How to beat the heat this summer! Travel Trailer Edition

Summer in a travel trailer can be brutal. Last year we took a trip in May when it was only 85°F outside and we were cooking. I knew if we didn’t figure out ways to beat the heat soon we’d be up a creek in July when visiting the beach. I looked at what some of the full-timers were doing and made it more Mallory-friendly. Check below to see how we were beating the Texas heat during a drought!

A snug fit!

First, let’s start with covering those skylights. I found these reflective skylight covers with added insulation that fit right in! And as a bonus, they stay put. We haven’t had any of the 3 we have fall down and they’ve been in there for a year now. I love not having to get out the big step stool for me to shove those things back in place every time we move the trailer. With 8′ ceilings in the fifth wheel it would be a pain in the booty, too.

Keep the windows covered. Gladys from Bewitched would be so disappointed…

Next, cover those windows! I bought several rolls of reflective shade to cover all of the windows. Window on the door, the slide windows, and even the shower skylight since it won’t hold one of those cover pillows. Make sure to clean surfaces before placing the adhesive velcro strips because they will fall down if the windows or walls aren’t properly cleaned.

I call this my bat cave material. In college, I had a suitemate who played soccer and had 5 AM practices. She needed to darken her room and used foil on the windows. We called that room the bat cave!

Ahhh good ole AC!

For beating the outdoor heat we found a portable “AC” that helped quite a bit! I would put this on the table next to my chair, it has to be in somewhat close proximity to feel it working. We bought a second one for this summer so my husband and I aren’t fighting over the one from last year!

Something you probably already have if you own a travel trailer!

And if you don’t already have this then I HIGHLY recommend getting one! Drum roll, please…. A dehumidifier! Last year when we were at the beach our trailer stayed relatively dry and much cooler than my in-law’s trailer. The only difference was we had a dehumidifier and they did not. Their trailer is also 12 years newer than ours and has the 4 seasons package, so theirs should have stayed cooler than ours, with a humidifier a month later their trailer stayed cooler than ours even with the door being opened constantly.

Move that air!

Sounds almost like something Richard Simmons would say (showing my age!)… One thing that we purchased to help circulate the cool air is this wonderful, space-saving tower fan! Emphasis on space-saving. Our bedroom located in the back end of our trailer tends to get very chilly so we like to circulate that air and help cool off the living room. This fan is the perfect mix of quiet and noise to help induce sleep, as well!

We also take our tower fan outside if we need a little more air movement, I try to keep it indoors so I don’t get dirt everywhere but then again we are camping so dirt is already everywhere.

Something cold to sip on!

With the price of canned drinks rivaling that of each of my c-sections, we have moved to bottled drinks and making the kids raspberry lemonade instead of buying Sam’s Club out of CapriSun. Which means we needed lots of ICE! We purchased this little ice maker almost immediately after buying our trailer and it is easily on the list of the top 5 things we have purchased for the trailer. It makes ice in 7 minutes and keeps your freezer free from storing ice.

Exactly how HOT! HOT! HOT! is it?

Not helping to keep you cool, but this little infrared thermometer has saved us so many times know the temp inside, as well as seeing where the heat is primarily coming from. This past weekend it was 91°F and while that isn’t too bad our trailer felt like it was boiling. After checking the air vents with this thermometer my husband scanned the windows and bingo bango he found the culprit. A tiny little window in the living room was ready 107°F, causing my 60°F air vents to not cool so well.

Another good use for the thermometer is to check fridge temps!

Other helpful tips!

1. Check your AC filters! Make sure they’re clean to maximize air flow so your AC doesn’t work harder!
2. To help keep that camper as cool as possible we try not to open the door, or fan the door as my father-in-law says. Keep that door closed as much as possible!
3. Make sure to close your air vents for bathrooms. My husband left ours open overnight this past winter and he couldn’t understand why the upstairs was staying around 66° when the heater was on nonstop. He quickly found out when he went to take a shower!
4. Try to book spaces with tree coverage. I know that isn’t always possible, the beach RV park we stay at has 1 tree on the premises. This week I changed one of our plans for a 4 night getaway simply because there were no trees for coverage and I didn’t feel like cooking for those 4 days.
5. This one is pricey but I know people who swear by them: covers that go over your slides. They give a buffer area between the sunlight and your slide so you don’t have that heat beaming directly down on fiberglass over your head. Again, this is pricey, but if you want to splurge then that is a huge help!
6. Cook outside as much as possible to keep the heat outdoors! We cook breakfast outside every morning, last year I cooked a cake in my electric oven and a roast in a crockpot all outside!
7. If you need to help cool down your trailer in a pinch, grab the water hose and give the trailer a watering on the roof! We have done this several times and it makes a big difference! Check the rules of your campground before doing this as some state you cannot “wash” the trailer on their grounds.

Do you have any other suggestions? Sound off below for any tips or tricks you’ve learned along that way, or if you have any other essential beat the heat items!