AC option - the Anti-Sun Roof

[Bicycle Bob]

One solution for summer cooling might be a separate, opaque panel to cover the roof when it gets sunny and hot. The "Tropical Roof" optioned Land Rover was legendary for its cool comfort in the days before AC. A second roof panel was set an inch above the first, with a gap for air to flow through, so you were always driving in the shade. You could also add some absorbent fabric against the roof, and keep it wet for actual cooling.

Many pics at: Google Image Result for http://www.leftcoastclassics.com/1965-land-rover-109/1965-land-rover-002.jpg

[Christ]

Redneck sun-block for your car: Add aluminum foil to the roof. (You'd appreciate it if you were in fields all day in a truck w/o A/C pulling stuff around.)

You could also just polish the roof and put laquer on it, so it didn't rust, but aluminum foil is easier.

[hypermiler01]

I am eventually going to do that to my HOUSE. White RV awning fabric positioned about a foot above the shingles during the summer, and shade fabric over the entire back yard.

[RobertSmalls]

Originally Posted by Christ

Redneck sun-block for your car: Add aluminum foil to the roof. (You'd appreciate it if you were in fields all day in a truck w/o A/C pulling stuff around.)

You could also just polish the roof and put laquer on it, so it didn't rust, but aluminum foil is easier.

Zinc Oxide is white on the optical band, so it doesn't absorb much heat from sunlight, but it's black on the infrared band, so it cools well. I don't know if it's suitable for painting a car, but I bet a spectrally selective paint will outperform even Al-foil. If I find the Insight's sheet metal (i.e. the roof and hood) gets hot when left in the sun, I'm going to paint the roof white. Or maybe I'll just strip the paint off and polish the bare metal. ;-)

[Christ]

Originally Posted by RobertSmalls

Zinc Oxide is white on the optical band, so it doesn't absorb much heat from sunlight, but it's black on the infrared band, so it cools well. I don't know if it's suitable for painting a car, but I bet a spectrally selective paint will outperform even Al-foil. If I find the Insight's sheet metal (i.e. the roof and hood) gets hot when left in the sun, I'm going to paint the roof white. Or maybe I'll just strip the paint off and polish the bare metal. ;-)

I don't know if you can mix an Zinc Oxide with enamel paint... the oxide may be too heavy to be suspended in the paint properly, and could clump/sag.

It's a great idea though, if you could find a way to color the oxide and make it stick to metal, without being corrosive.

[shovel]

I've been wanting to put up an air-gapped facing on the afternoon sun side of my house, because I can feel the walls radiating warmth inside the house when the sun's on that side. The problem is that's the street side of the house and I do have to concern myself with appearances, both for my own comfort and pride as well as for sale value later on.

Any ideas for a cost effective, attractive facing that could live an inch or two away from the actual surface of the house? I was even considering that white plastic lattice mounted on 1" stand-offs, or corrugated galvanized steel mounted vertically.. but that option would be rather expensive as I'd need to "stylize" the whole house to match it cosmetically.

[Christ]

Originally Posted by shovel

I've been wanting to put up an air-gapped facing on the afternoon sun side of my house, because I can feel the walls radiating warmth inside the house when the sun's on that side. The problem is that's the street side of the house and I do have to concern myself with appearances, both for my own comfort and pride as well as for sale value later on.

Any ideas for a cost effective, attractive facing that could live an inch or two away from the actual surface of the house? I was even considering that white plastic lattice mounted on 1" stand-offs, or corrugated galvanized steel mounted vertically.. but that option would be rather expensive as I'd need to "stylize" the whole house to match it cosmetically.

Grape vines. Or Ivy. Anything that grows on latticework. Looks great on just a portion of the home, without being overpowering to other design cues.

Better yet, grow peas and beans all the growing season, eat them the whole time, and come winter, compost the vines for next year's fertilizer.

[shovel]

Originally Posted by Christ

Grape vines. Or Ivy. Anything that grows on latticework. Looks great on just a portion of the home, without being overpowering to other design cues.

Better yet, grow peas and beans all the growing season, eat them the whole time, and come winter, compost the vines for next year's fertilizer.

Ha! Great suggestion, but one I hadn't even considered because I live in Phoenix... "growing" isn't the first thing we think of around here. Maybe there's a kind of cactus that'll chase lattice?

[Christ]

Originally Posted by shovel

Ha! Great suggestion, but one I hadn't even considered because I live in Phoenix... "growing" isn't the first thing we think of around here. Maybe there's a kind of cactus that'll chase lattice?

You're looking for a plant called "Jacob's Staff".

It's a vine-like cactus-type plant which grows natively in U.S. Desert land.

See also "Ocotillo" and "coach-whip" for more information.

It doesn't really have to be a lattice, either... you can just use a fan-formation of rods or anything else that it will cling too... preferably something that doesn't block too much light from the window itself (without the plants growing on it) as this heating effect you describe will help during the "cold" season... if you have one. :P

[Christ]

Trellis... not lattice - that's what I was looking for.