Staying cool in an RV in the Phoenix area in August...

We arrived back in Mesa, AZ the weekend of August 10 and it was a hellish 100-teens degrees.  I was not looking forward to this aspect of our adventure.  I questioned whether our Mesa Ridge would be able to keep us cool even with the two air conditioners because of the huge slides.  Thankfully we already had our custom window shades made and we added insulation by sliding reflectix behind the shades on the outside of the window (we had already cut the pieces prior to leaving and they were all numbered for quick installation).  We left two windows without the reflectix so that I could look out of the window looking towards the front of the trailer and the one by the kitchen sink.  Being able to look out of a couple of windows helps my mental health - otherwise I feel like I am all boxed up.  Some people put the reflectix on the inside of the trailer, but this allows the windows to get hot - ours were cool to the touch from the inside.  I have also heard of the molding around the windows on the outside getting so hot that they melt or cause problems.  By having the reflectix on the outside between the window and the solar shades we protected the windows from the sun. 

We had placed some orders through Amazon and one of our two packages was waiting at our lot when we returned (the other never showed up and we ended up getting refund).  We then spent a great deal of time at Lowe's purchasing the rest of the items we needed to build our shade structure.  The slide side of our trailer faces the afternoon sun and we wanted to put that side of the trailer in the shade.  I knew the first shade cloth I bought was not long enough, but I wasn't sure how much more to buy prior to building the frame.  We were up half of the night of the 11th putting this together...

We ended up pounding six fence posts into the ground and then sliding the 1" galvanized chain-link fence posts over the pounded ones.  We connected the corners with PVC fittings.  I don't think we would have been able to stay cool without the shade structure.  The difference in temperature between the shaded and unshaded siding was significant.  Also, before I put up the second shade cloth, I could feel the temperature difference inside the trailer along the top molding of the large slide between the shaded and unshaded portions. 

A couple of weeks later we also added bracing between the 3 sets of two vertical posts after the wind of a monsoon storm wreaked havoc on the structure.... It has held up much better since then...

The last piece of our shade structure was shade canopy from Shade RV.  They took forever to produce it and mail it to us...it took about 45 days from when we ordered until we received it, but we finally got it up in September for the last couple weeks of extreme heat.

The shade canopy was expensive ($700) - but it is something we can put up and take down depending on the weather.  It certainly keeps the blazing sun off of the roof.  We have two skylights in our unit and having the shade over them keeps them much cooler.  I am not sure if we realized any cost savings in terms of running the air conditioner less....I don't think so - but it is hard to say.  One thing I can say is that it was a pain in the butt to put up without our ladder!  We had left it up at the Rancho.  The canopy has been through a few storms and the straps hold it well to the trailer.  I am glad we have all of the components of our shade structure for next summer.  Our small cargo trailer serves as a shed where we can store everything while we are traveling. 

Thankfully we were able to keep our indoor temperature at 78-80 degrees even when it 100-high teens degrees.  This is a huge win because as a general rule RV air conditioners can only bring the temp down 20 degrees from the outside temp.  Consider that when it was 115, 30 degrees cooler is 85 degrees!  So we were doing better than 30 degrees cooler on the hottest days.  There are a few caveats and actions we needed to take as well.

1. Lessen the time and frequency of the front door being open.  We line up.  "Is everyone ready?"  Then we make a mad dash in or out of the trailer. 
2. No heating up the place.  No cooking on the stove or in the oven when both ACs are working overtime.  We could use the microwave and, when brave, cook outside.  (I admit that we mostly ate out)
3. The RV fridge had a hard time keeping cool in extreme heat. We used the outdoor electric fridge to supplement.   
4. Run a fan all the time.  The rear AC for the bunkhouse has a smaller area to cool and we blew the air from the bunkhouse into the main living area all summer.
5. No hot water!  It may be hard to believe but we didn't turn on our hot water heater for about 6 weeks after being back in the valley.  When it is that hot outside the tap water is hot too - plenty hot for showers/baths and dishes.  In fact, when you are using a hose you have to be careful not to scald yourself when you first turn on the water during the heat of the day.  The water in the hose gets really hot.  

Our electric bill for dealing with a month of AZ heat was $200.