How To Keep Your RV Cool on Hot Days

Hikes to the best secret swimming spots, a rope swing leading into a crisp lake, floating down a gentle river on an inflatable tube, sitting by a campground pool—RV trips on the warmest days of the year bring some of the best memories., These hot days can be challenging for RVers looking to stay cool inside the RV.   

Intense sun rays can often overpower an unprepared RV and RVers, creating uncomfortable temperatures for the whole family.  

As native Floridians, we are pretty accustomed to dealing with hot days, but as we expanded our RV trip range to new states, National Parks, and destinations around the country, we found new challenges and unfamiliar climates. Dry heat, 100+ degree days, and minimal shade were some of the many new challenges we faced, and initially, we struggled to keep our RV cool.  

This will be our fourth summer traveling across the country in our RV. Since that first trip, we have experienced many hot climates and RV destinations and learned many great tips for keeping our RV comfortable on those hotter days.  

So, these are our top tips for keeping your RV cool on hot days. 

But first, these tips worked for us and our RVs. Many factors will affect an RV's ability to manage internal temperatures, including, but not limited to, its age, condition, floor plan, A/C units, window placements, and more. This is not an exact science but merely tips you may find impactful on your next RV journey. Always consult your dealer before making alterations to your RV or traveling to intense climates.

1. Plan for shade in advance 

Our first tip for keeping your RV cool on hot summer days is to find a campground or RV site with adequate tree coverage or shade. This overhead shade will reduce the sun's impact on heating your RV's roof, exterior walls, and windows. An RV’s exterior is the first line of defense against the sun and the heat transfer from outside your RV that follows. 

An excellent way to determine whether shade will be provided at a campground is to check reviews ahead of time, use Google Earth to scope out sites, or simply call the campground to inquire about natural shade or locking in a shady site. Keep in mind that just a single tree can provide ample shade. It’s not about full tree coverage or blocking natural light. 

However, this is only sometimes possible; as some locations offer no shade or you may not have control over your site selection.

Shade on the side of the RV with a lot of windows makes a big difference in interior temperatures.

2. Block the heat, keep your cool   

Studies show that up to 78 percent of the sunlight passing through your RV’s windows will transfer in heat. As a result, increasing temperatures inside your RV will create additional stress on your A/C system and may lead to your A/C freezing over, burning out, or breaking down.  

The central concept of keeping your RV cool is finding simple strategies that reduce the amount of pressure on your A/C system from heat so it can perform to the best of its ability and keep the climate under control. RV A/C units are understandably incapable of combating extreme temperatures all day, so let’s talk about ways to block the heat and maintain the cool inside.  

• Utilize your RV’s awning to block the sun: The sun moves throughout the day, and it may reach a stage where the rays shine down on the side of the RV with the awning. When you extend your awning, it will block the sun from touching the surface of the windows or walls under the awning, reducing the transfer of heat from outside in.  
• Another surefire way to beat the heat inside your RV is to cover sun-exposed windows with Reflectix, a double reflective insulation radiant barrier. Assess the areas where the sun exposure will be highest on the RV. Cover these windows with Reflectix to insulate them and reject the heat trying to enter through the less insulated part of your RV.  

Reflectix on our back window, mainly covered by our window shade. 

• If you are worried about blocking natural light, you can use Velcro command strips to easily apply or remove the Reflectix as the sun moves to and then away from that window. Once the direct rays have moved on, you can enjoy the indirect natural light from that window once more.  

Over the last few years, the strategy of utilizing Reflectix on RV windows has become increasingly popular among RVers due to its highly practical nature, inexpensive cost, and simple installation.  

Another great accessory is an insulated cover for your ceiling vents. These pillow-like covers fit into the RV roof vent and block sunlight and heat from entering the RV from the thin plastic vent covers on most RVs. We only recently discovered these and quickly saw how impactful this accessory is on the hotter days of the year when every degree matters. Many variations of this accessory can be found in stores or online from manufacturers like Camco and others. 

3. Keep your AC maintenance up to date 

RV AC units can be finicky and require constant attention and maintenance. An essential step to preparing for hot climates is ensuring your AC system is in tip-top shape to perform its best. This includes replacing AC filters, which we change every 1-2 months—performing routine maintenance on the roof-mounted AC unit, and keeping the systems clean and free of dirt, debris, and bugs. We have found that the cleaner your unit and filters are, the stronger the airflow is, leading to more cold air flowing through your RV. 

4. Keep the cool air in 

Get ahead of the heat. Hot days often begin with cool mornings. We have found that this is the best time to begin preparing for the heat. It is more difficult to cool down a hot RV than to keep a cold RV cool.  

As the sun sets and temperatures drop, we strategically aim to cool down our RV as we sleep, running all AC units on high settings and lower temperatures.  

When we wake up, it is usually cold, almost too cold to be comfortable. We have found that starting cool, almost cold, is the easiest way to maintain a cooler interior throughout the day as outside temperatures rise. Don’t turn off the ACs when you wake up, and don’t give in to the temptation of raising the thermostat a few degrees to lose the chill. As the day heats up, the RV interior will also, but starting cold will be worth the chill.  

As the interior temperature rises, adjust the thermostat a few degrees to match that change, if you don’t, the gap between the thermostat and the actual interior will cause your AC to freeze or shut down from overworking itself to achieve the impossible goal.  

Invest in a floor fan and dump the cold air: On the first hot summer day, my wife and I always struggle to feel cool when inside. Then, we remember the beauty and power of a floor fan. Having a fan to circulate the air in your RV makes a huge difference. Most RV AC vents are confined to certain areas of your RV. Adding a floor fan circulates that cool air to more areas of your RV.  

Some RVs have duct or vent issues that may cause your AC to disperse out into the ceiling or away from the vents, causing a loss of potential cool air. We like to beat that by opening the AC and allowing it to dump out the maximum amount of air possible, especially from our RV bedroom and second AC. We then use our plug-in floor fan to circulate that air and push it out toward the living room, where backup is needed.  This strategy has worked exceptionally well for us on the hotter days of the year.