This Is Why the Inside of Your Car Gets Hot on a Summer Day
We are familiar with the saying, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” During the summer, though, you might just as well add the word car into that phrase. Why does your car feel like an oven, whether you park it in the shade or the sun?
The interior of vehicles can overheat in the summer for many different reasons. This post will discuss the most common reasons for engine overheating and share insight on how to fix the problem and keep your car running all summer smoothly.
REASONS WHY THE INSIDE OF YOUR CAR GETS HOT IN SUMMER
Mini greenhouse effect
Your car bakes on hot days due to the same glasshouse effect that retains heat in the atmosphere and sustains our planet at a comfortable temperature for us to live in. The windshield of your car not only provides you with an unobstructed view of the road but also allows sunlight to enter your vehicle’s interior without obstruction. It is similar to how shortwave radiation from the sun travels through a car’s windows.
Due to their lower albedo, darker-colored surfaces (such as the steering wheel, dashboard, and seats) that the sun’s rays strike are heated considerably more than the windows. By convection and conduction, these heated items then heat the air around them.
The average gray interior of an enclosed automobile will heat up by 19 degrees Fahrenheit in 10 minutes, 29 degrees Fahrenheit in 20 minutes, 34 degrees Fahrenheit in half an hour, 43 degrees Fahrenheit in an hour, and 50 to 55 Fahrenheit degrees in two to four hours.
Metal as a heating element
The metal in your car acts as a heating element. It absorbs heat from the sun and there isn’t any wind or air to whisk it away. As a result, it becomes increasingly hotter, much like an oven. It isn’t much you can do with ambient temperature because it’s a passive temperature application. That’s why the car heats up less on a cloudy, hot day.
Why heated cars are hazardous
A stiflingly hot vehicle is uncomfortable and detrimental to one’s health. Heat illnesses like heat stroke and hyperthermia are common because of prolonged exposure to high air temperatures, but they can be brought on by direct contact with hot objects. Due to car systems’ inability to regulate temperature, young children, babies, the elderly, and pets are especially vulnerable to heat disease. (A child’s body heats up three to five times more quickly than an adult’s.)
Why cracking the windows is not useful
Don’t fool yourself into thinking that a few cracked windows will protect you from the perils of a hot car. You should know that the interior temperature of a car increases by 3.1 degrees Fahrenheit every five minutes when the windows are cracked, compared to a rise of 3.4 degrees Fahrenheit when the windows are completely shut.
Windshield sun shades offer some cooling
As an alternative to rolling down the windows, windshield sun shades (windshield-mounted shades) can be used to keep the interior of the car cooler. They have the potential to cut the inside temperature of your car by 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Pay extra for the foil variety to have the glass heat reflected through it and away from the car, further increasing the cooling effect.
THE BOTTOM LINE!
Due to the shuttered windows of your car, heat cannot escape. Shortwave radiation can easily penetrate through windows, while long-wave radiation cannot. Like the glasshouse effect, the heat is trapped within the car, causing the temperature to rise from a comfortable level to a lethal level quickly. Instead of cracking windows a little, use the windshield sunshade to keep your vehicle’s interior cool.