How to cool a tent without electricity

Camping is an amazing way to spend your long weekends. It rejuvenates your spirit with nature and one of the simplest ways to explore yourself. Success or failure of camping really depends on the weather you choose for camping outdoors. Learn some super hacks on how to cool a tent without electricity.

Camping in the summers is much easier than in winters. Having said that, certain weather does not affect our camping experience but still there is a lot to look forward to before camping. A swim in the lake nearby can help you in heat time but it won’t be useful at night. To have a comfortable sleep at night you need to find a way to make a tent cooler during hot days. If you don’t want to buy camping coolers you can always stay cool while camping in a tent using various other methods.

Reason for tents getting hot

There are enormous reasons for a camping tent to be overheated, such as choosing a wrong camping area or setting up the tent too early in the daylight. Such mistakes like these can result in unpleasant camping experiences. One of the major reasons for tents overheating is lack of ventilation in the tent making it a hot hut.

Tents usually get hot due to the greenhouse effect which is used for growing vegetables, flowers etc. This effect is created as the human body from respiration and sweat produces about 1.25 litre of water. These droplets are then collected on the walls of the tent. Other gas produced during breathing is Carbon Dioxide which is combined with other gases like moisture in the air due to wet clothes or wet sleeping bags.Being human we need to breathe and we produce Carbon Dioxide. These gases get condensed in small places and keep the heat in the tent.

This same has been seen on the earth. Due to excessive pollution the temperature of the earth has been rising for decades. So the only way to keep the tent from overheating is to have enough ventilation.

Choosing the right location of the tent

It is applicable to all the sun lovers. You wish to keep yourself in the sun the whole day, don’t do the same thing with your tent. Keeping the tent in a shaded area is Common Sense!! Imagine you are coming from a sun bath and then getting into a sauna. How does that feel? The same happens if you keep the tent in all day sun.

So what to be done? Find a shaded area like a tree or a building or bushes etc, a perfect spot to keep the tent whole day long. Since the sun rotates all in all directions, find if the place you selected is the least affected by the rays of the sun.You can also find an area near a river or stream. I ll say go for it. A little wind or breeze coming will make a huge difference.

Staying away from the sun will not reduce the greenhouse effect. You need to let the tent breathe which could help the tent to remain cooler for nights for you to breathe.

Best Time to Set up a tent

Most of us don’t like to wait, we start assembling our tents as soon as we arrive because besides the excitement of camping, especially the freshers, deep in our head after some bottles of beer and barbecues we can't be bothered with something like this. Ohh, that's fair enough but then you are giving a tent to trap as much heat as possible. So waiting for the sun to set would be the best time to introduce your tent to the camping environment you have selected to explore, have loads of fun with family or your friends, so that sleeping inside the tent would be more comfortable as the environment nearby has less heat as you install the tent.

 

Let's talk about some of the best ways of how to keep cool in a tent

Suppose you have arrived at a spot in the morning sun. You need to figure out do you really need the tent or you can do away with that. Will you use the tent as soon as you arrive? This certainly be the first question to ask. If the answer to the question is yes or in case you did not find a suitable place to build up your tent then there are particular ways you can set it up so that the tent remains cooler even during the day time.

Use blanket to reflect the heat

Every camper is aware that it is very common ending up at a camping place where there are barely any natural shades in the camping areas. Hence they improvise according to their requirements depending on the environment and atmosphere.

I have come across many people who choose the beach as their camping destination which has no shade of trees or other such nature shades, which simply means it has a direct hit of the sun on the camping tent. So, if you have built up a tent in such a place during day time, the time you come back to your tent with a relaxing, resting mood, you will find the tent you can hardly breathe, it's that dead hot. The hot air in the climate also heats up the tent without any place of ventilation for the air to pass through making it as hot as a heated oven.

After scaring you with this, let me also provide an inexpensive way to let the tent remain cooler that would make a huge difference. Your shelter can be protected from heat by just a blanket. YES! Indeed using a huge blanket, depending on the size of the tent, for covering it completely can play a role of heat resistant and keep your tent cooler in the prevailing weather conditions.

There are these special kind of blanket covers which come with only one purpose i.e.

to reflect the heat coming from the sun works both ways like tent insulation. In choosing the blanket you should look for a little sturdy material that will last longer than usual. If you are unable to cover the tent with 1 then buy 2 - 4 blankets to cover the tent. They are economical and could cost around $10 - $15 each if you are having a small tent 2 would be enough.

Color of tent

This is a little tricky. By choosing the right color camping tent can save a lot of pain and stay cool while camping. Everyone's aware that dark color tents breathe more heat and light colour tents are good reflectors.

Dark colors are favorites to some, hence they tend to buy tents dark in color. My personal favorite is black. I prefer to buy black the most. But the flaw in buying a black or any other dark color tent is that they result in absorption of heat. This will refrain from keeping cool while camping.

If the chosen destination has a cluster of trees or shades, that one can opt for a darker color inorder to avoid bright light to enter the tent. This could serve good sleep during day time as well. But, before anything, one should also be knowledgeable about the place and purpose of camping. If you are going to be out the whole day for hiking or more time for playing outdoors then you can also go with a white colored tent.

Removing Rain fly

Usually a tent comes with a rain fly. Removing the rain fly would increase the ventilation. This can be helpful in the air flow in hot weather and keeping your tent cool in summers.

Tent Material

Material used in making the camping tents are 2 very popular and inexpensive materials; Nylon and Polyester. Most of the tents are made using these materials. They are light in weight and are also portable.

Compared to above Canvas Tents are great in preventing heat but usually are very expensive and mostly used in car camping.

Battery Powered fan

Always remember to get a battery powered fan or a portable tent air conditioner unit. This can really be cool to make camping a great experience.

Final Conclusion

Experienced campers do carry person tent but usually avoid taking loads of stuff along with them while camping like an ac unit. In case you still wish to have a personalised portable air conditioner to maintain your body temperature, you can check out our article with Tent with AC port. They follow basics, the less the better. Having said that, if you can keep the tent cool without an air conditioner it would be great. Also, airflow with ventilation of the tent and the timing of pitching the tent is key that the tents stay cool.

We have shared few tricks and tips that can benefit you in your camping experience and to stay cool while camping without usage of electricity and carrying unnecessary things for you to stay cool in a tent.

We hope we were able to answer all your questions and clarify all your doubts regarding the best way to cool a tent.

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