Car Camp on Warm Nights With This Invention (V2)

Reflectix is a great starter window cover for car camping. But it does not allow for any circulation. With these window covers paired with the sunroof fan you’ll have no condensation and be cool while car camping on warm nights.

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[DragnDon]

As a 3D Printer myself, and as a recent Honda Element owner with big plans for travel next seasons, I can totally appreciate the amount of work that goes into making such things for my own vehicle. Thanks for sharing! I'll be sure to be doing something like this setup!

[antoinepaquette]

I made a similar setup for my sunroof but with only one giant 5V noctua fan plugged directly into a battery bank. For the rear windows, I used blackouts made of reflectix with black cloth and some gutter guards glued on the top. With window rainguards, it was pretty much invisible from the outside and kept us comfortable during warm nights. We also had fans inside the car to help with really warm nights.

[RahLoh]

most cars have a build in vent in the rear! it lets pressure escape so that when you open a window on the highway it doesnt blow your sunroof to the moon, its quite possible by keeping a positive pressure in the cabin area these vents would react by letting out the extra pressure! great build! feel i learned plenty for my own challenges! thanks

[itsTheKevL]

Thanks for another awesome video Matt. As a homeless veteran living in my vehicle your designs have inspired me.

I do know CFMs from working in HVAC so your airflow looks plentiful for the size of the cabin in your vehicle. 400CFM would be considered 1Ton of heating/cooling capacity. Imagine pushing 400 basketballs a minute of air through your car that mix to help bring the temperature average down.

[timmykauai]

My car has a similar system. It has a hidden blower fan installed in the dash. It pulls air from a weather protected vent, has vents throughout the vehicle that can be directed where needed, and is powered by a huge battery under the hood. My car actually came with it from the factory! I think yours might have this system too 😂

Just kidding, this is super awesome and I loved seeing your creative process. The reason I said that above was I stumbled on a video of a guy that was building out a van and didn’t want to cut a hole in his roof, and he utilized the factory blower fan. He tapped into the blower fan circuit and controlled and powered it with his battery bank, independently of the factory wiring. It still worked like normal, but when the car was off he could flip his switch in the back and it turned on his fan. Pretty smart, on a budget especially!

[gregwilsonnaturephotography]

This is just way too cool! Now I just need to grab my Sawzall and cut a sunroof in the roof of my 4runner! Greg

[jonjimihendrix]

12 volts is everywhere in a car. Use a socket adapter and direct power from your big boy battery.
Also as others have said, way too many CFM. But I love the idea and am working to adapt it to my more cold-weather needs.

[PlayOfLifeOfficial]

Paint the car white, It drastically reduces internal temperature of car

[mipakr]

Only upgrade I'd recommend, ability to make either side window fan exhaust. Easiest (but more costly, probably) add a second fan to the window units blowing out. In my brain this should still give you air circulation in less than great weather. As long as the intake and exhaust are spaced apart, you shouldn't get any short cycling. Keep a more powerful fan for exhaust to force the air out further. For my application (but I'll probably never build) I don't have a sunroof. I do have two rear windows that pop out with a manual clip. Definitely got my creative juices flowing. Love your videos.

[DorkstaR]

I really like your ideas. They actually inspired me to try the moon roof one on my camping Range Rover. I actually used a small usb outlet solar panel and leave the roof cracked so it kept the vehicle well vented in the hot days when parked. And reconnect the fan to a power bank in the nights when camping. Great job and glad you are keeping it evolving :)

[jefframey]

Most of your airflow is actually getting blocked by your window coverings. Your window fan units are rated at 35 CFM each and not sure if they are even delivering that much due to the gap size. So in essence you have 70 cfm entering and 300 cfm trying to suck but you're not getting that 300, at most you're getting around 70 cfm +/-. Also you can't add the intake and exhaust together for an entire system and rate it at 370 cfm since it can't deliver that.

If you remove air faster than replacing then you will have a negative pressure in the cabin and if you're putting more air in than removing then you will end up with positive pressure in the space. Typically when cooling, you will have a better experience with a negative pressure system think about attic fans in a house. If you adjust your window coverings to have a gap for fresh air and remove the fan altogether it will keep your car cooler than with the system you have now due to restrictions of those window fans and the size of gap you currently have.

Finally to get the air to be replaced and not take a short cut from the window to the sunroof, you can always use a drop cloth or something similar between against the roof and drop down behind the front seats until about 6 inches from the floor. This would require the air to circulate down first then around the curtain and back up. Then you could use your window fans now to cycle air from front to back behind the front seats.

[bop_da_bop]

I always look forward to your videos; yet another great design! Thanks for sharing the design and documenting the process. 👍

[sharonlaidlaw]

Matt, I love your videos! I, too, love to over-engineer every aspect of my build, but you're next-level. Please keep them coming. Would love to see more of what you've done!

[Seriouslyserious]

You should be #1 YouTuber for van/car living. Your stuff just keeps getting better! ❤

[EricAlanMedia]

11:28 That Marcus guy has some good insights huh?

[wendysteinberg]

If you car camp in a Prius 2014 and before that time, with the nickel battery, just hit ac button and set temperature, and you have a really comfortable night. I did it for 3 months in really cold and then hot temps. After 2014 they installed lithium batteries which have trouble starting in the cold temps. Just an idea. Although with your idea, you could do that in any car!

[lih-fkby]

In such a small space as a vehicle I would either push or pull the air but not both, which ever way I would think a hood system to block rain with insect screen would be less complicated and less expensive. One important thing to know about airflow is you can't exhaust more than you can pull in and vice versa

[TereenaEllington]

I love 'crafting' things. I love road trips. I'll be using some of your ideas. Thanks for making your videos fun to watch.

[carmenmarcinkiewicz]

I'm happy I came across your channel!!! You're informative AND so much fun to watch! Your humor and knowledge make watching your videos so much fun! I've subscribed!!

[KPHVAC]

Try it out with just the exhaust fans. Buy the rain guards for all the windows and just leave them open an inch or two.