or your campfire. If you’re used to cooking a lot in your RV, this tip might require some adjustments to your cooking techniques, but you won’t feel like you’re baking along with your casserole if you avoid turning the oven on at all. You can also make more frequent use of your microwave as a low-heat means of steaming vegetables, melting cheese and warming up frozen foods. Additionally, there are plenty of meals that don’t require the use of heat at all; consider sandwich buffets, breakfast cereals and salads as quick meals that need no stove or oven whatsoever to prepare.

Looking to upgrade your current RV? Come down to our Mathis showroom to see the wide array of new and used RVs and campers we have available for sale. If you still have questions about how to keep your RV cool, our experienced staff can help you figure out some good strategies, too. Howdy Ranch RV is conveniently located near Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Laredo, Victoria and Rockport, Texas.