ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Keep Your Parked Car Cool This Summer - 5 Tips That I Find Useful

Updated on June 13, 2019
BenjiRoss profile image

Cooling down when it's 110 degrees is not easy.... but I try!

Getting into a Superhot car boiling under the blazing sun is not a pleasant experience!
Getting into a Superhot car boiling under the blazing sun is not a pleasant experience! | Source

Why does a car get hot when parked in the sun?

On a hot summer day, parking in the shade may not always be possible. When you park your car under the hot sun, the inside of the car gets super hot because of the large glass area (due to the greenhouse effect). The heated plastic and metal parts inside the car also radiate heat inside the car for a long time. Add to that a hot engine bay! All these result in your car temperature easily going to 120 degrees inside even if the outside temperature is less than 100 degrees. The heated plastic parts like the steering wheel and plastics can even burn your skin. If you have leather or false leather seats, it may become difficult to sit! Baby seats too become unusable. Wouldn't it be lovely to prevent this from happening!

Try these tips to ensure the car is cool when you start driving again. No guarantees that they will make your car polar-cold, but they will definitely help

Parking the car in the shade is not always possible.
Parking the car in the shade is not always possible.

My 5 favorite tips to keep the car cool when it's parked in the sun

These five tips I am sharing are what I find useful or have seen in other cars. They are definitely worth a shot.

1. Leave the windows open a little bit: If this is safely possible, it allows air circulation and can get some of the hot air out. Even a finger width gap helps – but ensure it is safe! A slightly open window is easy to break - so be sure you are in a safe place. Leaving more than one window open a crack can make this even more effective.

2. Use some reflective shades on the windscreen (front and rear) and, if possible, put some shades on the windows too. Cover as much of the glass area as possible as most of the heat is transmitted inside the car via this large glass area and is responsible for the greenhouse effect. Glass tends to get hot by itself and can be a source of heat radiation which can add to the heating.
These shades can be folded and stored in the boot when not needed and take very little space whilst not in use.

3. Try this when you open the car: Open both the front doors wide (or open the window on one side and the door on the other). Then grab one of the door handles and push the door in and out without actually shutting it. Technically this will ‘push out’ the hotter air via the other door and allow some relatively cooler air from outside to enter the car. This helps as the car temperature is easily 20 degrees more than the outside temperature. This may not look trendy and may draw a few stares, but is worth it!

4. When you start the car, keep the windows open a little bit (a few inches), switch on the AC blower, turn on the fresh mode (turn off the recycle air mode) and wait for a few moments. You can use just the fan blower without the AC too (The AC struggles at start up and this will strain the compressor). This again helps to displace some of the super hot air from inside the car to the outside via the window gaps. You can start driving like this for a few seconds, then turn the AC to a cooler temperature. Take off the fresh mode when you notice the car is cooler and roll up your windows. Doing this reduces the amount of time the car is unbearably hot.

5. Use those little solar fans – some people think it works! There are these small, solar powered fans that you can leave at the windows when they are open a slit. These fans promise to continuously remove some of the hot air from the car. They are small and not very powerful. Some people say they are useless, others say they are useful. They are inexpensive (less than 10$) and so they may be worth a shot! Make sure the solar panel faces the sunshine.

Those are my 5 little tips. There is no guaranteed way to make your car freezing cold quickly after parking it in the sun, but every little tip makes the rest of the journey a little more pleasant. Do share and comment!

Keeping the windows closed on a hot day can make the car even hotter. Open it a notch after you park.
Keeping the windows closed on a hot day can make the car even hotter. Open it a notch after you park. | Source
Don't ever keep windows closed even for a moment with your car parked in the sun when there is a pet inside. They can die in the heat!
Don't ever keep windows closed even for a moment with your car parked in the sun when there is a pet inside. They can die in the heat! | Source
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)