Best bang for the buck insulating cab/single pane windshield from the cold?

[1bigmess]

I was getting a lot of glare from one window in the afternoon that made it hard to watch movies so I used some double sided tape ($2.99) to stick a piece of space blanket ($1.99, enough for almost all my windows) in the window and the glare is gone. On the outside, the light is reflected away before it gets in the rig.

I heard a story that the folks at Johnson Space Center use the windshield reflective sheets to help keep their cars cooler in the summer, but they put them on the outside of the windshield because of the greenhouse effect of the closed up car keeping the heat in if the windshield reflective shade is inside the car. Made lots of sense to me.

[BirchyBoy]

I’ve wondered about putting this material on the inside of the window. We use one of the foldable sunscreens in the windshield, but there is enough gap that excess heat has a way to escape. Can having this material fit to a window cause any damage?

[1bigmess]

No.

[DocDon]

Many years ago one of the science fiction mags had an article about a very good, very cheap insulator from the space program.

It turns out that one way to slow down heat conduction is to have a material change. One reason double pane windows work is that they have more of these material changes in them.

NASA found that a very cheap and effective insulator was just putting a layer of aluminum foil down, then a layer of paper, then another layer of foil, another of paper, for up to an inch in thickness.

When one talks of insulating ability, this usually measured in "R" values. Four inches of fiberglass insulation is about R-16. One inch of closed cell styrofoam is also about R-16. Due to all the layers of aluminum foil an paper, one inch of the foil/paper insulation is like R-300, due to the approx. 300 different layers in one inch of thickness.

So, try multiple layers of space blanket with thin foam, bubblewrap, etc. between them to get a good cheap durable insulator. You can even test this by making small versions and measuring how long it takes for an ice cube to melt in them. The above-mentioned one inch thick foil/paper insulator in the form of a small box kept an ice cube frozen for 24 hours. That should be enough insulation for anyone!

[Cat]

Almost everything I've read says you cannot have anything touching the aluminum type material a air gap is required or you lose the insulation factor. The best foamboard or Styrofoam insulation I've found is about R7 for 1". Spray insulation is the best but its not R16 for a inch.

[carl2591]

I use one in summer in the front window.. the trick it to leave the windows open about 3/4" front and back.. that way you dont get the heat buildup.. Or you can get these type of deal that mount out the outside of window that really does a good job of keeping interior cool. I use a big one on my pickup truck.. you can use them for snow, ice, sleet etc and sun..

https://www.amazon.com/Big-Hippo-Car...STDKM0VR6MEP3D

Originally Posted by BirchyBoy

I’ve wondered about putting this material on the inside of the window. We use one of the foldable sunscreens in the windshield, but there is enough gap that excess heat has a way to escape. Can having this material fit to a window cause any damage?

[Blazing zipp]

We use Reflectix and have bungee cords screwed under the lift up bed (storage area) and just slip the Reflectix in there for storage. The two big sheets, we slip behind the sofa.
We have dual pane windows, but use Reflectix while in storage--also in the overhead sky lites (don't want plane passengers looking in and seeing "all o this.")

[SteveW123]

Radiant Barrier is a great way to insulate your coaches windows. I got a 48”x 25’ roll for about $30 at Lowe’s. It’s easy to cut and fit on your windows.