Car as storage (reflective foil enough for cooler?)

nebulachic · Post by **nebulachic** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 7:02 am

I am bringin a rather small tent. Would like to keep my food and supplies in my car. Someone mentioned putting tinfoil or something reflective on the windows. Will this really keep temperature down enough so I can keep my cooler of food in there?

Token · Post by **Token** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:39 am

No, this won't work. The car will become an oven.

Park your car facing North.
Pitch your tent on the west side of your car, close enough to leave some room for the cooler to go between the car and tent.
Make sure cooler is not directly on the ground.
Tie some kind of light weight sheet to car and someplace on your tent so that the cooler is in the shade.
You can also wrap the cooler in a blanket to insulate it further.

This arrangement will have several benefits. You harness the shade cast by your car to allow you a an hour or few more sleep in the morning (depending on how big your car is), provides a protected spot for storing your items, and ties you tent to the car.

If you are creative, with a couple few poles and some rope, you can use your car and some sheets to shade your whole tent, which is inot a bad idea. Get a book on rope, knots and rigging.

EB · Post by EB » Fri Jul 18, 2008 9:24 am

Also: the secret to keeping your car's interior from looking like the McDonaldland sandbox by the end of the week is TO KEEP THE DOORS SHUT.

Dust can't get in if the doors are shut.

Using your car as a safety deposit box is fine (wallet, money, IDs, etc) but using it as a wardrobe will make the exodus line MISERABLE.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 9:31 am

A car can stay cool but only if you shade the whole car.

I think this is one place aluminet mesh in a couple of layers would work well.
Pad or space out a cover to prevent abrasion, or tie down very securely.

Boijoy · Post by **Boijoy** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 2:06 pm

and what Gyre means by the car "staying cool" is...

It might stay 100 deg. instead of 120 deg. :-)

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 3:58 pm

I think you could get a car almost as cool as a tent, but it would take the same level of shade.
And losing ground contact may hurt a lot during the day.
I think Unjon has had good results with a shaded and reflectix insulated pickup.

Shadows are worth their weight in gold out there.

Captain Goddammit · Post by **Captain Goddammit** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:30 pm

gyre wrote:
Shadows are worth their weight in gold out there.

Yeah, but... how much does a shadow weigh?!

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 7:08 am

Those little solarpowered car window fans are kinda rinkydink but help a little. I sleep in my Element, so I was getting in and out throughoput the week and the textured plastic surfaces are now Permaplayad but I found that covering the dash and front seats with plastic and foil kept the dust under control enough to help with cleanup afterward. If you have a sun or moon roof you could try cutting a piece of foam or even a furnace filter to fit the opening so that hot air could rise up and out but dust would be denied entry.

phil · Post by **phil** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 10:31 am

I'll take the contrary position, but your mileage definitely will vary. Louise and I have rented cargo vans for years and now have one of our own. We started taping aluminum foil to the insides of all the windows, and the interior of the van stays cool all day long. The van is white and is oriented so the head or rear faces southerly, for what that's worth.

My suspicion is that the white color and foil in the windows is what keeps the van cool. Not having foil in the windows gets it a hot as the outside, often hotter; I don't know what effect having a dark color on the van would have, since they're all white.

My always suggestion for Burning Man is to always have a back up plan. Foil your windows and see how hot the car is during the day. If it's hotter than outside ambient, then putting your cooler in there is a mistake; so have a back up plan for what to do with your cooler. My suggestion is a frame of some kind and a space blanket. Keep an air space of some kind between the cooler and the space blanket; allow for some air flow. The cooler will give off moisture which will condense on the inside of the blanket, and you'll want that to evaporate for coolness. The blanket itself provides no insulation, but it does reflect the heat on the outside and the cool on the inside.

Good luck and have fun.

mojo · Post by **mojo** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 12:15 pm

Our dollar store has silver metallic foam windshield shades. I bought a bunch and use them to cover all the RV windows, taping them where needed with blue painter's tape. They really help keep the temp down in the RV.

If you keep your cooler outside, you can wrap it in a wool blanket and pour some water over it every now and then - the evap really helps.