We’ve been having a relatively mild summer here in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It’s been pretty toasty, but it hasn’t been unbearable. A day here or there with the heat index over 100, but it’s been manageable. We’re sitting at mid-August and nearly welcoming fall, but we’re not out of the woods just yet. Arkansas weather has a knack for being unpredictable, so there could still be some heat left in the summer. If you own a car with a dark interior you know all too well it doesn’t take the hottest day of the year to turn the inside of your vehicle into a sweltering furnace.
There’s no way around it. If the sun is out and your seats are black, your car will get hot. Dark colors absorb more light than lighter colors. With light comes heat, so that means the darker your interior, the hotter your car will get while it’s sitting in the sun.
If you just can’t handle the heat, if you feel as though you might perish from heat exhaustion when you step foot in your car on a sunny day, you can replace your interior with a lighter color. However, you don’t have to take such drastic measures to get a little relief from the heat.
Maybe you think replacing your interior to shave a few degrees off your car’s temperature is a little impractical, or maybe you like the sporty look and mysterious air that a dark interior has. There are a few simple solutions that will make the summer heat a little more bearable in your car.
A sunshield that you can place over your windshield is an affordable and effective option. It’s not the most chic, but hey, you’re not going to be in your car (and if you were no one would see you). Sun shields that are made from a reflective material (similar to emergency blankets) work especially well at lowering the temperature in your car. They reflect light, which means they also reflect heat.
There’s also the tried and true method of the cracked windows. If the windows are sealed, all of the air in your car just steadily gets hotter and hotter. Leaving your windows down a hair creates airflow, allowing the inferno-like air in your vehicle to swap out with the slightly cooler air outside.
And finally there’s the often overlooked and entirely useful shadow hunting (there’s a very high chance that nobody calls this shadow hunting). This is basically knowing which direction the sun is moving, knowing how long you will be somewhere, and finding some shade to park in. Your car will steal heat up from the air around it, but at least it avoids direct sunlight!
Put some of these techniques to use and stay cool until fall arrives!
Categories:
Social
