Avoid hot car syndrome to reduce emissions, increase comfort
Climbing into a hot car that has been baking in the sun is no fun. Well applied makeup can instantly begin to melt, bare skin can burn upon contact with vinyl, fresh clothes will become sponges for spontaneous body perspiration and driver and passengers alike can turn cranky. What would any normal person do under these circumstances? Blast the air conditioner of course, but trying to cool down a hot car will force your air conditioner to work harder, wasting fuel and increasing carbon dioxide emissions. It’s best to avoid letting your car super heat in the first place.
The easiest way to avoid returning to a hot car is to not take one to your destination in the first place, but sometimes driving is necessary. So the next best thing is to seek out a nice shady parking spot. Unfortunately, shade is often scarce– especially in sprawling parking lots and new developments where trees occupy a small fraction of the real estate compared to asphalt, concrete and turf. The problem is compounded by the fact that trees present in these environments are either dwarf species or just too young to provide much shade.
In the absence of shade for your vehicle, you’ll need a system the can reflect as much of the sun’s solar heat energy away from it as possible. If State law permits its use, reflective window tint can be effective at re-radiating much of the heat absorbed by window glass back outwards towards its source. The best reflective window tints block both ultra-violet and infra-red rays. Again, state laws will determine maximum reflective rates.
Even where auto glass coatings are allowed, windshields are typically excluded, so a properly fitting sunshade for the windshield is a must for any car that will be parked in the sun repeatedly and for long periods at a time. Cheap $10 sunshades aren’t likely to fit well and therefore won’t work well either. Order a sunshade that is designed for the make, model and year of your vehicle. Covercraft’s Custom UVS Heat Shield is one example. Protecting vehicle windows in this way will keep a sun-assaulted car’s interior 40% to 60% cooler, reduce AC use and protect the condition and life of leather, vinyl or fabric surfaces inside the vehicle.
You’ll pay up to $50 for a good sunshade and $250 to $500 for professionally installed reflective window tinting, but the system can pay for itself in one summer due to reduced AC use and gas consumption.
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