Getting hot

[whistlingdogg]

Hi everyone, we are travelling around France in a few weeks but haven’t camped in hot temperatures before. We have 3 places booked for 4 nights each but then plan to wing it for a week or so on the way back.

I’ve got a couple of things on my potential shopping list to take and was just looking for a thumbs up, definitely get that or a don’t bother mate.

1. One of those external windscreen covers rather than the be internal one. I like the ones with eyes but they are quite pricey.

2. The metal hook thingy to keep the tailgate open but locked

3. The Brandrup fly out for the sliding door

I’ve bought a plug in fan for the van already and we’ll be bringing our airbeam blow up awning also. I might look around for a tarp and poles for the extra shade. Any other recommendations are totally welcome.


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[kp64zl]

Re 1. above I got the silver external windscreen cover -- it's a lot cheaper does the same job - haven't tested it out in heat yet (it's nice and thick re insulation but comes at the price of being quite big)

Tarp -- got a tarp to slot into the passenger side C channel - that way I can stop direct sun on that side of the van

 

[babble]

at around 40° the silver screen or otherwise is not going to make much difference other than in the morning i wouldn't have thought. by the time you go to bed, the van will be 40° too. Screens will keep the van from heating up so quickly in the morning, and keep the heat in at night, they will not keep the heat out all day, or as it gets dark.

indeed as the outside temperature drops, you want the blinds down and no screens so the van can radiate the day's heat away. Then (as late as possible) you want the van with as many doors and windows open as you can while protecting you from bugs, and you need as much ventilation as possible. i wouldn't put the screen on until just before dawn, and the van will be hotter than the outside are for a while.

most important i would say is to try and park in the shade. and the fan. always the fan!

 

[B J G]

Look for pitches with tree shade to the South or West (in the evening).
Early/mid evening run the engine/air conditioning to take the heat out of the vans inner fabric without too much neighbour disturbance, if being cooked.
Keep the fridge side out of direct sun if possible as just thin steel no insulation protection for the fridge.
Direct sun is the main issue to avoid, you can sit in it but not the Cali. Mine was 52 degrees inside today at home on the drive, closed up.

 

[westfalia]

I have ended up with 3 screens,

1 is the internal sliders for the windscreen.
These are okay but not complete blackout.

2 is a set of silver screens fitted internally with suckers.
These are probably better in the colder months

3 is a cheapo silver screen fitted externally
and for me its the best for keeping it cool.

I bought 2 of the standard ones and stitched them together to make
it big enough. Cost about 20€.

 

[Jay20cali]

What colour is your van ??
Whites good it won’t absorb heat.
Other light colours eg silver help,,
Grey or black park in the shade and good luck

 

[bigmac77]

We are currently near Angers, it was 40 degrees at 8:30pm has now cooled down to 37 and there is not a breath of air. I don’t think any screens will help in these conditions only a hotel room with air con.

 

[Nick Stubbs]

We took the external screen cover a couple of weeks back and only used it once, the internal blinds did the job with less hassel given the extreme heat we had.

 

[Volkywagen]

I have ended up with 3 screens,

1 is the internal sliders for the windscreen.
These are okay but not complete blackout.

2 is a set of silver screens fitted internally with suckers.
These are probably better in the colder months

3 is a cheapo silver screen fitted externally
and for me its the best for keeping it cool.

I bought 2 of the standard ones and stitched them together to make
it big enough. Cost about 20€.
View attachment 47874

where did you get number 3 from?

 

[larrylamb]

Hi everyone, we are travelling around France in a few weeks but haven’t camped in hot temperatures before. We have 3 places booked for 4 nights each but then plan to wing it for a week or so on the way back.

I’ve got a couple of things on my potential shopping list to take and was just looking for a thumbs up, definitely get that or a don’t bother mate.

1. One of those external windscreen covers rather than the be internal one. I like the ones with eyes but they are quite pricey.

2. The metal hook thingy to keep the tailgate open but locked

3. The Brandrup fly out for the sliding door

I’ve bought a plug in fan for the van already and we’ll be bringing our airbeam blow up awning also. I might look around for a tarp and poles for the extra shade. Any other recommendations are totally welcome.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Number 1, external thermal screen cover works well for us all year round, certainly helps keep the cab cooler in hot weather and no steaming up in winter.

 

[marchugo]

Rule #1: you can’t keep a heatwave out of the Cali, even in the shade.
Rule #2: direct sun is hotter than the hottest air in the shadow.

Hence, shade protection helps to avoid sun rays heating up the van like an oven, but still the Cali metal can reach 70 Celsius, as you can feel with your hand on the metal wall in the back of the cupboards.

We bought the over expensive insulation from Brandrup (windshield and side windows, and they are worth every penny (but only to avoid the extra heating effects of direct sun light). In winter they are very helpfull in keeping the cabin comfortable. And they are not bulky at all (we store all of them under the mattress downstairs.

BTW, the built in silver curtains of the Cali do a remarkable good job keeping the sun out, in my opinion.

Avoid the thin bubble isolation plastic from the building market. It’s useless for keeping the sun out, unless you fold it in double layers, but then they are bulky.

On silver screen awnings and sheets: before buying, test if they give real shadow, as many of them leak at least 30 % of the sun light. The shadow they give feels like a tree without leaves. Test this before buying with a very strong light, otherwise you might think they are ok when inside a relatively dark shop.

Ventilation: one or two silent pc fans work like a wonder in hot nights in the Cali. Many of them are standard 12 volt or on USB 5 volt.

Regards from Holland at 37 Celsius today

Marc.

 

[marchugo]

It helps keeping the fridge out of direct sunlight:

Pushing the envelope - stretching Cali's room to te limit

Aluminum shade for the fridge To avoid heating of the fridge on sunny days, I made this small adjustment. It's kind of a shadow diaper for the Cali. Ugly, but might be helpful for those days that you can't find a decent place in the shadow. Takes 1.5 meter of aluminum bubble foil, 50 CM...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

Easy DIY job.

Regards from Amsterdam,

Marc.

 

[westfalia]

where did you get number 3 from?

Somewhere like Halfords.

 

[briwy]

Silver screens in pound shops for---a pound..

 

[marchugo]

It helps keeping the fridge out of direct sunlight. Easy DIY job.

Regards from Amsterdam,

Marc.

Possibly the last link was incorrect, this was what I meant:

Aluminum shade for the fridge

To avoid heating of the fridge on sunny days, I made this small adjustment. It's kind of a shadow diaper for the Cali. Ugly, but might be helpful for those days that you can't find a decent place in the shadow.




Takes 1.5 meter of aluminum bubble foil, 50 CM wide, 3 MM thick. Double fold it.

On top and bottom glue round wooden sticks (some MM's shorter than the foil, to prevent scratches on the car body).
Two sucking towel hooks for sticking it on the window.
If rolled up, it neatly finds a place in the airplane cabinet.





Chilled regards from Amsterdam,

Marc.

 

[westfalia]

Possibly the last link was incorrect, this was what I meant:

Aluminum shade for the fridge

To avoid heating of the fridge on sunny days, I made this small adjustment. It's kind of a shadow diaper for the Cali. Ugly, but might be helpful for those days that you can't find a decent place in the shadow.




Takes 1.5 meter of aluminum bubble foil, 50 CM wide, 3 MM thick. Double fold it.

On top and bottom glue round wooden sticks (some MM's shorter than the foil, to prevent scratches on the car body).
Two sucking towel hooks for sticking it on the window.
If rolled up, it neatly finds a place in the airplane cabinet.





Chilled regards from Amsterdam,

Marc.

Yeah, it stops the sun shinning on a part
of your back panel. But it probably does nothing.
You would need a full back quarter shade for it to be of
any worth.

 

[Skylark2.0]

Buy a tailgate lock extension.
Buy Brandrup insect screen for back door.
Pucer screen for top during the day.
Close fitted blinds in the day.
Fit insect nets in the sliding windows, leave them open at night.
Have dubflectas and cover with insect netting using external magnets.
Leave all windows in top fully open, it may be light but at least it's cool.
Sleep under a damp sarong (careful with this, you may get too cold...)
Have a cool shower before you go to bed.
Buy USB fans, plug them in and sleep next to one.
Park van so fridge side is North facing!

 

[marchugo]

Yeah, it stops the sun shinning on a part
of your back panel. But it probably does nothing.
You would need a full back quarter shade for it to be of
any worth.

You’re probably right, i guess. My solution was provisionally made during a trip. And as we all know, provional solutions tend to become final...
Best is to park the fridge North, or attach a sunblocker sheet in the rail above the fridge.

Marc.

 

[Melanie Day]

We had the curtains in the back all the time, even when travelling to keep the inside out of direct sunlight.
Even in the shade the van got hot inside during heatwave in France. When little one was ready for bed we opened boot and sliding door - put engine and aircon on for 5 mins. Once cooler shut doors and then had USB Fan downstairs and upstairs.
Biggest problem for us was there was no air movement, no draft just heat so even if getting cooler outside it was hard to get air circulating in van.
Once boy was asleep and temp outside was cooler than inside we opened sliding door and boot to encourage max air flow through the van.
We slept with sliding door open (curtain down) at the risk of getting bitten - tried to keep legs under covers!

 

[DavidofHook]

We slept with the sliding door open and a Brandrup flyout in place, the window over the cooker slid open , again with a flyout in place and an electric fan running off a USB. We did try the thingy to keep the backdoor slightly open but stuff kept dropping down to the outside and quit honestly it didn't seem to make much difference, we also have a club line that fits on the frig side and we hang our towels on that which gives shade on the frig and passenger door. We just use the VW internal curtain thing for the screen and front side windows. It was 36 to 39 when we were there in June/ July and it seemed to work ok. Most effective is keeping the door open

 

[Skylark2.0]

We had the curtains in the back all the time, even when travelling to keep the inside out of direct sunlight.
Even in the shade the van got hot inside during heatwave in France. When little one was ready for bed we opened boot and sliding door - put engine and aircon on for 5 mins. Once cooler shut doors and then had USB Fan downstairs and upstairs.
Biggest problem for us was there was no air movement, no draft just heat so even if getting cooler outside it was hard to get air circulating in van.
Once boy was asleep and temp outside was cooler than inside we opened sliding door and boot to encourage max air flow through the van.
We slept with sliding door open (curtain down) at the risk of getting bitten - tried to keep legs under covers!

The tailgate lock extension available from that shop allows some air movement. It made a massive difference to us on holiday.

 

[kave]

We also have the Brandrup tailgate lock, but rarely use it. If it is warm there are usually mosquitoes and they get in very well through the open tailgate. If it is raining water finds its way in as well.
We use a mosquito net in the main door and a ventilation grille in the opposite window. We sleep with the door open in warm climate. We don’t have any other protection from the sun than what is included in a Beach which works well. Main thing is to keep the instrument board out of the sun.
We measured 72C degrees when in Rome when car parked with all blinds down and mounted.