Hey all! We’re in South Dakota in June. As I’m sure you can all imagine, some days are HOT. Miserably hot and we’re just now hitting the summer months.

The evenings/nights are okay and being in the shade helps tremendously. When we’re in the sun though, it’s rough. I hadn’t thought about it before, but out in the Great Plains/Prairies, there isn’t a lot of natural shade to hide under. 

We spent a lot of time on Google troubleshooting, reaching out to friends, and looking at AC reviews before we were able to decide on a solution.

Our van doesn’t have the capacity to add an overhead AC unit at this time, and our BLUETTI would drain within an hour of utilizing that system, so we were having a tough time figuring out what the best action would be. After some consideration, Gwyn and I bought a portable Pelonis AC unit. We picked the Pelonis because it had the best reviews and multiple options on size. We picked one of the smaller units, since we have to store the unit (in the shower stall) in between uses. My new boss reached out and said we could plug the van directly into his house to keep the van cool. I was able to set the unit to 74* and keep the van at a comfortable temperature for Rose and Holly.

Fortunately when I mentioned our situation and how some days we both work during the day, my boss offered to let us plug into their shore power to run the AC for the pups. We don’t have to use it every day, only when we’re both working days.

The first 80*+ day we were both working, I found a sitter on Rover. That was necessary and definitely a life saver but would become expensive fast. The van is a dark blue/grey, with limited air flow and acts as an oven without the unit.

Thankfully we’ve found a way to take care of the girls when we’re both on the job, and know they’re safe and comfortable in the van during the hot days. It looks like we’ll be using the AC a couple times a week at most, and some weeks we won’t have to use it all. Hopefully we’ll keep the 50* nights as long as we can here, since on of the locals told me the weather is super unpredictable. 

If anyone has any advice or recommendations, I’m all ears.

Over and out,

Whit