New to RVing- keeping inside tempo cool for dogs

We are brand spanking new to RVing and renting our first motor home during the 2nd week in October.  In case it matters, it's a 2018 Thor Citation 24ST, about 25' long.  And we have two dogs- both are 45# shelter mutts.

We are wondering about the best way to keep them cool during the short times we will leave them alone.and how much time the A/C will run on the generator or the exhaust fan on the batteries.  We have a whole house fan in our home that does a fantastic job pulling in cool air through open windows.  Will the RV fan do the same?  BTW,  our plan is to be mostly on national forest or BLM land, not in formal campgrounds. 

Any input on this or other things that I have forgotten to ask will be much appreciated!

Thanks!!

Alan

FLS = Forum Laziness Syndrome.  I'm posting my own reply because I committed the cardinal sin in forums which is to mindlessly put up a new post before researching the question in the forum.  I just scrolled down this forum and found many posts that answered my questions.   

Welcome to the site, and I hope you really enjoy RV'ing.

A lot of us suffer from FLS too, so don't feel bad. Sometimes when a question is asked, even for the umphteenth time, a newer member may have a suggestion that hasn't been posted before.

Lol. Naaahhh. Every search doesn't come out the same so no big deal and we are here to chew the fat anyway. The big issue is a question of the dogs being safe all the time. Generators can quit and rv systems such as ac can fail. If our dogs are in a stick and brick dwelling and the ac goes out they can lay on tile floors etc and be fine until we return. With an Rv they are often so poorly insulated and off the ground and surrounded by heat that they become an oven pretty quickly. If you were leaving the rig with animals in it I would be sure that someone is there to monitor it and even then your animals lives are in that persons hands. You need to always think worst case and build to that.

So that is worse case scenario. In hot but not extreme temps with windows open and ceiling vent fan on you can pretty much keep it bearable inside. If we had temps in the 70's it will get into the 80's inside  when using the fan and windows. If the sun is on the patio side the the awning can help a good deal. If you want to run the ac on generator a rough estimate is a few hours per tank but obviously there are a bunch of variables involved. If you haven't purchased a genny that's a whole discussion as to properly sizing it or doing modifications to the ac unit.

As far as running on your battery that is also a whole discussion as to how many batteries you have which means how many available amp hours to use and then you get into how you will recharge them. Recharging gets into generators and upgraded effective converters or solar. Solar gets into where you are camped and when. Deep winter does best with tilted panels. Shading kills output. So post questions and people will answer

Last year, I tried a device called Nimble which was anything but Nimble to use.  Don't know if they have a new and improved version, but the interface with the device and the crew in a foreign country was extremely difficult.  It alerted to temperatures I had tried to program in, but the temps they set were not what I wanted, nor the time frames.  Mostly I got an alert every 10 minutes for a battery that needed charging.  If you find something better, let me know!

We camped next to a family that left their generator on ALL day.... and I mean all day for the AC for their animals... we were the most uncomfortable... as there is nothing worse than listening to a generator all day instead of the birds.... the river, etc. please think of other campers... Plus, yes, the generator can quit! And then there is a severe problem...

We also have a 60 lb golden who camps with us everywhere... if we are in a place where it is too hot to leave her, even for a short time, we always make sure we have Electric hookups... Lots of our camping is in the woods, mountains, where it is a lot cooler... but our trip to St. George last March was warm...no HOT,  We had AC at two spots and where we didn't, we left her in the am, then made sure we were all together in the heat of the day.

Please don't rely on your generator... for many reasons!