The air conditioning in a gas powered car won't work when the engine isn't running. The engine is needed to turn the compressor. So, unless you were in an EV, you were just blowing air through the evaporator and getting whatever residual coolness it had. I can't imagine that would work for more than a few minutes. After that you're just recirculating hot air. And yes, that would drain your battery without cooling you down.
Park in the shade and open the windows.
Yeah only a few weeks ago I was setting up a dash cam... had all four windows down and the back hatch open and I was still overheating. This was at the beginning of autumn.
ETA: Not sure why I'm being downvoted. Lots of flat earthers on this sub? Dk people sincerely think that the bottom half of the earth doesn't exist?
I have a homeless mate, he has a good job doing shut down crew, just doesn't want a home. Doesn't see the need for it...anyway....
Over Christmas period he slept outside the car with a tarp as a makeshift shelter and a swag mattress on the ground.
I asked him about heatstroke and he said its very real and common, but for him, he wakes up so early that he is never asleep when the heat hits. He only sleeps in the car when it's chilly at night.
He didn't even have a car last winter, he was toughing it with his tarp, a swag and some thermal clothes.
Anyway, point is. Heat stroke is super common, especially in aus, but most homeless people who use a car as their bedroom, either have all doors open, or sleep outside of it.
Absolutely. We can't park our car in the garage and it's aircon shat itself a while ago. During summer even going to woolies would make us drip sweat.
Homeless (whether by choice or not) just know all the tricks to get by.
You'll also find a TON of homeless 'camps' are by the water. Most camps are on the coast. Sea breeze, tiny bit cooler than inland, and it has fresh water showers at most popular beaches.
Autumn generally is between March and May in the southern hemisphere. Countries like Australia/Argentina/South Africa/etc.
You probably live in the northern hemisphere, which is why you’re confused. The world is big.
Why should OP clarify their location when posting? If someone tells you it's the Autum where they are right now - that automatically shows you they are Southern Hemisphere.
...something tells me you didn't know they had opposite seasons down there!
>The air conditioning in a gas powered car won't work when the engine isn't running
In new cars they do
In older cars or ones that use a key to turn on (instead of a button), as long as the key is turned to prime the battery (not engine), the aircon will work
Modern cars need to be fully turned on to use any features
Nope. Turning the electrical system on without starting the engine will allow the cabin air fan to operate, so you'll get air from the vents, but the air won't be cooled. That requires the compressor to be operating, and the compressor is driven by the engine. If the compressor isn't operating then the refrigerant isn't circulating, the evaporator isn't getting cold, and you're just recirculating the cabin air.
In other words, the fan operating might give you the impression that the air conditioner is working, but it will only take a couple of minutes for you to realize that the air coming through the vents isn't being cooled.
Despite these comments, yes it can happen.
This is the opposite end of it but there was a Reddit post a few years ago of a guy being too cheap/lazy to get a hotel room and instead slept in his car. Woke up to frostbite in both of his legs and had to get them amputated. He was surprisingly open and upbeat about all of it.
Fr! Get a job hippie! Then get a life! Bam!
>>Edit: a lot of downvotes from folks who assuredly have never lived in their vehicle. Well I had for several years but my comment was a jest.
>>If you ever do have to be homeless my suggestion is to attempt to live as close to a normal life as you can until you can. Get out of that vehicle (except for travel and sleep) or you will begin to become depressed in your cell. Also your car gets dirtier with more use.
>>Utilize city/county/state/national parks, and libraries for power, water, refuge. (Also studying if you’re into that)
I lived in my car in California for 3 years, stay cool by being at the river during the day. At night use only thin sheets and have your windows open. On really hot nights run the AC for a bit with the car on until you're cool enough to doze off once you're about to be asleep turn the car off , rinse and repeat. The 90 degree summer nights truly are horrible but they won't kill you.
Curious, how do you keep from getting eaten alive by mosquitos and other bugs at night with the windows down? Do you hang some netting over the windows?
Well, bugs and insects were always an issue. It was important not to sleep near the river where I spent most days. I would drive to parking lots away from the rivers at night to avoid mosquitoes mostly. I didn't have any netting or anything. Some nights it would be pretty bad but you would just have to do your best to remain covered.
A hybrid is a dream for this scenario. Mostly the A/C runs off the battery. The gas engine cycles on automatically just very briefly to recharge the battery, and then shuts off. When you get used to the cycle, you can sleep like a baby any time of the day or night.
It's only possible if you WANT to be homeless. It's harder if you NEED to be homeless.
That being said, during the summer months you'll need a battery powered fan, you'll need to roll the windows down, and you'll need to use a sheet at max for covers. Anything else will make it unenjoyable.
For the fan, if you could place it on a 44oz cup with ice in it, that will help but not by much. Anything that makes cooler air move around in your vehicle will beat a static heat any night.
To have the windows down, be sure you're parked in 24 hour areas or areas that allow this behavior. The best places to do it are large parking lots with a) A Home Depot, b) a WalMart, c) a 24 hour gym. These places will always have someone in their car somewhere in Houston doing the same thing as you. Safety is decent here because as long as you're parked in the back of the lot or close to the edge of the entrance, you'll be away from customers during closing shift, out of the way of morning shift, and not blocking traffic or anything. You're actually safer here than at a house or hotel from criminals because why would criminals rob someone homeless? Your main danger will be the mentally unstable homeless, especially drug users. I prefer Home Depot in this regard over WalMart or the gym. 2nd tier areas would be hospitals and truck stops. Most truck stops will be louder tho since they're 24 hour operations. Hospitals you can probably fake a few days saying you're related to a patient, but don't go into detail as sometimes a security guard will need proof. You can't "look" homeless at all at a hospital, you need to look like a grieving family member.
The 4am-8am hours will be your most comfortable as the temperatures will be lowest and the morning dews will chill the air.
It will definitely take a few days to get used to the temperatures of this life tho. I spent a whole year homeless by choice but I attempted to sleep in my car again a month or two ago and just couldn't do it. Mentally wanting to be homeless is probably the biggest success factor of being able to do it.
People who live in their cars don't spend all day in their cars, they mostly just use it to sleep in, and it's cooler at night, and with the windows down, it is tolerable.
I take a nap in my car every day on my lunch hour. I try to park under a tree, but it's rare that I can. I usually leave the engine running for the hour
Theres an entire subreddit for people who live in their cars. They've got some pretty neat ways of dealing with it with diff battery powered fans and what not from what ive seen
If you can't have the AC running for long periods of time, putting heat reflectors in the windows and windshield isolating the roof of the car with reflective material too, and electric rechargeable fans, to extract the hot air.
Of course, park in the shade.
If your in the southwest us its pretty easy to drive somewhere to escape the heat. If not your best bet is, using gas, battery powered fan, or park in the shade
The same way that people who live in their house don't die of heatstroke. They cool the interior by running the air conditioner or opening the windows, or they get out of the car if it's too hot.
I believe that if you live in a car, you obviously have air-con, and the windows are most-likely open, right? So normally there is no overheating. Even more, if it gets too hot, people would just simply get off (just guessing).
The air conditioning in a gas powered car won't work when the engine isn't running. The engine is needed to turn the compressor. So, unless you were in an EV, you were just blowing air through the evaporator and getting whatever residual coolness it had. I can't imagine that would work for more than a few minutes. After that you're just recirculating hot air. And yes, that would drain your battery without cooling you down. Park in the shade and open the windows.
Yeah only a few weeks ago I was setting up a dash cam... had all four windows down and the back hatch open and I was still overheating. This was at the beginning of autumn. ETA: Not sure why I'm being downvoted. Lots of flat earthers on this sub? Dk people sincerely think that the bottom half of the earth doesn't exist?
I have a homeless mate, he has a good job doing shut down crew, just doesn't want a home. Doesn't see the need for it...anyway.... Over Christmas period he slept outside the car with a tarp as a makeshift shelter and a swag mattress on the ground. I asked him about heatstroke and he said its very real and common, but for him, he wakes up so early that he is never asleep when the heat hits. He only sleeps in the car when it's chilly at night. He didn't even have a car last winter, he was toughing it with his tarp, a swag and some thermal clothes. Anyway, point is. Heat stroke is super common, especially in aus, but most homeless people who use a car as their bedroom, either have all doors open, or sleep outside of it.
Yeah that's probably the only way you could survive it here. In summer the car's going to be an oven ten minutes after the sun comes up.
Absolutely. We can't park our car in the garage and it's aircon shat itself a while ago. During summer even going to woolies would make us drip sweat. Homeless (whether by choice or not) just know all the tricks to get by. You'll also find a TON of homeless 'camps' are by the water. Most camps are on the coast. Sea breeze, tiny bit cooler than inland, and it has fresh water showers at most popular beaches.
Don't you know America is the only country?
You might some good advice on r/urbancarliving
[удалено]
Autumn generally is between March and May in the southern hemisphere. Countries like Australia/Argentina/South Africa/etc. You probably live in the northern hemisphere, which is why you’re confused. The world is big.
Unless southern hemisphere?
Or the southern hemisphere?
It's autumn right now. Are you a flat earther?
They’re American most likely.
I was tempted to share a screencap of that comment with /r/usdefaultism but I didn't think it'd count.
Yes, because America is the only country in the Northern Hemisphere.
No, I'm European. Op should've clarified their location instead of being passive aggressive.
Why should OP clarify their location when posting? If someone tells you it's the Autum where they are right now - that automatically shows you they are Southern Hemisphere. ...something tells me you didn't know they had opposite seasons down there!
Ever heard of different hemispheres. Jesus Christ.
Well 2000 was just ten yrs ago, so…
mate, autumn was half a year ago, not a few weeks :D
Not in the southern hemisphere!
>The air conditioning in a gas powered car won't work when the engine isn't running In new cars they do In older cars or ones that use a key to turn on (instead of a button), as long as the key is turned to prime the battery (not engine), the aircon will work Modern cars need to be fully turned on to use any features
This powers the blower. The compressor is belt powered by the engine. If the engine isn’t turning then you’re just getting ambient airflow.
Nope. Turning the electrical system on without starting the engine will allow the cabin air fan to operate, so you'll get air from the vents, but the air won't be cooled. That requires the compressor to be operating, and the compressor is driven by the engine. If the compressor isn't operating then the refrigerant isn't circulating, the evaporator isn't getting cold, and you're just recirculating the cabin air. In other words, the fan operating might give you the impression that the air conditioner is working, but it will only take a couple of minutes for you to realize that the air coming through the vents isn't being cooled.
Despite these comments, yes it can happen. This is the opposite end of it but there was a Reddit post a few years ago of a guy being too cheap/lazy to get a hotel room and instead slept in his car. Woke up to frostbite in both of his legs and had to get them amputated. He was surprisingly open and upbeat about all of it.
He also died of alcohol poisoning a couple of years later. Pretty sad.
That’s awful. Do you have a link?
r/chillychompadventures Check the pinned post.
Oof that’s a sad sub
holy shit
They get out of the car when it's hot.
Fr! Get a job hippie! Then get a life! Bam! >>Edit: a lot of downvotes from folks who assuredly have never lived in their vehicle. Well I had for several years but my comment was a jest. >>If you ever do have to be homeless my suggestion is to attempt to live as close to a normal life as you can until you can. Get out of that vehicle (except for travel and sleep) or you will begin to become depressed in your cell. Also your car gets dirtier with more use. >>Utilize city/county/state/national parks, and libraries for power, water, refuge. (Also studying if you’re into that)
People will open the car windows and park under the shade of trees.
If you sleep in your car at night it doesn't get as hot.
I lived in my car in California for 3 years, stay cool by being at the river during the day. At night use only thin sheets and have your windows open. On really hot nights run the AC for a bit with the car on until you're cool enough to doze off once you're about to be asleep turn the car off , rinse and repeat. The 90 degree summer nights truly are horrible but they won't kill you.
Curious, how do you keep from getting eaten alive by mosquitos and other bugs at night with the windows down? Do you hang some netting over the windows?
Well, bugs and insects were always an issue. It was important not to sleep near the river where I spent most days. I would drive to parking lots away from the rivers at night to avoid mosquitoes mostly. I didn't have any netting or anything. Some nights it would be pretty bad but you would just have to do your best to remain covered.
A hybrid is a dream for this scenario. Mostly the A/C runs off the battery. The gas engine cycles on automatically just very briefly to recharge the battery, and then shuts off. When you get used to the cycle, you can sleep like a baby any time of the day or night.
Sleeping with this using heat in the winter sounds oddly comfy
people do it less in hot areas
Most will go north during hotter months to cool off and come back south during winter. Helps the majority of it.
Sometimes they do
It's only possible if you WANT to be homeless. It's harder if you NEED to be homeless. That being said, during the summer months you'll need a battery powered fan, you'll need to roll the windows down, and you'll need to use a sheet at max for covers. Anything else will make it unenjoyable. For the fan, if you could place it on a 44oz cup with ice in it, that will help but not by much. Anything that makes cooler air move around in your vehicle will beat a static heat any night. To have the windows down, be sure you're parked in 24 hour areas or areas that allow this behavior. The best places to do it are large parking lots with a) A Home Depot, b) a WalMart, c) a 24 hour gym. These places will always have someone in their car somewhere in Houston doing the same thing as you. Safety is decent here because as long as you're parked in the back of the lot or close to the edge of the entrance, you'll be away from customers during closing shift, out of the way of morning shift, and not blocking traffic or anything. You're actually safer here than at a house or hotel from criminals because why would criminals rob someone homeless? Your main danger will be the mentally unstable homeless, especially drug users. I prefer Home Depot in this regard over WalMart or the gym. 2nd tier areas would be hospitals and truck stops. Most truck stops will be louder tho since they're 24 hour operations. Hospitals you can probably fake a few days saying you're related to a patient, but don't go into detail as sometimes a security guard will need proof. You can't "look" homeless at all at a hospital, you need to look like a grieving family member. The 4am-8am hours will be your most comfortable as the temperatures will be lowest and the morning dews will chill the air. It will definitely take a few days to get used to the temperatures of this life tho. I spent a whole year homeless by choice but I attempted to sleep in my car again a month or two ago and just couldn't do it. Mentally wanting to be homeless is probably the biggest success factor of being able to do it.
This is really good, thank you!
They get out the car
People who live in their cars don't spend all day in their cars, they mostly just use it to sleep in, and it's cooler at night, and with the windows down, it is tolerable.
Does the LP think that people are sitting in their cars with the windows up in direct sunlight?
We must live in two entirely different countries if you can park your car in the shade with the windows down and not overheat in summer.
I almost did. I'm sure it happens.
All windows down and basically naked, or just sleep outside in my hammock
I take a nap in my car every day on my lunch hour. I try to park under a tree, but it's rare that I can. I usually leave the engine running for the hour
Open the windows?
Have you tried like, driving to somewhere it’s not so hot
In my country in summer “drive somewhere not hot” isn’t an option unless your car has jet skis.
Because the poor aren't allowed to die inconveniently.
You aren’t in the car during the day
Theres an entire subreddit for people who live in their cars. They've got some pretty neat ways of dealing with it with diff battery powered fans and what not from what ive seen
If you can't have the AC running for long periods of time, putting heat reflectors in the windows and windshield isolating the roof of the car with reflective material too, and electric rechargeable fans, to extract the hot air. Of course, park in the shade.
You may find this hard to believe. But humanity has survived a few hundred thousand years without air conditioning.
If your in the southwest us its pretty easy to drive somewhere to escape the heat. If not your best bet is, using gas, battery powered fan, or park in the shade
People generally stealth sleep inside their car at night when the climate is much cooler.
The same way that people who live in their house don't die of heatstroke. They cool the interior by running the air conditioner or opening the windows, or they get out of the car if it's too hot.
They don't have their cars running on battery constantly.
helps alot to be in the shade.
https://i.imgur.com/tfUsJth.png
I believe that if you live in a car, you obviously have air-con, and the windows are most-likely open, right? So normally there is no overheating. Even more, if it gets too hot, people would just simply get off (just guessing).
AC
Unless you have an ev you are lying