Anyone who has ever gotten into a car on a hot summer day knows how important it is to get the car cooled down quickly, as well as the benefits of keeping the car as cool as possible while it’s parked. The following tips will help you stay cool while using your car in sweltering summer temperatures.
1) Shade Is Your Friend
The first step in keeping your car its coolest in hot weather is using shade to your advantage. More than the temperature of the air, the hot sun beating down on the glass and metals, that make up your car, make the temperature inside the vehicle rise dramatically. Look for shaded parking spots whenever you are going to be away from your car for any longer than a few minutes, or long enough for the air conditioning to dissipate and sun to begin warming the interior of your car.
2) Interior Shades
Collapsible sun shades are extremely helpful if you are unable to park in a shaded area. Inexpensive and easy to use, the shades can be placed inside the car over the windshield and windows to prevent direct sunlight from heating the interior.
3) Steering Wheel, Seat belt and Dashboard Covers
The experience of getting into a parked car on a hot summer day is made more intense by the need to touch hard surfaces that have been slowly heating up. A cloth dashboard cover will protect your dashboard panel’s hard surfaces from becoming hot to the touch in the sun and warm weather. A light colored fabric will reflect the scorching sunlight instead of absorbing its warmth into the car’s interior. Use a similarly light colored fabric to cover your steering wheel and seat belts. A hot or stuffy car is made substantially less uncomfortable if you don’t need to be continually touching burning hot objects.
4) Ventilation
Do not think that by sealing your car up right before parking on a hot day will keep your precious cool air conditioning from escaping while you are gone. Instead, opt for even a minimum of ventilation. Slightly cracked windows can provide a small amount of ventilation that encourages the air to move around instead of remaining still. Moving air, of course, heats up slower than still air.
You can also place one or more small solar powered fans in your car’s interior that can serve to move air even more than simply cracking your windows when you park.
Plan ahead before hitting the road on a sweltering summer day. By following these relatively easy tips, you can keep your car cool on hot and sunny summer days. A little bit of careful parking in a shaded area and sun-blocking accessories go a long way toward creating a more comfortable driving experience.
*Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos
