7 replies to this topic

[dole]

I'm thinking about buying an old used pop up camper, and i'm curious if they tend to stay cool enough inside due to ventilation that you could comfortably leave a dog in it for several hours on a hot summer day. Does anyone have experience with this? Whatever I get will be old and have no air conditioning, and it regularly gets up to 90° F where I live.

[ckent323]

First order assuming no A/C:

The camper will heat up to the outside air temp with the windows and vents open.  It will get hotter if the windows and vents are closed.

The campers have minimal insulation in the ceiling and walls of about 1" of solid Styrofoam or Polystyrene which has an R value of 4 - 5.   But the floor pack has no insulation and the windows are all single pane. 

Parking in the shade will help somewhat.  

Bottom line;  From an animal and human safety perspective if it is over 90 outside I would assume it will get to at least the same temperature inside.

[ntsqd]

I would expect forced ventilation to be a requirement, and even then I'm not sure that it stay cool enough inside.

 

Anyone got a data logging thermometer?

[Beach]

I've have/had many dogs and would not leave them in our camper in those conditions. 

[Cpt Davenport]

Don't do it. Not worth the gamble.

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

No no no. Interior temps can be 20*-30* higher than outside temps on a nice spring day.

[flagpondo]

I actually really love and appreciate this feature of having a pop up camper! If you put the top up, open the windows, and turn on the fan I've been able to leave my dog in the camper very comfortably even when it's over 90 outside no problem. I have a thermostat inside so can check temps and make sure. It's been so awesome to have an option to leave the dog in the rig when it's too hot to leave him in the cab of the truck!

 

A few things to consider -

 

1) In my experience, the fan has been crucial (set to blowing inside to outside, not outside to inside),

 

2) Also critical is making sure to keep any windows that are in sun closed, closing curtains for sun-side windows, and I've put a towel or otherwise covered up the door window as well if there's sun from that side

 

3) If it was cool or cold where you camped the night before, and you buttoned up the camper in the morning before it got hot out, odds are your camper is actually much colder than the outside temps which buys you time while it heats up to ambient air (feel the floor when you put them in - it's probably pretty cool)

 

4) If it's 95 outside, your dog would survive laying in the shade next to the truck, so by the same logic they will survive it being 95 with a breeze (i.e. the fan) laying in the shade inside the camper - any exertion, higher temps, less airflow, or direct sun changes that equation

 

Those are my two cents! I've left my dog plenty in the camper, top up (usually just one side), fan on, shady-side windows down, with water, and he's been 100% fine and he has terrible heat tolerance (black german shepherd mix who gets hot at like 65). He's not even panting when I come back!

[michelle_east_county]

I've found our Hallmark Ute stays cooler than truck cab as there isn't the engine heat coming through firewall, exhaust heat up through floor pan, greenhouse effect of sun though windows if pointed towards sun, though there is some benefit of shade from camper cabover. The camper has a powered roof vent fan that moves a lot of air in or out, and the sliding window in front of camper adjacent to rear window of truck can be opened to let air in or out, and no worry of dog pushing out side window screen and leaping out to chase a squirrel. As roof and sides are white and well-insulated, no real heat from there. If top is raised and upper soft side windows are opened, there's even more air with or without vent fan but with little further benefit over top down and roof vent fan on.

In our camper, at worst, temperature will only get up to about whatever it is outside. With other makes and models, differences in insulation reflectivity and emissivity of outer surface may vary from ours, so you'd just have to try it out with a thermometer and preferably without the dog first and see what happens under different conditions.

Edited by michelle_east_county, 18 June 2023 - 11:31 PM.