How hot does it get in a van? (1 Viewer)

[Wee Bold Davy]

One of the reasons we're looking to buy a van is so that we can get up and go when it suits us and take our wee dog with us. We were at a dealer yesterday looking around some vans and were struck by how hot it was in a few of them in the bright sunshine.
This concerns us as we will at some point have to leave the dog in the van for an hour or so.
I know that you can draw curtains or blinds on the windows but what about the roof lights, do they have blinds to keep out the light/heat?
Leaving windows open slightly isn't always a good idea. How hot can it get in a van?

 

[Infinity31]

A couple of weeks ago in France 30 deg outside inside 36-38 with blinds drawn and we have the insulated aluminium front blind. Can easily get up to 45 in warm weather with doors and windows closed.

Yep. 27 deg in shade today at 1:00pm. Van in the sun and 43 deg inside with doors and windows closed, silver screen over the front.

 

[Allanm]

It was 28 degrees in Bury St Edmunds today. Van was left in the sun with all blinds drawn, curtains across the front and 2 roof lights open with sun blinds closed. After 3 hours away over midday, the van was 30 degrees inside.
Mind you, we never leave the dog in the van during the day unless we can park in the shade and are gone less than a half hour.

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[Allanm]

I put this on the wall next to me to give you a rough idea of sun temperature whilst I was putting stuff on roof rack & cleaning panels. View attachment 168966

@ 7p.m. Had to put in shade as it was at top of the glass tube. & yes I burnt my knee on a panel.

When you are measuring the air temperature, you should only ever have the thermometer in the shade. If the sun shines on the thermometer, it heats the liquid. Then the reading is higher than the true air temperature.
I was in the Tetons a few years ago. The sun was shining on a thermometer in the sun, it showed 80 degrees F. The actual temperature was 20 degrees f, below freezing.

 

[DBK]

We were parked next to a very new UK MH on an aire recently and I was surprised to see they just had curtains. It was quite hot so we had our reflective blinds closed on the sunny side. I would think reflective screens are essential even if you don't have a dog.
In my experience our PVC stays cool enough to leave the dog in it but we rarely leave him for more than hour in the heat of the day.
The one spot which does get warm is the toilet compartment if the sun is shining on the rear doors. This has got me thinking about improving insulation here, possibly just something reflective on the inside rear window. It is frosted but you can feel the heat coming through it. There is a pull down blind but it does nothing for cooling.

 

[Infinity31]

Temp is one thing but humidity is another important factor, as the temp rises in a vehicle so does the humidity so it will feel hotter.

All dog owners know that their pet feels the heat more than we do, their body temp is higher than ours and their method of cooling very inefficient so in hot weather (even just warm weather) in a confined space they can become overwhelmed by heat in a very short time, of course age, breed and health come into it but some some say as little a 10mins.

I didn't leave my dog in a vehicle in warm summer weather at all, and thought very carefully about it in cooler times of year if it was sunny.

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[Lot lover]

This concerns us as we will at some point have to leave the dog in the van for an hour or so.

Would you leave a child in there, if not don't leave a dog. Also some sites rules include a "no abandoning of dogs in motorhomes".

 

[TheBig1]

I was thinking about this a lot yesterday. as we were collecting a car from south wales on one of the hottest days of the summer, we left them at home with plenty to drink, where it was much cooler.
in the car, we had the air conditioning going full blast. however the outside and the glass was still very hot. most noticeable when we stopped at motorway services or the 30 minute in traffic near an accident. had we taken the dogs, they would of suffered.

back to vans, back when i was working i remember plastic parts in the back of my van melting and deforming and on occasions spray cans rupturing. i know those were uninsulated vans, but the same in many ways to motorhomes. much like large ovens

 

[Minxy]

The one spot which does get warm is the toilet compartment if the sun is shining on the rear doors. This has got me thinking about improving insulation here, possibly just something reflective on the inside rear window. It is frosted but you can feel the heat coming through it. There is a pull down blind but it does nothing for cooling.

I used some old internal cab silver screens to make pads for our van rear windows - it really does make a heck of a difference - if you don't want anything so bulky you could use some of the silvered 'bubble wrap' type car windscreen covers which will have the same effect and can be 'folded' away when not needed, I have these for the other windows in the camper which are used for whichever side is facing the sun, also for the roof vents.

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[adt]

We're just back from Lakes and Fells CS again, we took this up so that we only go places where the dogs can come with us.
Restricts us a bit but like this visit my wife can go and visit the bobbin mill and I'll go for a 3 hour walk through the forests with the dogs. Then the next is a walk to the lake with us all and a stop by the pub with nibbles for us all.
We got back to the van after 3 hours with all the skylights open to find the temperature at just under 28C.

The dogs were extremely happy to be left outside under a tree.

 

[Wee Bold Davy]

Would you leave a child in there, if not don't leave a dog. Also some sites rules include a "no abandoning of dogs in motorhomes".

I started this thread asking the question about leaving my wee dog in a van because I have never spent any time in a van and the only way I find the answer to the question is by asking.
I don't enjoy leaving my dog at home even to go to the shops but needs must. I think abandoning is too strong a word, leaving a dog for a short time isn't abandoning!
Abandoning means to desert or leave forever.
One of the reasons we intend buying a M/H is because when we go on holiday and stay at a guest house or B&B we're not allowed to take the dog down to breakfast in the morning and not allowed to leave him in the room, so it's either leave the dog in the car for 30 minutes or forgo breakfast which we have paid for. They call themselves 'dog friendly' which is bol***ks, so they won't be getting any more of my hard earned cash

 

[DanielFord]

One of the reasons we intend buying a M/H is because when we go on holiday and stay at a guest house or B&B we're not allowed to take the dog down to breakfast in the morning and not allowed to leave him in the room, so it's either leave the dog in the car for 30 minutes or forgo breakfast which we have paid for. They call themselves 'dog friendly' which is bol***ks, so they won't be getting any more of my hard earned cash

Very similar to why we got our motorhome, whenever we went on holiday, our dog got put into kennels, and we missed not having her with us.
Now we go everywhere with the dog, most places are dog friendly, usually with the proviso that they stay on a lead. Cooling is the most important part though, and you may want to investigate air conditioning, it is expensive, but I wouldn't be without it in our van.

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[MC 55 FUN]

I started this thread asking the question about leaving my wee dog in a van because I have never spent any time in a van and the only way I find the answer to the question is by asking.
I don't enjoy leaving my dog at home even to go to the shops but needs must. I think abandoning is too strong a word, leaving a dog for a short time isn't abandoning!
Abandoning means to desert or leave forever.
One of the reasons we intend buying a M/H is because when we go on holiday and stay at a guest house or B&B we're not allowed to take the dog down to breakfast in the morning and not allowed to leave him in the room, so it's either leave the dog in the car for 30 minutes or forgo breakfast which we have paid for. They call themselves 'dog friendly' which is bol***ks, so they won't be getting any more of my hard earned cash

We were in Ilfacombe, Devon, over Easter & found the place to be incredibly properly dog friendly, 90% of pubs, cafes & even wine bars allowed well behaved dogs inside, the Carlton hotel there is properly dog friendly too.

 

[faraway]

Something which may be of interest to dog owners, although a bit pricey

http://www.ruffwear.co.uk/dog-gear/dog-coats/swamp-cooler-ss17

 

[MC 55 FUN]

It's 24c . . . in our north facing lounge today

Doggy cooling fan :

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[TheDogMan]

Used the Air con for the first time this week, usually windows and roof vents are enough but with a few dogs inside and a rare occasion being on EH, brilliant !!!

 

[awg]

Not sure if it's construction but our Carthago is usually cooler inside than out with blinds closed to keep out the sun. when we *need* to leave the dogs inside for a while I open the roof vents and run an endless breeze fan through the van. I also leave a block of ice in a tupperware dish in front of the fan. Always been cooler inside that out when we get back.

Ideally we try and take the dogs everywhere with us and usually this is ok but there is the odd occasion when they do need to be left.

I'd suggest a practice run where you set the van up as you intend to leave it but take the dogs with you. When you return check the inside temp and compare to outside shade temp. If in doubt don't leave them.

You could always take a visit to @eddievanbitz to get aircon fitted and stick to sites with EHU when you need to leave the dog inside.

 

[Lot lover]

Our bit of France now has "un episode caniculaire" (roughly translates as f hot) - along with those depts directly S and N though we are all only on yellow alert. Those depts to the SW, W and NW from here are on orange alerts. Daily temps locally are forecast as 33, 34,35,36 before plummeting to a mere 29 on Friday.

Those of you stuck in your plastic boxes without the benefit of Vanbitz's air con have my sympathy. We may have to unroll the electric cable and move into our own van if this keeps up.

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[Jim]

I would't use one of those cooler coats. IMO they'd probably do more harm than good. A military dog that must work in the heat maybe, but a pet should just be given shade, plenty to drink and a wet head now and again.

 

[magicsurfbus]

26.5C in our MH at present, parked in storage with no vents open, facing north.

I have this App thingy which tells me these things. We've known it a lot hotter in southern climes.

One of the problems with front skylights on the roof is that on some models you're not supposed to leave them with their blind fully closed in day time as the acrylic can actually warp from the intense heat that builds up. If you open them for ventilation you can't fully block out the sun. I don't own a pooch but I wouldn't leave one in a closed up MH on a hot day, not even in this country.

 

[Minxy]

26.5C in our MH at present, parked in storage with no vents open, facing north.

I have this App thingy which tells me these things. We've known it a lot hotter in southern climes.

One of the problems with front skylights on the roof is that on some models you're not supposed to leave them with their blind fully closed in day time as the acrylic can actually warp from the intense heat that builds up. If you open them for ventilation you can't fully block out the sun. I don't own a pooch but I wouldn't leave one in a closed up MH on a hot day, not even in this country.

If you open roof vents you can still shade them by using pads on the open 'window' part itself, that's what we do.

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[magicsurfbus]

Being a total nerd I looked at the data history and found the internal temperature reached 30C the other day, and that's with it facing away from the sun.

 

[Minxy]

I went in our PVC today and checked the temperature - it was 35 degrees, that's with all the windows shut, no ventilation at all, blinds partly down, pads on roof vents, and it facing North. Once I had the side door open though whilst I was in it, it soon started to drop and was quite pleasant inside, not too hot.

 

[Wee Bold Davy]

I went in our PVC today and checked the temperature - it was 35 degrees, that's with all the windows shut, no ventilation at all, blinds partly down, pads on roof vents, and it facing North. Once I had the side door open though whilst I was in it, it soon started to drop and was quite pleasant inside, not too hot.

I don't think anything will keep this heat out except maybe....... some of those little tiles that's on the Space Shuttle
Even my tropical fish are suffering, I've got the thermostat set at 25 degrees and today the temperature is reading almost 29

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[Andib]

Please also remember that pavements get very hot and it's easy for dogs to become overheated whilst walking on them for quite a while. Keep your dog cool by soaking them in cold water particularly on the back of the neck and try to keep them in the shade as much as possible. For this reason, when it was 30 degrees in Carcassone a couple of weeks ago, we stayed under the awning in the shade during the day and walked around the city with the dog in the evening when it was cooling down.

 

[laird of Dunstan]

I started this thread asking the question about leaving my wee dog in a van because I have never spent any time in a van and the only way I find the answer to the question is by asking.
I don't enjoy leaving my dog at home even to go to the shops but needs must. I think abandoning is too strong a word, leaving a dog for a short time isn't abandoning!
Abandoning means to desert or leave forever.
One of the reasons we intend buying a M/H is because when we go on holiday and stay at a guest house or B&B we're not allowed to take the dog down to breakfast in the morning and not allowed to leave him in the room, so it's either leave the dog in the car for 30 minutes or forgo breakfast which we have paid for. They call themselves 'dog friendly' which is bol***ks, so they won't be getting any more of my hard earned cash

That was also one of the main reasons we got a MH ,we got tired of so called dog friendly hotels turning us down

 

[laird of Dunstan]

The thermostat in ours ,read 38 deg c yesterday

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[Minxy]

Please also remember that pavements get very hot and it's easy for dogs to become overheated whilst walking on them for quite a while. Keep your dog cool by soaking them in cold water particularly on the back of the neck and try to keep them in the shade as much as possible. For this reason, when it was 30 degrees in Carcassone a couple of weeks ago, we stayed under the awning in the shade during the day and walked around the city with the dog in the evening when it was cooling down.

Not just pavements that get hot ... we have a step outside our back do which is actually one of the below exercise steps (so we can move it out of the way when needing to take the large wheelbarrow past it):

The top of it is ribbed non-slip rubber and it get too hot to step on so we've put a normal non-slip rug on it for now so the dogs can use it ... if anyone has any steps or dark coloured paths/concrete etc please check them for 'heat' especially if you have pets.

 

[magicsurfbus]

Even my tropical fish are suffering, I've got the thermostat set at 25 degrees and today the temperature is reading almost 29

We have to consider the risk of Legionella in my outdoor workplace if the water temperature tops 20C, according to HSE regs.

 

[juwlz]

We have a predominantly white MH and a dog who's nervous in crowds, so we leave her in the 'van when we're out and about.

Blinds, curtains and skylights make a BIG difference to the temperature in the 'van. Parking in the shade can also obviously make a big difference.

We were away during the recent heatwave, and (apart from the last Sunday when the temperatures got absolutely crazy), as long as we parked the 'van in whatever shade was available (which, of course, changes as the day goes on - but at least you get shade for part of the time, and it's easier to keep a 'van cool than to get it cool), and closed the curtains and reflective blinds, opened the skylights (and windows too on the hotter days for the extra airflow, considering the risk to be acceptable), the temperature inside was absolutely fine for her.

Two things made us realise how effective this was:
One was the temperature of the curtain linings to the touch when we returned to the 'van and opened them. (We have an ancient 'van, and the springs on one of the reflective blinds are rather termperamental, so we can only cover a third of the window with it if we want to be able to open it again, so all we can do on that side is to use what bit of the blind is "safe" and add the flyscreen and curtains.)
The other was how hot it got in the 'van on the same day after just 15 minutes when we stopped at a garage to get a few bits and pieces on our way back to the site, and didn't bother to close the curtains for such a short stop. When we got back the 'van was already horribly hot.

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[Ridgeway]

Checked on ours on Sunday. The outside temp was 30º and inside the van it was 35º ! The van was in storage in a sealed barn which is very large and has no windows in so it was in the shade basically. Obviously all windows and roof vents were closed though.

I opened 2 of the roof vents about 1/4 and left the van. Went back last night and the temp is now equal at 25º, same time of day.

Overall we very often stay close to rivers and lakes so that we can the dogs can cool off. The advantage of a damp and soggy Cocker Spaniel is that it's a cool one, just have to keep him outside until he dries off before letting him in.....