It's a Team's Life

Staying Cool

By Linda Caffee
Posted Jul 30th 2021 8:57AM

We have been in some pretty hot areas lately and we have been thinking of ways to take the pressure off of our air conditioner as well as the generator.  With the amount of solar, we have on the truck, we have gotten used to the quiet of not having the generator running.  

When we had the solar installed the suggestion was made to paint the top of the sleeper white to help with cooling.  Many RV’s have this done and finally, Bob had the time to work on this project. What I found interesting is that when he first tried to mask off everything he did not want to be painted he tried in the afternoon and the roof of the sleeper was so hot he could not do it.  He waiting till early the next morning and the roof was cool to do the masking.  He had to apply the paint with a roller.  When it was time to put on the second coat he had no problem being on the roof of the truck in the afternoon.  

Next, we added window shades and there are a couple of ways to do this.  Our truck does not have a curtain in the cab which lets the cab get supper hot and the sleeper curtains keep out most of the heat.  The problem is we like to sit upfront in our swivel seats and it was impossible without shades.  You can buy shades at a retail store and trim them to fit or buy a roll of reflective sheeting at Home Depot or Lowes and then cut to fit.  Both ways work great just depends on preference.  If you buy the shades from a department store they fold up and can be stored behind the seat while the roll is flat and we have found it easier to store the shades under the bed or bench seating. 

Now we can enjoy the cab of the truck and the air conditioning does not have to run as long to keep our truck cool.  It is a win-win. 

Bob & Linda Caffee

TeamCaffee

Saint Louis MO

Expediters since January 2005

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