Blinds up or down in this heat?

[The Cruisers]

Our MH is parked on our driveway at the moment. In this blistering heat should I close the blinds completely, close them so the mesh is showing or leave them completely open? I’m not sure which could cause damage.
Thanks in advance.

 

[David and Sally]

Good question. We close the blinds about 75% leaving the mesh for the other 25%. Theory? - stops most heat coming in but any that does will enter via the mesh and not damage the window.

Probably wrong!!!

 

[Spriddler]

Mine's parked on my drive and I open all the windows, hab door and roof vents first thing in the morning but don't close any blinds.
I do keep an eye out for sudden thundery showers.

 

[Speve]

Always leave ours closed we don’t have reflective backing on ours so can’t reflect onto plastic not had a problem with them so far

 

[MajorClanger]

Currently sitting in a field in Wiltshire having spent the day trying to keep cool. The best way we found was to open all of the windows and skylights to maximum, and then close the blinds on the sunny side, and just have the mesh on the other. If it wasn’t for the insects, I’d have the mesh open to increase airflow. You’ll need to open and close blinds as the sun tracks around.

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[Landy Andy]

I work for a living so can’t keep messing about with van. Blinds are just shut. Roof and windows. Sun damage and heat kept to a minimum for us.

 

[TheAleMan]

Good question. We close the blinds about 75% leaving the mesh for the other 25%. Theory? - stops most heat coming in but any that does will enter via the mesh and not damage the window.

Probably wrong!!!

That’s exactly how we do it and for the same reason. We have another reason why we do it that way..and that’s to stop any bleaching or fading of internal furnishings.

 

[Phileas Fogg]

Exactly the same here always closed with a small gap at the top, never had an issue and the 9 year old upholstery is like new with no fading whatever.

 

[Burgo]

Good question. We close the blinds about 75% leaving the mesh for the other 25%. Theory? - stops most heat coming in but any that does will enter via the mesh and not damage the window.

Probably wrong!!!

+1. Our windows have a small warning sticker saying not to fully close blinds in high heat / very strong sun.

 

[gus-lopez]

I don't have any windows in the sun & the cab has screens around.

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[Wikky]

Good question. We close the blinds about 75% leaving the mesh for the other 25%. Theory? - stops most heat coming in but any that does will enter via the mesh and not damage the window.

Probably wrong!!!

We do the same with the window and roof blinds. It works.

 

[Blaydon]

Hi There,
We used to keep the blinds closed all the time - to stop people looking in. However, we did have problems with the springs not returning the blinds when we came to use the MoHo.
Now we leave blinds and mesh open.
In the heat - you just have to keep the sun out so blinds closed on the sunny side. We have a roof vent fan that helps to drag the hot air out - it really works well. I went to fit one to our old Kontiki. When I took out the old unit, the power cables were already there - saved a huge job routing a power run to the center of the van.

At work I have reflective film on the windows. It gives a mirror finish to the outside and reduces heat gain by a huge amount. There is also a slight saving on heat loss in the winter. Has anyone seen this on the plastic windows?

D



D

 

[Tonks]

Mine's a small PVC, so has different windows and window treatments than motorhomes or most larger PVCs. At home I'm parked up between a 6' fence and the house, both of which protect the van a bit from sun directly on the windows, for most of the day. But in this heat I've left the screens up on the cab for the last few days, and the curtains are closed on the sunny side of the van. I'll probably 'pop the top' later and open the vents for some airflow. At the moment it's pretty still here so not much airflow anywhere!

 

[two]

Shade the outside of windows, if you can.
Winter screen on the windscreen.
Windows open with cloth over.
Stop the heat from getting into the van at all.

 

[Adamwallace]

Good question. We close the blinds about 75% leaving the mesh for the other 25%. Theory? - stops most heat coming in but any that does will enter via the mesh and not damage the window.

Probably wrong!!!

Not wrong but correct, according to my owners' manual

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[Squeak]

Our MH is parked on our driveway at the moment. In this blistering heat should I close the blinds completely, close them so the mesh is showing or leave them completely open? I’m not sure which could cause damage.
Thanks in advance.

I've made thermal inserts for all our windows/skylights & put the mesh blinds over to keep them in place. It stops the van over heating & any damage occurring to the concertina blinds.

 

[rangi]

You can have the most expensive insulation in the world , inside your windows, BUT! once the Sun hits the outside of the glass it is as useless as a chocolate fire guard!

You have to shield your windows from the OUTSIDE!

Same with a Conservetry, spend a zillion for blinds inside? Utter waste of time! When a length of shade netting draped over the top will do more to cool it down inside than flash expensive blinds.

Been there done that got the T shirt for anywhere from 30c-47c

 

[Len Amey]

I don't have any windows in the sun & the cab has screens around.

Very informative but to the OP, about as much use as a chocolate fire guard

 

[KimSteve]

Good question. We close the blinds about 75% leaving the mesh for the other 25%. Theory? - stops most heat coming in but any that does will enter via the mesh and not damage the window.

Probably wrong!!!

windows open blinds and mesh down, roof open mesh across. Seems to work for us

 

[David and Sally]

windows open blinds and mesh down, roof open mesh across. Seems to work for us

If you are with the van ok. But in storage?

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[The Cruisers]

Thanks for your replies. We have gone with blinds closed about 3/4 and the mesh the other 1/4. It has definitely made a difference today.
Thanks all for your comments.

 

[Michael Rennison]

Sun canopy out, blinds closed on the sunny side with mesh on non - sunny side. Everything open to the max including the loo vent. In Italy 2019 we used the thermal winter cover to minimise heat build up from the windscreen. Definately keeps the internal temperature down to the low 30s.

 

[DaveFromBarrow]

As others have said, to keep the inside cool you must block the sun outside not inside the van. Blinds stop the light but not the heat, they just turn every window into a radiator. Think houses in hot countries, they have external blinds or shutters for the same reason.

d

 

[gwyntaxi]

Mine's parked on my drive and I open all the windows, hab door and roof vents first thing in the morning but don't close any blinds.
I do keep an eye out for sudden thundery showers.

Same here, everyday I go out the drive and open all the windows and door, even in winter if a nice dry day, I don’t understand people closing all the blinds when parked on the drive or when in storage, it just ruins the tension on the springs, if they are worried about sun fading the upholstery, what I do is as soon as we park it up in the drive we use some throws, cheap enough, to cover all the seating and cab seats, and the sun keeps the van aired, simples.

 

[Nanniemate]

on my drive the sun hits the front of the van nearly all day (when it out) I keep the curtains closed and silver screen on to try to stop it damaging the leather seats she 14 years old and the seats are in brilliant condition and would like to keep them that way

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[Landy Andy]

Same here, everyday I go out the drive and open all the windows and door, even in winter if a nice dry day, I don’t understand people closing all the blinds when parked on the drive or when in storage, it just ruins the tension on the springs, if they are worried about sun fading the upholstery, what I do is as soon as we park it up in the drive we use some throws, cheap enough, to cover all the seating and cab seats, and the sun keeps the van aired, simples.

Great if you’ve got the time everyday, and, or don’t have your van in storage.

 

[Guigsy]

You can have the most expensive insulation in the world , inside your windows, BUT! once the Sun hits the outside of the glass it is as useless as a chocolate fire guard!

You have to shield your windows from the OUTSIDE!

Same with a Conservetry, spend a zillion for blinds inside? Utter waste of time! When a length of shade netting draped over the top will do more to cool it down inside than flash expensive blinds.

Been there done that got the T shirt for anywhere from 30c-47c

Everyone that puts a reflective foil screen up inside their cars in the sunshine disagrees. Sure, it is better if you don't let the glass and a thin layer of air inside get super hot by reflecting on the outside, but it's a lot better than nothing. Most of the radiation is still being reflected back out.

 

[rangi]

Everyone that puts a reflective foil screen up inside their cars in the sunshine disagrees. Sure, it is better if you don't let the glass and a thin layer of air inside get super hot by reflecting on the outside, but it's a lot better than nothing. Most of the radiation is still being reflected back out.

Not so my cyber friend, once the Sun has access to your window you have no chance of stopping the heat getting, through no matter what gizmo you have immediately inside .

All our windows in Sydney were protected by blinds drawn down outside. Our next door Neighbour , a Greek person, had thick curtains , in multiples! Her house , in the summer heat, up to 47c, was like living in a furnace, ours?, although still hot was no where as humid/hot as hers.

Same in Auckland and The Bay of Plenty, in both houses, our conservertory was cooler because we had draped some shade netting over the top and halfway down the front in summer.

In the house we are in now , here in Lanmoor Cornwall, the front door faces East, so catches the rising Sun, and is only out of it till later , about mid-day. Despite being triple glazed, the heat through the glass still radiates into the hall.

Only one way to prove it , is to drape something over the outside of your window, that faces the direct Sun, then feel the glass after an hour or so inside, then go feel the glass of a window you have only covered on the inside.

Only one way to prove it, drape something over the outside of your window that faces the direct Sun.

 

[Landy Andy]

All this is true to a degree but not really much use to most. Surely we have a choice of internal blinds up, internal blinds down or something in between. We don’t have external blinds to the windows of a motorhome.