Running AC Too Long?

BeastModeABM

BeastModeABM

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Hi all!.. question. I've been overlanding parts of moab and canyonlands Utah for the past few days. We sleep in the Jeep with the windows cracked (I forgot to buy a bug net for the windows). Some nights have been pretty warm so I've been running my AC at night for hours at a time. Should I worry about over-use of AC while not driving?


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I can't imagine bugs being an issue in desert areas once it is all the way dark out. Dusk and dawn being the issue normally.

I'd hit up a hardware store, buy some window screen and some magnets and rig up some screens.
 
I have done this before, with no problems. I would consider the impact on your engine maintenance schedule. In the boating community, we track engine hours, between oil changes. I would increase the frequency of your oil changes. emergency service vehicles, that idle many hours a day, take the same precautions.
 
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Jeff Graham said:
I have done this before, with no problems. I would consider the impact on your engine maintenance schedule. In the boating community, we track engine hours, between oil changes. I would increase the frequency of your oil changes. emergency service vehicles, that idle many hours a day, take the same precautions.
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That's actually a really good point. I never looked at it that way! Right now I change my oil with synthetic every 5000. I'm thinking I should stick closer to 3000 when doing trips like this. [emoji848]


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Running the engine to use the AC at night will not drain the battery...

As long as your AC and cooling system are in good working order, you should have no issues. Make sure you consider the second and third order effects though, like exhaust (carbon monoxide) coming into the cab, and the potential for hot exhaust systems to come into contact with dry desert grasses and start fires.
 
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mellowdave said:
Running the engine to use the AC at night will not drain the battery...

As long as your AC and cooling system are in good working order, you should have no issues. Make sure you consider the second and third order effects though, like exhaust (carbon monoxide) coming into the cab, and the potential for hot exhaust systems to come into contact with dry desert grasses and start fires.
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You are dead on with the carbon monoxide issue. Most of the time it only becomes an issue when the vehicle is stuck either in mud/water or snow and the engine is left running and the exhaust has no where to go and builds up under the body and is forced into the vehicle. I remember reading a news article years ago where a group of guys where in a bronco II and had become stuck in the mud left the engine on for heat overnight and all four of them died. One of those stories that has always stuck in the back of my mind.
 
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Don't have this issue in Norway - it's never that warm or humid........

Most of us have AC fitted in the car as standard kit, but none of us really use it - except maybe for ca.1 week a year during the height of summer.
But compared to your weather conditions, we don't experience the need for running AC.

I don't think I would wish to run it overnight, if at all possible.
Not the most "green" / "environmentally friendly" activity.
 
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