12v portable air conditioner camping tent

[DominicNSXR]

Only nerds camp

[mikeharrington2]

Engel 12/24 volt Fridge Freezers are sure to make any trip that much better!

[Eyarisu]

Thank you for posting this excellent tutorial. I attend a three-day camping event in June, and it seems the summer weather manages to be SEARING for these events, so our tent is like a sauna. I think my partner and I will make two of these air conditioners; it seems like a relatively simple project to tackle. Thanks again!

[askaxis]

3 inch metal vent pipe--submerged in ice / salt / water ---(3) 3 inch 90 degree fittings, (1) 3 foot section of pipe 1 section of pipe runs up out of water about 4 inches on right side of cooler below fan---add elbow and run pipe to left side of cooler and elbow up and through the makeshift foam cover--add the last elbow make this up and silicone seal all joints including the elbow seams looks like a U with one long side metal pipe in water conducts well and no moisture problems

[mwstoll]

@askaxis

That's not a bad idea using metal pipe...similar toa  geothermal concept. I think you will still get some moisture due to condensation forming on the inside of the pipe. It might also be a little difficult to get the full air volume from the fan to go into the pipe. You would probably have to come up with a way to funnel the air flow. Thanks for the response. Good concept.

[ChiyaHalgord]

My vehicle's ac compressor broke which is a $500-$600 fix. For about $100 in items, this is a genius alternative, thank you.

[alank1300]

great idea.. just made one today and works great.. im a local dump truck driver and my company has no ac in its trucks saved the day .. was 100 degrees today and the ac made it bearable...

[AnnBearForFreedom]

NO, YOU CANNOT USE DRY ICE! Dry ice is carbon dioxide, which humans cannot use to maintain life. In fact, we exhale carbon dioxide. So no, do not use dry ice for this project. Its sad anyone even has to say that..one would think people should be smart enough to already know that, but apparently not. So no, do not operate a car while blindfolded, do not use a hair dryer while showering, and DO NOT use dry ice when building this cooler. Last time: No, you cannot use dry ice for this.

[KeithWasHere1]

lol i hooked up a in wall unit and used it in my tent for close to a year...people would drive by and look at my tent like a side show attraction..only thing is when it got cool in there and you walked out the tent a huge billowing cloud would follow...had to give a science lecture to the 4th grade intelligence level souther baptist cops to explain why the cloud came out and that i wasn't hitting the bong.

[doldei]

9 minutes ? Are we making a nuclear device ?

[2naturesownplace]

O2 Cool fan at wal-mart. $20...on high last for 56 hrs on a standard lawnmower battery. I used a set up like this while in Yellowstone last year..the high areas still had snow in late June. I used that to replenish my cooling source and enjoyed great evenings while listening to others whine over the heat at night

[jsidawi]

two questions.. a) could you use dry ice to reduce humidity? b) would building a dehumidifier similar to the ones used in self storage units into the cooler also help with humidity?

[mwstoll]

@jsidawi Dry Ice puts off carbon dioxide which is not good for the normal human to breathe. A dehumidifier is much more complicated, and would require a 120v power source.

[piper4seeformerly]

assuming you're using ice blocks or 2-liter bottles of frozen water would the cooling effect be improved by moving the fan to the side of the cooler so that the airflow goes from the bottom, past the ice and out the top rather than down and up again?

[mwstoll]

@piper4seeformerly You could move the fan to the side of the cooler, but that would require you to cut a hole in it.

My design allows you to still use it as a cooler, if you are not using it as an AC unit.

[Obormotkin]

Реально глупый мудак, в пендосии судя по комментам , дохуя таких. Ящик с вентилятором, бля, круто, кондиционер бля!

[anitaschack]

I made this, it cost me $1 to go to the dollar tree and buy a foam board. Layered it x3.

Using 2 fans I already had and 2 gallon jugs frozen water. Works great.

[kmluddy]

u said meijers, u must be a hoosier

[theantiredneck]

You really need to submerge tubes into the ice that is watery it will cool ten times better!

[theantiredneck]

I've thought about something on this line for some time to use as a cool for my home theater that gets really hot, i thought of making a copper tube system that is much more efficient at removing heat than plastic and running the cool air right into top of the stereo through a cotton filter so there is no humidity put into the stereo but i think this would work great in a tent!

[mwstoll]

@theantiredneck Good idea....I have heard where people have used a fountain pump to move water through copper tubing in cold ice water. The tubing would come out of the cooler, where it is wound in front of a fan that blows air across the tubing. This idea works too, but it is a little more expensive for the tubing and you would still get condensation on the copper tubing, which puts moisture in the air.

[kingdomofwitches]

this is more of a Air cooler than a Air conditioner

[computergeek123ism]

will this work for a room about 4x4 meters? once again 5 star video nice instructions. please answer my question. :-D

[mwstoll]

@computergeek123ism

4x4 meters = 12' x 12'....it should cool the space, but I don't know by how much. I have not used it to col that large of space.

[mwstoll]

@computergeek123ism

1 12' x 12' area might be a bit big for the size of cooler in the video. You might need (2) cooler systems

[computergeek123ism]

I want one of these! thanks for the instructions! (5 stars)

[paulofgroveton]

Don't use ice use small water bottles or soda bottles frozen the day before.Also you can use a pancake (computer) fan if useing 120v.

[tplife69]

Great cooler idea for dry climates, just pointing out that the "power supply" isn't, it's a booster starting battery and isn't designed to be a power supply. Open it up and look inside, there's a motorcycle battery designed for starting a motorcycle. It's not a deep cycle battery, that's a power supply. Once you use it as such (which I have) you'll discover it's short lifecycle as a power supply and consider it a boat anchor.

[nullquible90]

We are ;looking for a location for next year, did some research on rvparkandcampingexpert (.) com

[davfritz]

it will give half an hour of joy if you sit close to it

[fralora]

this is just too much work imo. there are other simpler methods, such as those methods making use of copper tubes and running the cold water through it, making it cold, and the copper tubes strapped onto a fan to blow.

[HLSBabii]

will this work well in a car?

[KJ4TEE]

@HLSBabii I would think so it is a small space 

[marquensita]

THANK YOU this is going to help me out a lot thankys

[moquaddam]

how about a 12x12 bedroom............? will it be effective ?

[mwstoll]

@moquaddam

12 x 12 is probably too big

[214jcf]

@moquaddam I made one out of desperation. I live in an extremely hot, humid climate. My bedroom does not have AC so this little gadget along with the ceiling fan on slow speed keeps my room at about65- 70F for six hours until I have to replace the frozen 2L water bottles.. Outside temps are triple digits. I had all the stuff to make it so the costs were low. Just pay for freezing and electricity for fan. It has to be cheaper than a window unit.

[luigi2999]

@214jcf where you live, what's the average humidity?

[214jcf]

@luigi2999 very high humid and the end results are bad.  Can't use this anymore. Excess humidity = mold.

[mwstoll]

@214jcf

If you use ice, humidity will be worse than if you use blue ice blocks or 2 litre bottles. You will also have some humidity, unless you actually use an AC unit that removes moisture.

[214jcf]

@mwstoll thanks for the info!

[peachiegirl420]

I think that this is a great idea and would much rather use this than reg air con. espically if I had it ran off of solar power

[nickoneuk]

great idear not sure how afrctive this is but still good idear

just a little advice though DO NOT use ice and the reason being is as the ice melts you will be adding humidity to the air and we all know humidity in hot weather is not good haha so as shown in the vid better to use the blue ice packs or even ice in zip lock bags just my little pointer :O)

[mwstoll]

@nickoneuk

Some people have suggested filling up 2-liter bottles with water and freezing them instead of using blue ice blocks.

[jab0805]

I just finished building mine. I had some 1/2 inch insulated foam board left over from my solar heater. I just cut 2 out and glued them back to back with the foil facing out . The fan cover pops off, so I laid it on top where I wanted it. With the cage facing up, I took my sharpie and put a dot on the inside of the ring between the cage rails. Then i took my knife and connected the dots. Then I reinforced the hole with duct tape. I also reinforced the outside edge with duct tape. Thanks!

[orillpunchyouinthe]

instead of ice could you use a peltier unit???

[dreamextreme7]

Hi there. Great Vid! I was wondering.. I would like to cool an apartment room using this method. If I used a more powerful fan, what fan could I buy?? do I risk any electrical problems if I plug the fan directly into the wall outlet. Would moisture from the box be risky?? or is that just worry talk...lol

[mwstoll]

@dreamextreme7

I would say it does not have the capacity to cool an apartment. The space is too big.

[alohachristine]

Thank you for all you did to make this video. It means a lot to me. I have a lot of young children and no A/C in our van. I'm going to try to make this tonight. Here's hoping it works.

[TAXOPAREI]

were you will find ice or refrigerator to freeze the ice blocks  when having camping in tha '' desert ' without power?

[spiceytexn]

@TAXOPAREI he was using a portable generator.

[fresno93703]

will this help cool my car. i have no ac at all. my windows cannot roll down. if i put 3-4 fans will it blow out more cool air. thank you

[mwstoll]

@fresno93703

Never tried it in a car. I would think it would work, though.

[sicness910]

@fresno93703 lol WTF !!!!!

[cheesekake22]

use 2-liter bottles the last longer and pack tighter

[jasongiddensviper478]

Use a heater core from a cars heating system and a small 12V pump.

[MrBeau16]

1 or 1/2 gallon milk jugs are great too.

[mosheg77]

Hi,

I wanted to ask you if i need to be very close to the cooler in order to feel cool air, or it will have enough power to cool a small room (like a regular "window ac").

Thank you very much.

[mwstoll]

@mosheg77

This AC unit only works for a small area, like a 6 person tent. It does not have enough cooling power for a small room in a house.

[michael101st]

wow. I bought a Kooleraide unit and I wish I saw this before I did. I am going to make some of these for work!!

[56wb56a]

i gatta put one of those in my bmw since nothing works in it

[manongboyet1]

@56wb56a did it work?

[56wb56a]

@manongboyet1 no i actually just went to walmart and they have a mini ac for like $80 that works pretty good its nothing like this its small and good

[rootsxrocks]

You would be better off flipping it over and creating a larger vent for the outside of the fan Then leaks in the intake don't matter so much and you chilled air is concentrated as it is Directed to the target. I do believe this type of fan will move the most air for the least power with that configuration.

However I do not think this is worth the effort to take into the woods camping. Its kinda silly really.

[wuberman]

Hi, I made your cooler and it works great. Mine is under wuberman. I just wanted to make sure you got the credit for inspiring me. Thanks.

[mwstoll]

@wuberman

Great it worked out. I've got a camping trip coming up, and I'm gettng ready to use mine again.

[csTerminator2]

how about frozen beer

[RetardadoPendejo]

@csTerminator2

BLASPHEMY!!!!!!!



[bobbysam232]

get batter peltier/TEC heat sink and fan ever try that ?

[mwstoll]

@bobbysam232

Never tried it. Tried to stay with readily available materials.

[funkychildd]

really cool

[lild6482]

great idea goin to a festival and no powrer at my camp and it will be hottttt

[bufralo]

Really cool man! thank you!!

[jasonism123]

guys, how cold could the air that comes out of that vent be? I might try this

[mwstoll]

Don't expect it to be like having a regular air conditioner running. It works well enough to cool down a 4-5 person size tent on a summer evening where it is cool enough to sleep. If you use ice, it will get a little damp by moring. If you use blue ice blocks or 2 litre bottles filled with ice, there will be little dampness. The build cost is pretty cheap, and you can always return the expensive items to the store if you don't like it.

[thecubanmann]

u can get a cooler fan that square at radio shack

for 12 bucks

and it uses way less power

[sirmasterpimp]

@thecubanmann Not really, I use one of those radio shack fans for my battery bank, and they use only 2-3 watts less than that 12 volt dc fan he is using (10 watts I think). Plus that fan is moving a lot more air. His portable powerpack seems about the same size as mine (10 ah battery) so he should get about 11-13 hours out of that fan before needing a recharge. That is way longer than it takes to melt the ice.

[readingleejh]

it's cool when it's running, but think about it... this is water moisture... when the coolness is gone, it will get humid, and that's just worse than being hot

[mwstoll]

Tent Camping: You'll be cool during the night, even if it gets a little damp. The next morning you'll get out of the tent, and you can always open up the windows to let the air blow through the tent. If you use blue ice blocks or frozen 2 litre bottles, it won't be very damp.

[inkey2]

ummm ....so if you are out in the woods in the summer.....how do you get more ice....or any ice

[mwstoll]

Works good in a campground environment, or where you can run up to the local store to get a bog of ice. If you are roughing it out in the deep woods, you'd be packing light anyways and wouldn't be hauling around a cooler.

[jasonism123]

I have a small room, I'll try this to save on electricity..yeah, I'll try the 2liters bottles, so it won't get too humid..thanks! 10stars~!

[nicklking]

thank you!

[ryanmaffia]

What a great idea. Going to the Florida keys for lobster diving, what a great idea to help keep cool.

[urbex2007]

and what happens when you need to refreeze the blue blocks?

[mwstoll]

The Ice Blocks are good for one use, and hold up well in a cooler until you need to use them. Once you do use them, then you'll have to switch to purchasing ice unless you brought extra blocks in a secondary cooler.

[Baraquiel62]

then you will change it again.

[spaindr]

Have you ever used dry ice? Do you think CO2 is a problem? many thanks from an all year - Texas camper!

[mwstoll]

I thought about dry ice, but having CO2 released into a small confined space like a tent seems risky.

[cabotrooper]

SEEMS RISKY ?

Fall sleep with it, and you WON´T WAKE UP EVER AGAIN ! Haven´t you heard of died people because they turned on an inside fire to sleep warm? CO2 will kill you if you un out of Oxigen.

[mwstoll]

You are correct. I do not recommend using dry ice!

[CCWSig]

@cabotrooper Just a FYI First off Dry Ice is frozen carbon dioxide(CO2) , that's the same thing we breath out. Burning carbon based fuels produces CARBONMONOXIDE (CO). CO doesn't kill you by eating away the oxygen, or even displacing oxygen around you. CO attaches to the red blood cells in your body and prevent the blood from carrying O2 to your organs, Essentially you suffocate.

[cabotrooper]

Thanks for telling me the difference. Good to know!

[CCWSig]

No problem, tho your prolly right, neither would be a great idea. Plain ice is prolly the best.

[KeffandMac]

very nice man... very professional...definately a 5 star vid

[tplife69]

Most of these boosters are rated at 400W, they contain a tiny motorcycle-type battery, are for single-use like inflation or jumping, aren't deep-cycle, will be junk after about one season of cycling following several discharges, and are best used ONLY as boosters. For power supply you want a setup like an Optima Marine Deep-Cycle or a lead-acid battery Group 24 size inside a battery box. No acid or fumes with an Optima so no box needed. Don't ask my why I know about this! :-)

[sgtpepper1138]

my brother has one that we used, it's not a booster box, it's made by energizer, and it has like 4 pug ins, worked out well on our camping trip to power our laptop and what not.

[tplife69]

@sgtpepper1138, Sorry to bust your bubble, but that Energizer power supply is junk, open it up, it has a tiny lead acid motorcycle-type battery inside designed to boost power for jumping. It doesn't use deep-cycle battery technology and is not designed for repeated charge/discharge work. For that you need a marine or golf cart battery. I've built my own camping power supply systems, so I've learned this the hard way. Again, sorry to disappoint you about your piece of junk.

[sgtpepper1138]

@tplife69 What do you mean "sorry to bust your bubble?" I just borrowed it from my brother, it worked for what I used it for. What's with the arrogant comment? It's still working today, though he doesn't use it often because he doesn't go in a place where he needs it much.

[thundowretards]

if you wanted to use it in your car could you just plug it into the cigarette adapter the air-conditioning in my car is broken and this could be useful ^_^

[sgtpepper1138]

I plan on building one (a smaller version) in the next day or so.

[Persiflage80]

Great AC unit!

Wondering why you didn't just use the lid of the cooler instead of a piece of foam. Couldn't you have cut holes in the lid?

[mwstoll]

You could use the lid of the cooler instead of cutting out a piece of foam, but I wanted to keep the cooler usable as a regular cooler.

[Alumicone]

Anyone ever made home made ice cream? If you added rock salt to the ice in the cooler, it would probably lower the air temp a little more than ice alone.

[LMF5000]

Actually it won't. Salt lowers the *melting point* of ice, i.e. whereas normal ice melts at 0 degrees celsius, ice with salt added would melt at -5 degrees celsius. However, if your freezer is full of ice at -5 degrees celsius, adding salt won't make it colder, it would just make it melt and you'd have salty water at -5 degrees celsius.

[ViperBravo]

But when the ice starts to melt the salt in the water will allow the water so stay below freezing, or about , for longer. Salt water dose not freeze at 32 degrees, its around -2, so having the water lower than 32degrees will keep the ice from melting longer and the cold water its self will extend the cooling time as well.

[mwstoll]

Can you hook it up to a 12v car battery? I guess, but they are pretty HEAVY to haul around. You'd have to find some electrical parts to make some type of adapter. Depending on the battery you use, you may have leaking battery acid issue to consider. I think the portable power units are better (safer).

[rspaulding]

I cant find the "amps" in a lot of the units i've seen. Is there another way to tell how long it will run? Like in watts or something?

[mwstoll]

When you are shopping at a department store, ask a sales clerk to look it up. It may not be printed on the outside of the box, but t should be listed in the manual. These portable units are rated in amp hours. I used it camping this past weekend, running my 12 amp hour power unit for 8 hours and it was down to a little over half.

[LMF5000]

Watts = amps x volts,

eg. 5 amps at 12V = 5 x 12 = 60 Watts.

So if you know watts, you can use this formula to get amps: Amps = Watts / Volts.

[rspaulding]

Could you wire this up to a car battery?

[doxieloverintherock]

Very cool! Are you married????? lol

[zulydia1]

that was great! Can you say cool trunk. I can go to the supermarket buy meat and milk and have some beers before getting home. No Problem! That is worth the trip.

[dreambrew]

This is a homemade version of the Kooleraire system . Very thrifty! 5 stars!

[sylutube]

Hey Doug, Great video and information! Can't wait to try it next month for our next camping trip. Thank you!

[wtfblizz]

I'm thinking of building this to take when I camp in the back of my tahoe. I just fold the seat down and sleep in the back but it's usually too hot to do during our summers here. I wonder if this is good enough to keep a 2dr tahoe cool over night?

[mwstoll]

A good sized cooler should work no problem

[mwstoll]

2 litre bottle..Not a bad idea. I would not fill them up completely, otherwise they would burst (water expansion from freezing). Adding water would improve the transter of cold, but then you get the moisture in the output (trade-off). Makes a tent a little more damp. I don't know how long the bottles would last.

[Sehnsucht234]

if i were to use 8 2 liter bottles filled with frozen water put them in there, and if i added some water into the cooler, would the lose water effect the temp output much or how long the bottles stay frozen?

[whypaige]

Is it ok to use dry ice?

[skippy3840]

I would think not.  Remember, dry ice is basically frozen CO2, so I don't think that you want to be pumping CO2 vapor into an enclosed space.

[kreech1]

All i can say is WOW . thank you soooo much for posting this video. after watching this video i'll be making me one for my car . thanks again ,my friends will be jealous over this one , we all drive air cooled vw's .

[sunray73]

So on a day that's 90 degrees out, how cool will the temp drop in a 4 man tent??

[mwstoll]

Don't know. I used it in a (3) person tent when it was 82 degrees, and it worked fine to keep the place cool.

[siamese08]

i wish i saw this 7 years ago when i moved into the valley anyway this is awesome i will be making one once its officially way too hott in sunny southern california

[mwstoll]

The fan runtime depends on the size (amp hour) of the battery. I mention in the video the size battery used and expected runtime. Also, if you use regular ice, it may melt after 5-6 hours.

[adnes86]

it not work for ever?

jus a night .......

[vivitar45]

a old computer fan might be better and quiter and you just plug it in to the wall

[mwstoll]

I thought about a computer fan, but I dismissed it based on its level of output. A computer fan may be o.k. for a gentle cooling breeze, but the auto fan puts out move air volume in my opinion.

[zacandmillie]

That's a clever idea and it's given me something to work on for summer. Thanks for posting the video.

[arcpiettro]

if you put salt on the ice the temperature drops up to minus 1 degree celcius,so it will lasts much longer mine last of to one day!

[sw1q]

It seems that you forgot to take with you on vacation, a good book !

.

Maybe a book on 'Scott of the Antartic' or 'Doctor Zivargo'; both of these are set in lots of snow -that may keep you feeling cool and better occupied, during your vacation.

.

Favorited.

Cheers.

from,

del-boy.

[saforlife0014]

can u use dry ice

[mwstoll]

I thought about dry ice, but it gives off carbon dioxide as it melts. Probably a bad idea in a confined area like a tent. I would not recommend it.

[slawrunner]

I think this is such a great idea. What a life saver. I also enjoyed the other comments. Very useful and helpful information. It's good to know that there are still people interested in helping other people and not just trying to squeeze another dime out of them. Thanks.

[anonymous4849]

Good idea!

[mwstoll]

It depends on the size of the cooler. The larger the cooler, the more ice you can put in, the longer cooling time you'll get. I can get at least 6 hrs of cooling time using Blue Ice Blocks and a 36 Qt Cooler.

I personally switched over to Blue Ice Blocks. They last 30% longer than ice, and does not give off as much moisture as ice. Another idea is to fill plastic water bottles about 80% full and freeze them (solution between regular ice and blue ice)

[pizzaisgood14]

Very cool idea. How long will the ice last in normal summer conditions.

[mwstoll]

I use blue ice blocks, and they last all night (7 hrs). From what I ready, blue ice blocks last 25-30% longer than regular ice, so "maybe" 4.5 hrs for regular ice in a 35 qt+ cooler

[mwstoll]

Depends on the Cooler Size. The cooler in the video filled with ice should last all night. Blue Ice Blocks last 20-30% longer from what I read.