Even the most dedicated tent camper doesn’t enjoy the experience of tossing and turning through a hot, stuffy night or waking up sweaty as the morning sun cuts through your ripstop. Depending on when and where you camp, it may or may not happen often, but it may not need to happen at all in the future. Or working on a liquid tent cooling system that delivers A/C level temperature drops without requiring anything more complicated than a gallon of water.
Al Kasani, who works as a researcher at UConn’s Center for Clean Energy Engineering, is pursuing new avenues for tent cooling. This turns a basic tent into an evaporative cooler. This research relies on a special tent fabric made of titanium dioxide. It draws water from a reservoir mounted around the base of the tent and distributes it over the entire surface area of the fabric. The heat evaporates the water, creating a cooling effect that reduces the indoor temperature by up to 20 °F (11 °C) compared to the outside temperature.
We have seen many different solutions for cooling a tent over the years, but most are not ideal for one reason or another. Portable air conditioners are becoming more popular and more portable these days, but such units require an external power source to run or charge. However, it can be too big and bulky for lighter style camping. Reflective fabric prevents the interior of the tent from heating up in the sun, but does not cool the tent below ambient temperature.
Kasani’s concept provides cooling without the need for electricity or bulky equipment. The only critical external element to make it work is water. This is usually readily available at organized campsites and can be obtained from natural sources when camping more primitively in the backcountry. It is suitable.
While the tent’s design is still in the research stage, Kasani is working with UConn’s Technology Commercialization Services office on a potential marketable product launch.According to a university newspaper report UConn todaythis design has attracted strong interest in the industry.
I’m curious to see the final prototype and how well the system integrates into a functional tent. Relatively lightweight and packable, like the soft bladder style found in hydration packs and designs similar to retractable cloth dog bowls, keep the tent on par with similarly sized retail tents. seems to be the best way for… weight and portability. A heavier, less stowable reservoir could limit the system’s market appeal.
In addition to recreational camping, Kasani sees the designs being used in tent products built for professional uses such as military, forestry and emergency rescue.
Source: University of Connecticut
