You never take a vacation from car maintenance. This precious item of yours necessitates your attention throughout the year, and as the seasons change, you must also find new ways to demonstrate your affection for the vehicle. As the weather warms up, it’s important to protect your vehicle from the sun’s rays.
Here are 7 tips to keep your car cool in summer:
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Invest in a sunshade for your windshield
Despite the fact that they help keep a car’s temperature down by covering the sun’s major entry point, some drivers simply despise their appearance. Some people are also put off by the inconvenience of utilizing them.
Most parked car sun blinds flatten out in an accordion-style form, which is obviously unsightly. Their reflective, foil-like surface also doesn’t help them blend in.
It’s understandable if you don’t want a cheap-looking sunscreen to detract from the sharp appearance of your luxury automobile car.
There are more expensive but far nicer-looking windshield sun blinds available to keep your parked car cool. Hundreds of unique models are available from some companies, ensuring a precise fit and color match.
Better heat-absorbing materials are also found in higher-quality sun windshield shade versions. This improves their ability to reduce the entry of heat and UV rays into a vehicle’s cabin.
Make Use of a Car Cover
Investing in a nice car cover is one of the most effective ways to keep your car cool. Car covers reduce heat inside the car by blocking damaging UV rays.
Because it reflects the sun’s rays, a lighter-colored car cover does an excellent job of keeping a car cool. So no more scorching seats, scorching steering wheels, or dangerously high interior temperatures.
Protect the interior of your car
If a windshield sun shade isn’t an option for you as a car cooling solution, another choice is to cover the hot spots in your vehicle’s interior.
Car dashboard covers come in a variety of styles. Shop around for a higher-quality piece that fits well and successfully compliments the interior of your car, just like you did with the windshield sun blinds.
Other interior elements you’ll want to protect from the sun are your steering wheel and leather seats. Your naked legs will appreciate you whether you’re wearing shorts or a dress.
During the hottest months of the year, it may even be worth adopting lighter-coloured fabric seat coverings if you have dark leather seats. Even a blanket or two will suffice for a less elegant approach of covering your parked car’s interior sections.
Keep your windows slightly opened
Simply leave the windows slightly open. Always remember that heated air rises. As a result, make sure the windows aren’t open wide enough for a burglar to slip his hand inside and unlock the vehicle. Even a modest aperture will provide adequate ventilation and allow heated air to depart the vehicle inside.
Solar-powered ventilation fan
Finally, consider a solar-powered ventilation fan, which you may not be aware of. The solar panel that powers the fan is mounted on the outer top of one of your rolled-up windows.
The fan pushes hot air out of the car and draws in cooler air from outside. Using two fans on either side of the front or back windows will improve cross-ventilation airflow and lower the temperature even more.
Higher-powered, more effective variants with a larger solar panel that fits on your dashboard and powers the fans can be obtained. This product’s quality and dependability appear to be inconsistent.
Some internet evaluations disparage more affordable models as gimmicky and ineffective. Other fan models have been praised by customers as innovative and highly effective.
Parking in the Shade
The next suggestion is the simplest on this list. Despite the fact that this is a relatively fundamental concept, many of us neglect it and park in the first available slot. If you can’t find any shade, a light-colored cotton bedsheet might be used to cover your interior.
Service your air conditioner
Because prevention is better than cure, have your car’s air conditioner serviced before the summer arrives. Getting the air conditioner serviced should not cost more than Rs 3,000.
How can I keep my car cool in the summer without AC?
To cool a car without air conditioning, open all the windows and doors and use a powerful portable fan. Heat can be reduced by parking in a shady or covered area and utilizing a windshield sunshade. To compensate for the lack of air conditioning, use frozen water bottles as ice packs in the car and invest in tinted windows.
Here are some other tips to cool down your car in the summer without AC:
Make ice packs by freezing water bottles
To hold against your chest or the back of your neck, keep several frozen water bottles in your cooler along with your bowl of wet hand towels. The best thing is that as they melt, you get a refreshing ice-cold drink.
Portable car air conditioner
In a car without built-in air conditioning, air circulation via a portable car air conditioner is a terrific way to minimize heat. We recommend mounting a fan on the driver’s left side, facing the vehicle’s back right.
Installing two fans on the passenger’s right-hand side, facing the back left, is even better. This will keep the air circulating in the automobile by creating a cross breeze.
A high-powered automobile cooling fan is a good choice because it’s easy to move about the car and has a variety of settings. It’s one of the most basic automotive air conditioning options available.
Open all doors
To assist that trapped heat escape, roll down all the windows and open all the doors of your automobile. Roll down all of the windows but only one side of the vehicle’s doors. Then, to get the heated air out the opposite side faster, pump the doors open and closed.
Keep wet towels
There is a reason amusement parks can get away with charging a premium for little cooling towels: they function. The good news is that you can get them for a lower price at your local home improvement store.
If you buy one, have it handy for those hot summer days, whether you’re driving or not. Pour cool water over a cooling towel, wring it out, then drape it across your neck to get the most out of it.
What is the fastest way to cool a hot car?
Nothing is more unpleasant than sitting in a scorching hot automobile on a hot summer day. If you need to get out quickly in the summer and don’t have time to turn on the air conditioning, there are a few things you can do to make your automobile more comfortable.
Here are some fastest ways to cool a hot car:
Move the Air
By eliminating the heated air from within your car, you can swiftly cool it down. Roll down one of the front windows first. Then, on the other side of the car, open and close the door five or ten times.
This will help to circulate the air and move the trapped hot air within. In less than a minute, the temperature inside the car can decrease by up to ten degrees.
Make use of the air conditioner and the fresh air from outside
Roll down the windows in your automobile when you get in. Turn on the air conditioner and select the fresh air option. Re-circulate is not an option. Increase the fan speed to maximum and set the temperature to cold. To help send the heated air outside,
drive for a few minutes with the windows down and the air on. When the automobile begins to cool down, roll up the windows to keep the cool air inside.
Turn on the air conditioner
Using air conditioning is the best technique to make your car comfortable after sitting in the hot sun. Allow enough time to turn it on before you need to depart so that it can cool the car down before you get in.
Because you keep the cool air inside the vehicle, this is more effective than driving with the windows down and the air conditioning on.
If you want to swiftly cool down your automobile, one of the most important things to do is prevent it from becoming too hot in the first place and then move the air around. If you don’t have air conditioning, try opening the door and letting some of the heat go.
Use a sunshade
When you park your car in the sun, a sunshade in the windshield keeps the interior cooler. Installing some in the windows will make it even cooler. This prevents the sun’s rays from overheating the interior.
How long should it take for an AC to cool a car?
Your car’s air conditioning should get cold in 3 to 5 minutes on average. However, depending on the model, some cars may take longer.
Let’s have a look at the main components of a car’s AC unit:
- Compressor: A compressor compresses the AC gas, transforms it to liquid, and then feeds it through the refrigerant line.
- Condenser: The refrigerant heats up in the condenser during the compression cycle. The condenser’s duty is to cool the hot refrigerant line by circulating cool air through it.
- Expansion valve: The expansion valve functions as a barrier between the low and high-pressure portions of the air conditioner. As a result, the liquid refrigerant is changed to gas as it flows through the valve.
- Accumulator: Because the gas contains some moisture, it goes via the drier, which removes any remaining moisture.
- Evaporator: The dried gas (i.e., hot gas) from the drier flows via the evaporator, which is located beneath your car’s dashboard. The AC fan now pumps air through this evaporator to cool down the hot air from the dryer.
The air that comes out of the AC vents is chilled air from the evaporator. Depending on your car’s air conditioning equipment, this entire process will take a few seconds or a few minutes.
If the unit is too old, expect the flow of cold air to take at least 3-5 minutes to begin, however, if the unit is new, cold air production can begin immediately. Remember that to generate cold air through the AC, the engine must reach 1600 RPMs, which takes about 3-5 minutes.
Gadgets to keep the car cool in summer
There are several fairly clever gadgets on the market that will assist in keeping your automobile cool during summer or any other season. If you’re ready to combat the heat by keeping your car cool, then this will be very beneficial for you.
Here are some gadgets to keep your car cool in summer:
Electric Dash Fan
An electric dashboard fan is a terrific method to swiftly cool off your car. These fans usually hook into your 12V cigarette lighter outlet, so you’ll never have to worry about dead batteries or running out of electricity.
You can adhere to them on your dashboard or wherever else you choose with sticky pads. The wonderful thing about these fans is that, despite their diminutive size, they are really powerful. Some people have even created a makeshift A/C unit by placing frozen water bottles behind the fan.
Electric Headrest Fan
Headrest fans are ideal for backseat travelers, whether they be your children or pets. They attach to the headrest of either front seat and can be aimed in any direction, giving a strong wind of cool air to everyone who sits in their path.
These, like the dashboard fan, plug into a 12V cigarette lighter outlet, making it easy to keep track of or recharge batteries.
Sun Shade for the Steering Wheel
Putting your hands on a hot steering wheel is not a pleasant feeling. This is especially true if you’re pressed for time and can’t wait for it to cool down. Traditional steering wheel covers,
unless you have one of those extremely thick fuzzy ones that were trendy back in the day do little to aid with this problem.
Car Umbrella
Unfortunately, not everyone has access to a garage or carport in which to park their vehicles. And, without any shade to shield our automobiles from the sun’s relentless heat, there’s only so much we can do to keep the inside temperature of our vehicles cool before we enter.
Unless you use a car umbrella to create your own shade. A car umbrella is a terrific method to give shade and keep your vehicle cool no matter where it is parked.