Color of Van Effect on Inside Temp

[myway_1]

I am wondering how much of an effect the color of a van has on how hot it gets inside in summer. (I know it has an effect but how big an effect?)

For example if a dark vehicle is out in the sun will the interior get hot alot faster than a white vehicle?

After setting in the sun for hours will the interior of the dark vehicle be hotter or at that point will they be the same?

Is painting the top white good enough or does the entire vehicle need to be white?

If the vehicle has a fiberglass high-top does the color of it make a difference?

Would it look weird to paint the high-top of a dark van white? Anyone have pics of that?

Thanks!

 

[Ballenxj]

I am wondering how much of an effect the color of a van has on how hot it gets inside in summer. (I know it has an effect but how big an effect?)

back in the day, my brother and I both had 1967 442's, and we both worked at the same cabinet shop where we parked our cars in the employee lot in the direct sun, parked the same direction, and side by side in Las Vegas, NV. My brothers car was white, and mine was a dark green. One day we put a thermometer in each car while making sure they were not in direct sun light. We checked them at lunch time and found mine was about 10 degrees hotter.
Ten degrees may not sound like a lot, but trust me, on a hot day in a Vegas summer, ten degrees mad a huge difference.

 

[ClassyGlobal]

Silver vehicle with white top for me it is then. Good research @Ballenxj

 

[SternWake]

Color makes a huge difference.

I first painted my grey van's high top white. Huge reduction in temps. After I painted van body white, again huge difference, but more so at lower sun angles.

Adequate ventilation, exchanging inside air for outside air can negate much of the elevated temperature caused by dark colors.

Tight fitting reflextix window shades on the sunny side also make a big difference in interior temperatures.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Over on the Cargo Trailer sub-forum of the Teardrops and Tiny Travel Trailers forum, someone reported that they had compared a white trailer and a dark blue trailer parked side by side on a hot sunny day with one of those infrared thermometers.  The skin temperature on the dark trailer was 20 degrees hotter than the skin temperature on the white trailer.

 

[Thirsty Boots Nomad]

Silver vehicle with white top for me it is then.  Good research @Ballenxj

Right there with you; ... a few weeks ago I was checking out/considering a chrome wrap for my next rv (decided against it because I figured I might blind other motorists on clear, sunny days).

And yes, if anyone is wondering if a chrome wrap is actually available/possible; it is

 

[Gary68]

yes the color makes a difference but if you park in direct sun on a 100 degree day it will be to hot no matter what color

in the shade is where you will see the best relief,whether a tree or some type of canopy/tarp

bob has a video about his

 

[myway_1]

Silver vehicle with white top for me it is then.  Good research @Ballenxj

Is there something especially good about a silver vehicle?

 

[vtwinkicker]

I worked in the Automotive paint industry for many years. I had a graph showing temperature difference by color. From white to black was a good 40 or more degree difference in temp. Probably more but I'm trying to err on the low side as I don't remember the exact numbers.

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

Is there something especially good about a silver vehicle?

I think silver and white are similar as far as heat absorption goes,  silver and white are also the best when it comes to hiding scratches and looking clean. 

Here's a study done on this exact subject
https://phys.org/news/2011-10-silver-white-cars-cooler.html

 

[caretaker]

did you ever notice NASA paints ALL their stuff white,,,,must be a reason

 

[TrainChaser]

When you're out on the road, take notice of how many white vans you see, compared to the total number of black, dark blue, dark red ones .... There must be a reason.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I am wondering how much of an effect the color of a van has on how hot it gets inside in summer. (I know it has an effect but how big an effect?)

The difference in interior temp between a white and black vehicle in full sun is about 20ºF.  It will vary based on a number of variables including the color of the interior, especially the dash.  The white vehicle will also cool faster.  A white roof will help a lot but the doors, and hood will heat up and radiate heat into the interior also.

http://www.autotrader.com/car-video...ck-cars-really-hotter-in-the-sun-video-242940

 -- Spiff

 

[dr_nelson]

Got this idea from a "crazy grandma"...

SUNSHIELD paint. This is white paint with ceramics that is supposed to block up to 95% of solar heat. I think this could help a lot if painting the van roof with it. The reviews are speaking of a significant effect.

 

[hepcat]

AND use a windshield sun-screen... one of those collapsible hoop things that's silver and reflects the light back out. They make a HUGE difference in the amount of heat that radiates into the vehicle by shading the dash which allows it to stay at ambient air temp instead of black-iron skillet egg-frying temps.

 

[Stretch]

My first new car was a black Honda Accord, and I lived in Colorado at the time. The Front Range of Colorado is not in the mountains, contrary to popular belief, and it gets desert hot in the summer. My unscientific experiment of summers spent driving that car led me to declare that I would NEVER own another dark colored vehicle again.   (My current vehicle is silver)

 

[user 37446]

+1 to comments above.  Take a walk in a black T shirt and black pants in the middle of summer on a full sun day,, then do the same thing wearing all white.  Nuff' said.  Here's 2 articles - sorry for the difference in font, I just copy and pasted and it came out different, dunno' why...:

https://phys.org/news/2011-10-silver-white-cars-cooler.html

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"(PhysOrg.com) -- From an environment standpoint, silver and white cars are cool; black cars are not. Researchers at the Berkeley Lab Environmental Energy Technologies Division (EETD) say that the color of your car affects your car's fuel economy and how seriously you contribute to pollution. A light-colored shell reflects more sunlight than a dark car shell. The cooler the color, the cooler the cabin air, and the less of a need to run your air conditioner.[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ronnen Levinson, scientist in the Heat Island Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, is lead author of the study. The research was published in Applied Energy.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The researchers had two cars in the sun for an hour, one black and the other silver, parked facing south, in Sacramento, California. The silver Honda Civic (shell SR 0.57) had a cabin air temperature of about 5-6°C (9-11°F) lower than an identical black car (shell SR 0.05).[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]A silver (or white) shell would allow for a lower-capacity air conditioner as well. The cars were run through five identical cycles of soaking in the sun. Each cycle consisted of an hour with the air conditioners off, followed by a half hour of cooling with the air conditioners running at maximum. The researchers measured the roof, ceiling, dashboard, windshield, seat, door, vent air and cabin air temperatures in each car along with weather conditions in the lot.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Overall, the numbers compiled in this car-color exercise found that using white or silver paint instead of black paint would raise fuel economy by 0.44 mpg (2.0 percent); would decrease carbon dioxide emissions by 1.9 percent, and reduce other automotive emissions by about 1 percent.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Air conditioning in cars not only decreases fuel economy but also increases tailpipe emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants. In this sense, cool-color cars influence both the driver and the planet."[/font]


[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]And another: http://www.porscheofmelbourne.com/b...your-car-really-make-it-hotter/[/font][/SIZE]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Why It Matters
[/font]
Ready for a science lesson? White and black are not technically colors. White is a combination of all colors, while black is the absence of color. An object that is a certain color reflects only light waves of a certain length, and it absorbs all other wavelengths. For example, a red shirt will reflect red waves of light, which is why human eyes are able to see the red color.

Simply put, white is cooler than black because it doesn’t absorb any visible wavelengths of light. Black, on the other hand, absorbs all the visible wavelengths of light. Light is energy, and heat is one form of energy. Therefore, light-colored surfaces remain cooler than dark-colored ones.


Does Color Make a Big Difference?


Science aside, does color really make a difference for practical purposes? Yes, it does. And if you want to change it, you can do so in an auto body shop.


Some minds at the Berkeley Lab Environmental Energy Technologies Division used two cars, a black one and a silver one, to test how color impacts a car’s temperature and fuel efficiency. They left the two cars in the hot Sacramento, California, sun for an hour. After the hour, the silver car’s interior temperature was 10 degrees lower than the black car’s interior. This finding indicates that lighter-colored cars could get away with lower-capacity air conditioners that could help drivers save on fuel.
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Another experiment, this one conducted by Autotrader, supports the idea that lighter cars are cooler cars. Autotrader left a black car and a white car in the Georgia summer sun for a few hours. The black car’s interior was a startling 17 degrees hotter than the white car’s interior. The researchers turned on the air conditioners in the vehicles, and the black car took longer to cool down."[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Read more at: [/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]https://phys.org/news/2011-10-silver-white-cars-cooler.html#jCp[/font]

 

[lenny flank]

There are very few questions that cannot be answered through the proper application of the Scientific Method.

 

[XFILE36]

So, in cold climates would the lighter color be a downfall?

 

[Ballenxj]

  They left the two cars in the hot Sacramento, California, sun for an hour. After the hour, the silver car’s interior temperature was 10 degrees lower than the black car’s interior. 

Funny, they could have saved themselves the time and trouble by just asking me. See post 2.
PS, Why does the forum mess up the quoted name above? Might have to check with Berkeley on that. :dodgy: