Reducing the volume the AC/heater has to cool/heat

[deathtrain]

Originally Posted by JasonG

In our work vans we hang blankets or radiant barrier on the safety rack.
It keeps them much more temperate and quieter.

what about adding radiant barrier in the back of the door panels and behind the head liner then add in tinted windows. the inside of the car should not heat up as much.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by deathtrain

what about adding radiant barrier in the back of the door panels and behind the head liner then add in tinted windows. the inside of the car should not heat up as much.

Radiant barriers need some air space to work.

Putting one on the door's metal, and one on the door's trim, facing inside, would create something like a thermos flask but without the vacuum.

[cfg83]

euromodder -

I never did it, but I speculated that you could have a bubble-wrap "drape" hanging behind the front seats. You know, the kind with shiny aluminium foil on both sides. This would be very similar to what Old Tele man did. This should work on my car because all my A/C vents are in the dashboard before the front seats. Because cold air sinks (like a top-loading refrigerator), the bubble-wrap drape *should* keep the cold air from migrating to the rear of the cabin. It's maximum height would be dictated by rear-visibilty.

Ha ha, I just realized that I could also "seal" the underseat gap with cheap pipe-insulation.

Thankfully it wasn't hot enough last summer to resort to this tactic.

CarloSW2

[Tri91]

Originally Posted by deathtrain

what about adding radiant barrier in the back of the door panels and behind the head liner then add in tinted windows. the inside of the car should not heat up as much.

And under the carpet, the trim pieces, and anywhere else you can stuff it. It works very well. Before I put all that stuff in there I could run the AC at max for hours on end and still be melting. Afterwards, it takes about 10mins at half power to cool the insides down even in the hottest Florida summer. Then the AC can be turned off and on as needed. Can't say what it's done for the mpg but it has made driving much more comfortable.