dark colours and heat (1 Viewer)

[lee52]

Hi i know I had touched on this before but I am trying to decide on a colour for my MH the roof is white and will be staying that colour (reflect the heat and you cant see it).
I would really like to paint it black with grey and silver graphics but i am worried about inside temps (I have a roof AC unit) has anybody owned a dark coloured MH and how much difference did it make (I doubt the ole bus will ever leave the uk)

 

[PP Bear]

Hi Lee, won't it depend on the insulation and wall thickness if any. I'd have thought you'd welcome the chance of some extra warmth if you intend to stay in the UK, it's not like we bathe in sunshine and heat. Once we lose this lovely sunshine then that's it for the more chillier nights and days

I've often thought of a colour scheme for my van, but not sure what I'd want just yet, have you thought about having it wrapped and not painted? That way you can pre-design your colour scheme, have it wrapped with absolutely anything you wish and the finish is amazing!! You can also change it in a heartbeat if you get fed up of the colour or scheme, want to revert back to White or change it all together

Let us all know how you get on

http://www.upgvehiclegraphics.com/vehicle-wrapping/wraps.html

Bit extreme but you get the idea!!

 

[makems]

If you are planning on spending much time in warmer climes think carefully about this.
Our Burstner is a sort of brown/champagne colour with dark brown graphics.
It means the side of the van facing the sun gets too hot to touch in warm sun, the contents of cupboards on the side facing the sun get warm and the fridge struggles to cope if that side is facing the sun. We had issues with the freezer starting to defrost in Morocco and that was in the depths of winter so only about 26 degrees.
Given a choice I would go for a lighter colour scheme.
Of course if you have AC that means you intend to stay on campsites with EHU which is something we rarely do so the solar heat gain inside your van may not be such an issue. You pays yer money...........

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Reallyretired]

JJs PVC is black and he lives in Portugal

 

[Puddleduck]

How much does wrapping cost?

 

[DBK]

I had a black car once - never again. It looked fine when just washed but the rest of the time it just looked dirty. There was also a Murvi built last year which was all black. The new owners put it on the market after 6 months. Don't know why!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[hilldweller]

I had a black car once - never again.

Ditto but because when the sun was really working it was impossible to cool down. Mind you it was pre-air-con days. But even so, air-con costs a lot to run ( and needs hook-op ), why make it work harder.

 

[buttons]

Ditto but because when the sun was really working it was impossible to cool down. Mind you it was pre-air-con days. But even so, air-con costs a lot to run ( and needs hook-op ), why make it work harder.

I've had this argument before.....Cab A/C doesn't cost a lot to run. I know some who have the cab windows open while travelling to save the cost of using the a/c. I even know one person who doesn't use his car radio because it reduces his mpg. Before you ask....he was born and breed in Yorkshire.

 

[lee52]

I've had this argument before.....Cab A/C doesn't cost a lot to run. I know some who have the cab windows open while travelling to save the cost of using the a/c. I even know one person who doesn't use his car radio because it reduces his mpg. Before you ask....he was born and breed in Yorkshire.

Mythbusters did that one windows open vs A/C and at cruising speeds windows open used more fuel than AC due to the extra drag

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[lee52]

Hi Lee, won't it depend on the insulation and wall thickness if any. I'd have thought you'd welcome the chance of some extra warmth if you intend to stay in the UK, it's not like we bathe in sunshine and heat. Once we lose this lovely sunshine then that's it for the more chillier nights and days

I've often thought of a colour scheme for my van, but not sure what I'd want just yet, have you thought about having it wrapped and not painted? That way you can pre-design your colour scheme, have it wrapped with absolutely anything you wish and the finish is amazing!! You can also change it in a heartbeat if you get fed up of the colour or scheme, want to revert back to White or change it all together

Let us all know how you get on

http://www.upgvehiclegraphics.com/vehicle-wrapping/wraps.html

Bit extreme but you get the idea!!

Insulation wise I have 40mm kingspan in the roof and walls so quite thick, i do like the wraps look good and instant results unfortunately the bus needs and to be preped and painted anyways and I dont think I could afford a full wrap this thing is 35ft long and the body is 8ft high

 

[Minxy]

Colour does make a difference, we have a PVC and it is mainly silver/metallic grey colour but has a large black band which goes along both side and on the rear where the windows are installed. Whilst away last month in Holland/Germany/France one morning when the temperature was probably around 30c outside I happened to touch the inside of the rear door at the level where the black band is outside and got a surprise as it was very, very hot and if I had kept my hand on it I'm sure it would have been very painful!!!! I then touched a part of the door which was below the black band and whilst it was warm, it wasn't anywhere near as hot. We also spoke to a camper van owner who had a dark blue PVC and he confirmed that it did get hot inside, more so than one he'd had previously which was white, and put it down to it being such a dark colour.

 

[AuldCodger]

Our commercial vehicles were always white but a number of years ago we made a change to dark green. Boy when the sun shines everything in the load area now bakes and not much better in the cab.
Personally would always go for white and if need be jazz it up with some nice graphics.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Ralph-n-Bev]

We are going for golden white metallic, for the very same reason, when we order the lwb boxer. We were going to get slate grey then put black graphics on. Now we are just sticking to the black out windows , plain metalic golden white paintwork.

 

[lee52]

Colour does make a difference, we have a PVC and it is mainly silver/metallic grey colour but has a large black band which goes along both side and on the rear where the windows are installed. Whilst away last month in Holland/Germany/France one morning when the temperature was probably around 30c outside I happened to touch the inside of the rear door at the level where the black band is outside and got a surprise as it was very, very hot and if I had kept my hand on it I'm sure it would have been very painful!!!! I then touched a part of the door which was below the black band and whilst it was warm, it wasn't anywhere near as hot. We also spoke to a camper van owner who had a dark blue PVC and he confirmed that it did get hot inside, more so than one he'd had previously which was white, and put it down to it being such a dark colour.

so a real noticeable difference guess I will stick with the trad MH colours . to be fair painting the roof from a mid blue to white made a big difference, I was hoping the colour of the sides would not have as much effect as the roof

 

[Rapido925M]

BORING SCIENTIFIC TYPE ANSWER: Energy (heat) flows from hot places to cold places. There are effectively 3 ways this can happen and colour only affects one of them: radiation. Dark, matt surfaces have a greater effect than light shiny surfaces.

During the day, the inside of your van is likely to be cooler than the ambient temperature, so energy is absorbed and transmitted (conduction: thickness and quality of insulation will be important) into your van. A dirty or dark van will provide more energy input, other things being equal. So, as others have stated, it will get hotter.

However, at night the inside is likely to be warmer than the outside and energy flows outwards. So not only will your black van heat up faster during the day, it will cool down quicker at night, requiring more gas/electric heating to maintain your comfort.

The question is, will it be significant? I imagine that more energy is exchanged via the thin plastic/glass windows (unless well covered with material), sunroof/roof-vents.

It is erroneous to compare the situation closely with dark cars (although the "dirty" aspect is the same), because cars do not possess insulation and have a much smaller volume for the energy to be spread throughout.

Clearly, staying in the UK, the effects will be even smaller than taking your machine to sunnier climes. I would go for what you fancy - Gordon

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Rapido925M]

Today I saw a totally (including the windows) matt black c...van (old Sprite, so not much wall insulation) at our local museum. It was being used by a "story-teller" with "appropriate" messages scrawled on the outside and the inside totally lined with pages from books. I told him about this thread and he was happy for me to go in and touch the walls. Despite standing in glaring sun for the whole morning, the internal wall was not appreciably hot. [I accept that paper is an insulator, but it was quite thin.]

He did say that it got hot once you placed 12 children inside with all doors and windows closed. If you intend living like that, I suspect that even a white van will become unbearable - Gordon.