Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

...I have seen a lot of cargo conversion folks talking about using a PetCool for AC in their conversion...DON"T DO IT...a Pet Cool is designed to cool/heat 125cuft and it does so rather well...this is well within the range of a TD...however, a 6x6x10 CT has 360 cuft of volume, almost 3 times what a PetCool is recommended for, if you were to use one, I am afraid you might just be disappointed.............
madjack

Once again, MJ is right. They were designed and manufactured to cool dog houses. A cargo trailer is a lot larger than your standard dog house (unless your dog is the size of a horse). It may do the job way up north but down here in Texas I doubt it could keep up.

So..... If you find you have a Pet Cool you can't use, just send me a PM for the address to send it to

I was worried about that too -- it's the primary reason I stopped considering it and went back to looking at portable and 5000 BTU window units. The PetCool appeals because it's designed to be outside, so it takes no room inside the trailer, because you'd only need to cut two small holes, and since it appears portable (with a handle), you don't have to take it with you when you don't need it. But it isn't powerful enough for a CT.

The smallest portable I can find -- HSandy's 7KBTU Haier model at Wal-Mart seems to be the smallest portable available, is still pretty large, and still needs a largish hole to put the hot air out through. Plus you need to keep a gap between the back of the unit and the wall so the exhaust hose can mount and turn out.

Now I'm back looking at the small 5KBTU window units. I think it might be possible to mount it into a screen-door-like panel attached by hinges to the inside of the side door, so that when you're traveling the inside panel with the AC is rotated inward and out of the way, but when you get to the campsite, you open the outer door and close the inside door, and voila! AC. (This is not my idea -- another person on the CTC sub-forum did this. Brilliant!) No cutting into the CT. Still thinking about it though.

In a similar vein, a local photographer that makes his living shooting photos at local racetracks, primarily VIR, (www.virclub.com) has an 18' CT that he uses as his portable printing studio. What he has done is built a wall across the back of the trailer and built in his A/C. He just opens the rear doors to expose the exhaust vents. If you are planning a rear galley, that might be a viable option.

BTW, On the side door he has mounted a curtain of those 4" wide vinyl strips to keep the bugs out and the cool in. That way the door can stay open all day long.
Best,
WA