Portable A/c?

Was just wondering is a portable a/c unit worth the money? Swift doesn't like when you idle but wants you to be comfortable. But if you idle to long you get a call from your DL saying "we need to work on idle" I can't sleep good if I am hot and sweaty. So I thought maybe a portable a/c could help. Thanks y'all

Was just wondering is a portable a/c unit worth the money? Swift doesn't like when you idle but wants you to be comfortable. But if you idle to long you get a call from your DL saying "we need to work on idle" I can't sleep good if I am hot and sweaty. So I thought maybe a portable a/c could help. Thanks y'all

But where would you plug the portable unit in? Gonna use an inverter?

I drive for Swift. Before this sumer I had a Kenworth that had sleeper windows. I was OK with fresh air overnight. Now my Cascadia has a smaller sleep area, with no windows. There is no ventilation. That's what I tell my DM when she asks why my idle is over 50%.

Was just wondering is a portable a/c unit worth the money? Swift doesn't like when you idle but wants you to be comfortable. But if you idle to long you get a call from your DL saying "we need to work on idle" I can't sleep good if I am hot and sweaty. So I thought maybe a portable a/c could help. Thanks y'all

But where would you plug the portable unit in? Gonna use an inverter?

I drive for Swift. Before this sumer I had a Kenworth that had sleeper windows. I was OK with fresh air overnight. Now my Cascadia has a smaller sleep area, with no windows. There is no ventilation. That's what I tell my DM when she asks why my idle is over 50%.

I was just given a different Trk that has a inverter already in it. I do like the fresh air but like you said not much ventilation in freightshakers. I would rather have my previous one..... had a lot more power to pull hills this 2015 10sp sucks it has no power and is governed at 61mph

Maybe you could try a fan. I bought one of these from Walmart : https://www.walmart.com/ip/Honeywell-Turbo-Force-Air-Circulator-Fan-HT-900-WMT/16503230 and hung it upside down over my bunk. I have an inverter that just plugs in to the lighter plug. It's technically a higher power inverter than we're allowed, but fans only use a lot of current for a moment when starting, then it doesn't use a lot when running. But sounds like that's not an issue if you have an inverter.

Anyway, then I idle only when I need to to cool the place down, usually 5 minutes at a time. Also, of course, don't park in the sun if you can help it, and if you can, run during the day so the sun will be down when you shut down. Hope this helps.

Most portable ac units only have a single vent. They pull outside air into the ac unit thru a duct system and push it thru its cooling section. You would need to crack a window or keep a vent open so it could pull in the air supply. This makes them pretty inefficient since you're continually cooling the air you're pulling in from outside then blowing it back out again. They do make dual vent portables that eliminate this problem.

Something else to consider is powering the unit. If it pulls 8 amps @ 110 volts you'll need about 80 amps at 12 volts to invert its power needs. A 1500 watt inverter would be probably be needed to handle the surge current when you start it up.

Not shooting your idea down in the least. Because the truck is not a very large area to cool it may work out pretty good.

Another type of portable ac unit that does not use any air ducting would be an Evaporative Air Cooler. You basically pack the thing with water and or ice and the fan blows across it to cool the air. They pull a lot less amperage around 2 amps.

I wanted to put an ac unit in my sailboat so i've played around with the same idea you're thinking about. I settled on a window unit that i mounted in the hatchway leading down into the cabin. Something that's not very practical in your application.

The unit i have is about 5000 BTUs. In direct sunlight on a day in the 90's it has a hard time keeping the cabin cool. With no ac in this situation the cabin gets as hot as a car with the windows closed, well above 100 degrees. with the unit on it will bring down the temp to a bit less than the outside air. The decking of the boat is so hot that it will burn your bare feet and is flat so it is sucking up a lot of heat. During the night or on a partly sunny day it does have enough power to cool things down. A truck may not suck up as much heat but then again maybe it could be worse. The boat is white so i'm thinking it would not draw as much heat as something painted a darker color.

Best Buy has some pretty good reviews on both types of units. If you go thru with a setup of this sort keep us posted on the results.

I knew a guy at work that rigged up a tupperware container full of ice with a small fan on it and it actually worked pretty good to cool off his desk area in an office but about all it did was blow cold air in your face. who knows? maybe an ice chest rigged up in this matter might work.

Good luck!

You'll have to also consider how to mount the air duct(s) that will be pulling in the outside air and or exhausting it if you go with a dual vent system Check out the kits they have for this purpose.

Not quite out yet so no solid reviews but this might be a good option going forward if you're willing to spend the money.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1253665084/zero-breeze-the-worlds-coolest-portable-air-condit