insulation for hot weather?

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GDRBO
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Joined: Tue Jun 27, 2000 12:01 am

insulation for hot weather?

Post by GDRBO »

Yes, two days of bad road and one really nasty hill to get where? Oh, yes and the smell of dead salmon! What a fun trip! Been there, done that and I got the t-shirt (I survived the road to Bella Coola). Guess I'll have to do it again someday!
goatski
Posts: 66
Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2001 12:01 am

insulation for hot weather?

Post by goatski »

Hey

I live in a tropical area, meaning the temperature never gets below 70 degrees. My main concern for my bus interior is keeping it cool, especially the rear cargo area for the passengers.

I am wondering if anyone can tell me how to keep the heat OUT. I have only read articles about keeping heat in. Most heat insulation material has a foil side, so if I wanted to keep heat out, would I face the foil to the outside? Will that NASA insulation keep heat out if I just flip it around?

Also about sound deadening. What do you guys think about this. Some sound deadening material from Macmaster Carr, then felt padding, then the aluminum foil faced heat insulation, then more felt, then a foam padding layer, then the carpet. Is that too much? Also do I need fiberglass insulation in my door panels since I dont need to keep heat in? Can I just add some sound deadening stuff?
thanks for the help
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72SuicideRag
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insulation for hot weather?

Post by 72SuicideRag »

There's a few different things you could do.

--I don't know if window tint is something you'd like, but there's that OR you can get some curtains back there. That helped a lot in my camper on really hot days.

--You could insulate the compartment. Insulating it alone will help tremendously, but remember alot of the heat is coming through the glass.

--You could fit up the side windows from a Westy in your bus (with the horizontal louvered slats) for extra ventilation.

--Also Wolfgang International has a REAR safari window that would really let the air flow when it's opened up on the back hatch. www.wolfgangint.com

Just some ideas

------------------
~~~Steve

'72 Super (eternally under construction)
http://volksrodder.tripod.com



[This message has been edited by 72SuicideRag (edited 11-24-2001).]
GDRBO
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insulation for hot weather?

Post by GDRBO »

Insulation work against heat as well as cold. The foil layer is a vapor barrier and needs to face in. It is to keep moisture (from your breath, coffee etc.) from wetting the insulation and making it less effective. I am not familiar with the NASA insulation bet unless the instructions say to install it in reverse it should be as effective for heat as it would be for cold. The more areas you insulate the less temp. transmission you will have. On the floor the sound deadner will to a degree serve as insulation as well as the pad. On the floor I would use the deadner, a thick pad (foam rubber rather than felt, more air space and therefore more inlulating properties.) and then my carpet.
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Hank Winning
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insulation for hot weather?

Post by Hank Winning »

we are in the other end of the world and have oppisite problem--- keeping the heat in.
We use the insulation blankets that are used to wrap hot water tanks. They are foam with foil backing-We recycled the insulation from the hot water heaters at the local dump.
We removed all the door panels and front panel-even the headliner and floor mats and glued the insulation with 3M trim adhesive. Insulation over the engine hump really cut the noise down. Amazing how much better the heaters work and how quiet the ride is.
Curtains that my wife made are two pieces of cloth with foam inside.
hank
'56 deluxe micro bus w\ sunroof
Derek May
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insulation for hot weather?

Post by Derek May »

Insulating over the engine area may make some sense -- keep the engine heat from transfering into the cab. Mirrored or dark tint on the windows to keep the heat out. They don't call global warming the "greenhouse effect" for nothing. I'm thinking that insulating the vehicle (door panels etc) may be counter productive. If you leave it in the sun on a hot day, unless you can turn it into a vaccum flask, you are going to get heat in, no matter what. So, now you drive off -- the wind velocity will normally have a chilling effect to some degree -- that's why an open window cools more when the vehicle is moving -- also why your breath is hot when you go "haaa", and cool when you pucker and blow hard.

So, if you're exterior skin is insulated, you're like to keep the heat that made it through at the parking lot IN for longer.

I'm thinking you'll want to insulate over the engine -- and then find ways to increase the ventilation. Even if you insulate the crap out of the thing -- you are going to want to have the window's open when possible -- are you going to drive with windows up? Nope. So, once you open windows, your moving the ambient air back into the van.

I've got a Westy, and when I drive with the front windows open, the pop-vent on the pop top open, and the louvred side windows wide open -- I get a nice cooling breeze -- the air is probably changed over every 10 seconds.

What you really want is air conditioning !!

Good luck.
GDRBO
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insulation for hot weather?

Post by GDRBO »

Bella Coola- now there is a town with an interesting road leading to it. And I do mean a single road! In fact in a spot or two a single lane!
goatski
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Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2001 12:01 am

insulation for hot weather?

Post by goatski »

hey thanks for the replies

I think what I will do is put that NASA aluminum foil stuff or whatever around the engine compartment. Or should I put it in the engine compartment? Is it safe to put it inside? Will it make the engine too hot?

And yes I will be driving with ALL the windows open all the time. For interior colors should I stick with light colors to reflect sunlight?
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Hank Winning
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insulation for hot weather?

Post by Hank Winning »

GDRBO,
You got Bella Coola described right on
Only we call it Bella Coma becouse you need to be in a coma to live here--just joking
300+ miles mostly dirt road to the nearest"big" city and ends at the ocean
great place
hank
Derek May
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insulation for hot weather?

Post by Derek May »

I'm not sure if the insulation is sound in the engine bay -- I'd be more concerned with how it performs if it gets dirty/oily -- a properly vented compartment isn't hot enough to melt something like that -- remember you've got rubber hoses in there. If you insulate the inside on the top and the firewall, I would imagine it would be fine -- but you can probably get some specifications from the supplier of the "nasa stuff" -- where are you getting that, by the way?

You could then put more of the stuff on the inside, up to but not including the deck lid, using it instead of underlay for carpeting that you could use to hide the stuff, which would avoid having a silver decklid. I wouldn't put the insulation on the sides of the engine bay, but I've heard of people putting some kind of sound deadener stuff -- the same kind you find stuck to the sheet metal in new car doors to give them a solid "thunk", instead of the tinny "pang" we get upon closing. The stuff comes in tiles that you glue strategically to keep the big span's of sheetmetal from oil-drumming. Body shop suppliers should have the stuff -- they need it to repair new cars. That will kill some engine noise.

Light interior colour, and for that matter, a light exterior colour would help (I always wondered by Steve McGarrett had such a fondness for big black Fords, Mercs and Lincolns), common sense applies to black cars in the sun -- but reds blues and greens attract heat too. Try to imagine how dark it would be in black and white, that gives a pretty good idea of its thermal capacity. On the other hand, dark window tinting will keep heat out -- as the light won't go through, or if you don't mind the look -- I've seen silvered tint, that' would really help. How about a silver exterior with the silvered tint -- perhaps you could call it the "Silver Bullet" and get sponsorship from Coors Lite ? It would really kick off the sunlight though. The Highway patrol may pull you over for blinding other drivers with your the reflection! haha!

I've got a roof vent that opens with a crank -- the kind you see on RV's etc, and I find that it is great for pulling air out of the Van -- hot air rises, and this sucks air out from the top, increasing cross flow ventilation. If you could put one of those on without making your Van too ugly, I'd give it serious consideration.
Brutus
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insulation for hot weather?

Post by Brutus »

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by goatski:
Or should I put it in the engine compartment? Is it safe to put it inside? Will it make the engine too hot?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Putting it inside won't have any more effect on the engine than the outside. One layer of insulation then sheetmetal has the same effect as one layer of sheetmetal then one layer of insulation. You can get special insulation for underhood aplications (see J.C. Whitney) - adhesive backed one side, shinny on the other - will make it look neat too!
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