Best Air Conditioner for Tent

Camping is such a well-loved activity because it gives you a break from the real world. Even if it is only for a couple of days, camping can be an escape from technology, and work, and all the things that it is easy to get caught up in.

But there are some home comforts that you might not want to be without, and one of these is air conditioning. 

This is especially important if you decide to go camping in the summer as the hot weather can quickly become unpleasant, especially during the nighttime.

In the heat of a warm night it can be difficult to sleep, and all you will want is the HVAC unit that you have fitted in your home. 

Thankfully there are portable air conditioning units which are perfect for camping. But finding the right one for you can be difficult.

We’ve done the hard work so that you don’t have to, so if you want to find out more about some of the best air conditioning units for tents on the market, keep on reading.

Best Air Conditioner for Tent Buying Guide

If you need an air conditioner for your tent then the options that we have looked at above are some of the best on the market. But if you still aren’t certain what you are looking for then we are here to help. 

As well as compiling a shortlist of some of the best air conditioners for tents available, we’ve also put together a helpful buyer’s guide full of absolutely everything that you need to know about these devices.

So if you want to find out more about what you’ve been looking for before you buy then keep on reading. 

Camping with an Air Conditioner

Before you decide to use an air conditioner when camping, you really need to consider how this is going to impact your camping experience.

A lot of people go camping with the intention of using as little electricity as possible, so when you decide to use an air conditioner this can hugely impact your camping experience.

So when you decide to camp with an air conditioner in your set-up, there are two main things that you need to consider. They are the amount of power that you will need and compatibility with your tent.

First you need to think about power. If you are planning on taking an air conditioner on a camping trip with you then this is perhaps the most important thing to consider as without power the air conditioner will not work.

This will impact a number of things when it comes to your camping trip at multiple different stages, beginning with choosing where to camp. 

When you are deciding on your camping location, you will usually choose a campsite as these have excellent amenities that mean you are not too far away from civilization.

However, even some camping sites will not provide connection to electricity. So if you want to use an air conditioning unit you must choose a camping site that offers electricity. 

As well as choosing a campsite that offers electricity, you will also have to be careful when you are pitching your tent to ensure that you are near the designated electricity point.

However, it is possible to use an air conditioner unit in campsites where electricity is not offered, you just need to prepare for this. 

For example, some air conditioning units will be battery powered rather than needing to be connected to mains electricity. These units are usually less powerful, but they can cool the air inside your tent, just make sure you pack a lot of batteries in your kit if you choose this style of air conditioner. 

Alternatively, you may choose to hook your air conditioner unit up to your vehicle’s electricity, which is easy, but it does mean your car needs to be close to your tent.

Finally, you may choose to pack an additional car battery so that you can connect your air conditioner without needing to park your vehicle extremely close to your tent. 

Next, you need to think about the compatibility of your tent. Once you have figured out how you are going to provide electricity to your air conditioner, you can then think about the type of air conditioner that will be most effective with the type of tent that you are using.

There are a huge range of air conditioner units available, so it is important that you buy one that will be able to cool your tent without being too heavy on electricity or so powerful that it makes your tent cold rather than cool. 

You will also need to consider the perfect type of air conditioner for the natural ventilation system in your tent. Some tents will be extremely insulated and others will be more breathable depending on their design, this small design feature will hugely impact the best air conditioner for the job.

Tents that are naturally breathable are great for air conditioning, but they will usually result in the air conditioner being heavy on electricity as you will lose a high percentage of the cold air to the natural ventilation in your tent.

Whereas tents that are more insulated will be naturally hotter, but they will also keep the cool air inside the tent. 

Finding the perfect air conditioner for your tent is not an easy task, and more often than not it will require you to make some alterations to your tent rather than finding the perfect one that will simply slot in and do the job perfectly.

The design of some tents will make a powerful air conditioner be too much which may result in you becoming cold rather than cooled down. Likewise, the design of some tents may mean that a less powerful air conditioner is unable to reach all of the different areas of the tent, preventing it from being able to do its job successfully. 

Finally, when we are talking about compatibility, you also want to consider the physical size of the air conditioner unit. A large air conditioner will be bulky and difficult to transport, which might mean that it isn’t a great idea, especially if you have a large family with lots of camping kit to fit in your car.

So before you purchase a large and powerful air conditioner (even if it seems like a better investment) consider your own situation and whether you will be able to transport it to the campsite alongside your existing camping kit. 

Things to look for in an Air Conditioner

Now that you have considered your situation and how this might impact the perfect air conditioner for your tent, let’s take a look at some of the more objective factors that might impact the perfect air conditioner for you and some of the things that you should look for in an air conditioner for your tent. 

Types of Air Conditioner

The first thing that you need to consider is the type of air conditioner that you want to buy. There are a huge range of different types of air conditioners available, so depending on the type of tent that you are looking to cool, a different type might be more suitable. 

There are lots of different types of air conditioners, but the main ones that you will encounter in relation to tents are portable air conditioners, genuine air conditioners which are placed on a stand for camping use, cordless air conditioners, and the most common type, personal or large evaporative coolers. 

Depending on the type of tent that you are looking to cool a different type will be better suited. For example, if you want to cool a tent that you are sleeping in you might choose a personal evaporative cooler.

But if you are trying to cool a larger tent which will be used for socializing, for example for a wedding, then a series of large evaporative coolers might be better suited. 

So before you buy an air conditioner, you should take a look at the different varieties which are available and buy one which suits the job that you want to do best. 

Size of Tent

The next thing that you need to consider is the size of the tent that you are trying to cool. If you are working to a budget then it can seem easy to just buy a cheap air conditioner, but if you have a large space to cool then the chances are that a lot of budget air conditioners will not be able to cool the air successfully.

So while it can be tempting to choose a cheap option, this might not be the best idea. 

Every single air conditioner which is produced is designed to be able to cool a specific square footage of space. In a lot of budget air conditioners, this square footage is very small, hence why the price point is so low.

So if you want to be able to cool a large tent successfully then you will usually need to invest in a more expensive device. 

As well as considering the square footage of the tent, you should also consider the amount of people who will be inside it.

Body heat has the ability to greatly increase the temperature of the tent, so you need to consider the effect that the people inside the tent will have on the temperature before you buy an air conditioner. 

Power Level

Following on from that, you need to consider the power level of the air conditioner that you are considering buying.

The power of an air conditioner is universally measured using a measurement known as BTU (British Thermal Units) which calculate the amount of energy that the device will require in order to operate correctly. 

BTU works in the same way as most measurements, so the lower the BTU the less energy that the air conditioner will require, and the higher the BTU, the more energy the air conditioner will need to operate. Electricity can be expensive, so it is very important that you consider this when choosing the correct air conditioner for the job. 

As we have said, it can be very tempting to just buy a big and powerful air conditioner if you have the money, simply because on the surface it appears that they will do the job best.

But something you might not consider when making this purchase is the cost of electricity. Even if you can afford a large air conditioner this could end up being a huge waste of money if you only have a small tent. 

So before you purchase an air conditioner, think about the BTU at which it operates and whether you need a powerful air conditioner to be able to cool your tent efficiently. 

Operating Noise

Next, you need to think about the operating noise of the air conditioner. If you have ever used an air conditioner before you will be aware that these devices can be particularly noisy and irritating.

This can be made even more annoying when you have an air conditioner cooling your tent during the night when you are trying to sleep. 

Generally, all air conditioners will come with a certain level of operating noise. But, depending on the type that you buy, this noise does not need to be so annoying that it will keep you up at night or interfere with your ability to relax and enjoy your break.

Something that often impacts the operating noise of an air conditioner is if it has a lot of additional features, so this is something to consider before you make a purchase. 

Unfortunately, a lot of air conditioner producers will sell their products as ‘low noise’ when this isn’t the case. So unless the seller actually lists the exact decibel rating of operating noise then it is best to check the reviews to see how noisy a device is going to be.

But remember, all air conditioners will produce some operating noise, and so it might just be something that you have to live with in order to stay cool at night. 

Ventilation

Finally, you need to consider ventilation when you are buying an air conditioner. This might be the last point that we are looking at, but it is actually one of the most important as bad ventilation in your tent could cause harm to your health. 

One way that ventilation in your tent will impact your air conditioner is that it might affect the efficiency of the device. If the ventilation in your tent is excessive then you might find that some cool air produced by the air conditioner is actually lost as it moves out of the tent instead of inside it. This can be frustrating, but it will not impact your health. 

If you have a battery powered air conditioner then there is no need to worry about it potentially impacting your health due to bad ventilation.

Bad ventilation could only affect your health if the tubing and hoses of gas powered air conditioners are not given a proper outlet to the outdoors. But, most air conditioners are now battery powered or powered by electricity, so this is not as much of a worry as before. 

So before you buy an air conditioner you should think about the ventilation in your tent and whether this will cause some cold air to be lost to the outdoors. 

Summary

In short, the air conditioning units that we have looked at above are some of the best options for your tent.

But if you still aren’t sure, or have any unanswered questions, check out the handy FAQ section we have added below. 

Frequently Asked Questions 

Can you use an air conditioner in a tent?

Yes, you can use an air conditioner in your tent. It is perfectly safe, and the only thing that might prevent you from using an air conditioner is if your campsite does not have electricity,

But the majority of campsites do come with electricity, and so you will almost always be able to use an air conditioner in your tent.

A portable air conditioner is the best choice, but remember that you must buy a powerful air conditioner as it will have to work harder than it would in your home due to the lack of insulation in your tent. 

How do I cool down my tent?

Keeping your tent cool can be a difficult task, especially in the summer months. The most obvious way to cool down your tent is to use an air conditioning unit, however we recognize that this might not always be possible.

If you cannot use an air conditioning unit other ways to keep your tent cool include dis-assembling the tent during the day, camping in the shade, using a reflective sunshade, or using a tent that contains lots of meshes.

All of these steps will reduce the temperature in your tent and make it more comfortable. 

How much does it cost to air condition a tent?

It is difficult to calculate how much it will cost to air condition your tent without knowing the specific size and dynamics of your tent. But it is possible to calculate an average cost if you know the square footage of your tent.

Generally, air conditioning costs between £1 and £1.50 per square foot, so you can use this number to prepare yourself for how much it will cost to air condition your tent.

Simply multiply the square footage of your tent by the cost of air conditioning per square foot to get an average calculation of air conditioning costs. 

How do you cool a large tent?

Keeping a large tent cool could be an Olympic sport because there are so many things that you have to consider for it to be successful.

The best way to keep your large tent cool is to purchase the correct style of tent, in particular one that is breathable, and also to set up this large tent in a shaded area where possible.

Additionally, you could dig a tent pit, pitch the tent when it is cooler, and open all the vents to make it cooler. But the most common way to keep a large tent cool is to use an air conditioning system. 

How can I cool down my wedding tent?

If you are getting married in a tent then keeping it cool is more important than most other situations.

Weddings can be stressful, so cool air is very important. The best way to keep your wedding tent cool is to use fans and air conditioning units.

You should place multiple fans around the dance floor, securing them as high in the air as possible for the best results.

You should also place fans around the outside of the tent to ensure the cold air continues to circulate. This combined with a good air conditioning unit will ensure that your wedding tent remains cool. 

What is the best tent for hot weather?

Some tents are specifically designed for use in warm weather, and they have features which will help keep the inside of the tent cooler during the warm months.

These tents tend to include more mesh in their design, and might use darkroom features to reflect heat back off of the tent rather than into it.

They also tend to be made with material that is less insulating as this allows the heat to move out of the tent rather than trapping it inside. But even these tents will often need to be used with an air conditioner to keep them cool.