Quote:
Originally Posted by superchow
Which makes me wonder - anybody ever tried to make their roof reflective or add insulation to increase insulation? Seems like a cheap and common sense ecomod. There may however be a problem from the police for adding a reflective surface that large to your car...
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As arrogonis hinted at, the placement of the reflective insulation need not be on the exterior of the vehicle to do the job. Remove your headliner, install the reflective insulation, reinstall the headliner and enjoy a cooler head.
There are 3 types of heat; conduction, convection, and radiation.
Conduction is the transfer of heat through matter by communication of kinetic energy from particle to particle with no net displacement of the particles. A frying pan cooking an egg would be a good example.
Convection is the transfer of heat by displacing particles containing the heat. Using the blower to move air past the heater coil in a car is an example.
Radiation is the process of emitting radiant energy in the form of waves or particles. An example of this would be a microwave oven or a heat lamp.
Radiation is the more interesting one. Radiant heat from the sun would come in the form of different wavelengths (such as microwave) and some of these can penetrate the steel in the roof of the car, but can be reflected by a reflective material. Don't understand all the whys to it, but that is how I best understand it. So having a reflective insulation in the headliner, such as the type that looks like bubble wrap with aluminum foil in it, would protect from all 3 types of heat.