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How much cooler is a white vehicle in the summer than a black one?
I've always heard that white vehicles are cooler
tha black ones because they reflect, rather than
absorb sunlight. Is there much truth to this?
I've only owned dark colors so I don't have much to
compare to, but I was wondering if someone did.
What is the guesstimated temperature difference?
tha black ones because they reflect, rather than
absorb sunlight. Is there much truth to this?
I've only owned dark colors so I don't have much to
compare to, but I was wondering if someone did.
What is the guesstimated temperature difference?
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Indigo Blue
Graphite Interior
4.8L
Automatic
Extended Cab for family
Tinted Windows
Don't sacrifice the color of your vehicle because you are afraid that it will be too hot. Air conditioning will cool down the interior. Bottom line: Get what you want.
Jeff
Might be a deciding factor??
Who knows.. just a thought
Aaron
- Tim
Good luck
- The reformed (kinda) Tim
Even a white truck will feel like an oven with a dark gray/black interior.
kcram
Community Leader/Smart Shopper Conference
You guys have too much time on your collective hands.
Long story, sorry.
Mike
P.S. New truck will be black, I can't help it, a clean black truck or car just looks good.
I have had light and dark, and can't say I have noticed much difference in practical terms. Also heat problems can usually be alleviated fairly easily through a/c or open windows.
One experience I did have, may not be color related, but I parked a black car for about 6 hours on a freezing day here in Ontario. Plenty of snow ice around but the sun was out this day (although fairly weak). Anyway the car started much easier than normal - could it have been the heat absorbed by the black hood keeping the engine a little warmer? - I dunno.
- Tim
Second important note, when some one gets jealous and keys your new car or some one decides to use your vehicle in a crash test, you'll find out that black is the easiest color to match. There is only one shade of black. All other colors, even white have to be color matched, and if your car has a little age on it, it is hard to make new paint look faded.
Mike
but it would be easier to match..perhaps.
- Tim
Bias warning: This post comes from someone who owns a white truck, but it is a valid point.
-powerisfun
- Tim
Let me get this straight, the fact that black gets hotter than white means that the air around black gets hotter, and hot air is less efficient - OK that makes sense.
But surely when a vehicle is moving this is a moot point. I mean the air is exposed to just a few inches of spce between the front of the truck and the airfilter. Now OK the path of the air into the cylinders is also going to be hotter because that's beneath the hood. But even so we aren't talking very long.
If we say that the total distance travelled by the air between the front of the truck and the cylinders is 3 feet (just for arguments sake), and the truck is moving at 55mph - then it takes the air less than 4/100 (yes, hundredths) of a second to travel that 3 feet. I mean how much can air heat up in that time?
One thing sort of related to this is the "Project MPG" being done by Performance Unlimited
(see the website http://www.performanceunlimited.com for a great article). They taped insulating/reflecting tape around the entire air intake system and saw an improvement in mileage, torque and horsepower.
The intake tubes and airbox is probably roughly the same volume (about 1 cubic foot) with a bit higher temperatures (maybe not, that sun-heated black-painted metal is sometimes too hot to touch), but note that they are already surrounded by insulating materials like plastic and rubber. Yet, the extra heat insulation did help. So in conclusion, yes this is a very small effect, but it is there, and it may even be measurable if not noticeable.
-powerisfun
results listed on the website. That's in the Four Wheeler article (August '99). The magazine is where I heard about the website. They do show the temperature differences though on the website.
This was my first time to paint anything, and it really isn't that hard except for the clear coat. No problem, just required me to buff out a little orange peel, but for my first time I feel pretty good.
Note: with the new polyurethanes you have to have a remote air source, and good ventilation. When I was setting this up, all the painters said just wear a good mask, but after doing some research on the isocyanides I choose a remote air source. This stuff is bad news, and will do bad things to your lungs. (no mater what they tell you, a mask will NOT filter this stuff out.)
If you can't commit to what it requires....don't get black. Simple....ain't it?
- Tim
However, when the sun goes down, the black metal is suddenly the hot thing and it radiates all that heat away very quickly. Anyway, the same thing applys to black engines.
-powerisfun
My direct experience is that a black car is hotter in the direct sun. I was traveling to Denver on a regular basis and that year there was frequent snow. On this particular trip I was given a black rental car. The first night in Denver it snowed about 6" or Denver's typical powder. The next morning was sunny and blue skys. I brushed as much snow off the car (roof too) as I could and drove the 6-8 miles from the hotel to the office. After the first half mile I was too warm and had shut off the heater/defroster. After another half mile I was even warmer and had to open the window a couple of inches. The temperature was still less than 30. I had been in similar situations with a light colored car but never experienced the warming of the dark car.
Rich
2 stays cooler in the heat
3 paint touch up yrs later match
4 you are seen at night
5 will not fade yrs later
I've had vehicles of just about every color but my last 3 and the next whatever will be white.
Is it a problem to *see* a white vehicle going down the road during a snowstorm, or even after a snowstorm, with a backdrop of snow-covered trees, houses, mountains, etc.?
As far as heat is concerned, of course a lighter-colored surface subject to solar radiation will reflect more heat, therefore causing said surface to be relatively cooler than an equivalent dark-colored surface.
Get two cars, one white, one black. Park them in the sun, in August, in Texas. Now, crack two eggs open and plop 'em down on each hood. The egg on the dark car will fry noticeably faster. Of course we could take a surface temp reading, but hey, this is more fun!
-GvMeLbrty
this topic is being "frozen." It will be archived or deleted in the next 10 days or so.
Front Porch Philosopher
SUV, Pickups, & Aftermarked and Accessories Host