Install an air conditioner in camper shell?

I have two German Shepherds I'd need to keep comfortable in my camper shell with 100+ degree summer weather, so I'm trying to determine the best way to do this.

A friend of mine used a home, window air conditioner that he jimmy-rigged in his shell and uses a separate battery and voltage inverter, etc. It's pretty hokey, so I know it can be done far more professionally.

I see you can buy RV type, window air conditioners, so I'm thinking this might be the way to go? I'm not sure how I'd determine my cooling requirements for two dogs, but maybe any unit might be strong enough? I also don't know, from an electrical wiring perspective, what I might also need, so I'm hoping some of you might have some suggestions?

I welcome your input and suggestions!

Thank you,
Ed

 

If you have a sliding from window on your shell, you will get a good amount of airflow through that window. If you have side vent windows you'll get even more. I was surprised how comfortable the back of the truck was on our summer family trip from Utah to South Dakota. My two older boys rode in the back of the truck with the windows open like described along with a little 12v fan to pull air in through the window. The fan proved unneccesary. I rode back there for a while and had my wife drive and it was really comfortable. Of course this was on the highway. If you're travelling at slower speeds you won't get quite the same volume of air flow.

Here's my set up under the shell. Obviously your dogs wouldn't need seats.

 

Does it matter whether i have the seats facing forward or backwards? Legal wise

 

Neither are DOT approved so I doubt it matters. Think forward facing will make you less car sick though.

 

A/C units take quite a lot of juice, even small ones. I can't imagine a battery + inverter would last any practical amount of time.

Dogs don't need the air to be 70 degrees like us soft humans prefer. My dog sits out in the direct sun when it's 95 degrees.

One possibility would be a DIY evap cooler. that should be enough to keep the edge off.

A friend of mine made a box for cooling homebrew out of some 2" rigid foam insulation with two chambers. 1 for the ice, 1 for the carboy. And a computer cooling fan to circulate the air. He also used some temp sensors and a little computer thing to regulate the temps. If it got too cold, the fan would shut off, etc...

You could make a simple box that holds some of those blue icepacks, and have it open on both ends with a fan on 1 side so the fan blows air over the ice packs and out the other side. You don't need a big powerful fan for such a small space, so the wiring would be pretty basic. Could probably even just use a USB.

Also make sure your pups have access to water.

 

I agree with this. You'd have to leave the truck on and probably do some tweaking to the alternator pulley size so it could supply the juice at idle. I mean we're easily talking 100 amp draw here (stock alternator is 80A peak or less).

Theoretically it would be possible to make a second belt-driven AC loop under the hood and run the lines under the truck. This is something I've considered doing one day, if I ever get a shell again, but I don't know that anyone's done it yet.

Less intense would be adapting a PVC pipe to your existing front ducts and sending it through the back glass, maybe attach a booster fan

 

I also have 2 German Shepherds that I need to keep cool and I thought about using this from CoolCop. I haven't bought because I found some DIY swamp cooler ideas on YouTube that I might try. Still toying with ideas.
https://www.coolcop.com/coolk9

Here's another website, same concept.
https://nogglenation.com/pets/


https://youtu.be/ezOV85PDZFc

 

It depends on your state local laws. Wasn't an issue having them face forward or backward in Utah.

 

My class c has 4 walmart deep cycle batteries and a big inverter. It powers a 5k window air unit in the toyhauler for around 4 hours, or more if I feel like hurting the batteries. Mini splits are even more efficient and I've seen people retrofit campers with mini splits with condensers on the rear bumpers.

 

I'm old enough to remember riding some long distances in the back of a truck when no one thought anything about it. Drove from GA to Colorado the 1st time in 1987 and my 2 year old daughter slept in a bed in the back when she got tired of riding. Wouldn't dream of doing that today and shouldn't have done it then.

I volunteer with a SAR team doing ground pounding and riding ATV's when we can. We have a lot of dog handlers who drive great distances to participate. Many of them have rigged up duct work from an AC vent inside the truck's cab through the back window into the cap. But most just keep their dogs in a dog crate and keep it inside the truck. Some have removed rear seats to have more room in the back of crew cab trucks.

In hot weather be prepared to keep the engine running and the AC on for hours when parked.

 

We get a lot of Vans and camper shells in the shop to spray with 1-2” of closed cell spray foam usually for plumbers and painters, and overlanders who need to keep things from freezing/sweating, and getting to hot or in the Overlanders case make the van easier to heat/cool and @ 7R per inch of foam it works best at 1.5-2” which also makes road noise way quieter. The DIY evap cooler with the foam could be your answer.

 

I’m intrigued. Have you looked at rooftop AC units like they put on RV’s?

Also you can buy a donut looking seal to go between the cab and shell and just run ducting from your factory AC. This will be the cheapest way. Add a remote start system and it’s perfect.