keeping cool

Do you have a little fairy travel with you, after he goes to sleep who's going to keep spraying bloody water,

hairy's got a dedicated missus that would spray him all night, lol

No air con at Fitzroy! Boy does that bring back some memories. Went insane, still am!

Yep,
Woke up in a sweat many times at night and put on the Gumboots and walked 5 metres to the Generator Shed through the snakes. Quick kick in the ^&*( and the lizards would blow out of the exhaust pipe and away she'd go. Aircon again.

Should have been 60 metres in me Jamas??

Notso
JAMA'S ........no wonder you get hot, wearing clothes to bed , what have you got to hide that all of others have'nt,

Ummmmm.............................


Doug

Have to wear jamas otherwise have bad dreams

Ahhhhhhhhh Notso confucious say man who take problem in hand at bedtime wake up with solution in bed....

Hi Richard

Two layered roof is a great way to go , almost makes you think your under a shady tree.

Works well in Vic over summer as well, and is probably the most cost effective thing one can do.

The apparent temp rise under the tarp next to us last summer was about + 10c and the almost got sunburnt under it as well.

Robin Miller

So Robin - are you saying that a tarp over the top would make things hotter than the tropical roof or am I having a blonde moment? Thanks for the input so far.

No , double layer keeps things cooler Oz Doc.

Even the best single tarp is still hotter than sitting under a shady tree , and you need the air gap Richard mentioned to achieve the best results.

I think basically the problem is not so much that it gets hot sometimes , but that we make it worse than it needs to be.

Robin Miller

What's even better is a thermal tarp - ie. a silver one made with that thermal foam layer like your windscreen sunvisor thingys. I've seen these custom-made for camper trailers and have camped with friends that say it makes all the difference.

we have a zip-on thermal roof on our CT but for serious shade we also have a b.big tarp which extends well over the lot including the awning. Need some extra poles and ropes. Also have a box fan which runs through convertor.
cheers
T.R.

G'day Guys
One presumes that during the day the inside of the camper wouldn't be used much - unless it is for a midday siesta. Ignoring the midday siesta I fail to see what benefit a double roof over the body of the camper would have during summer.
I can appreciate that it would probably make the sleeping area warmer during the colder months by trapping a layer of warmer air up there.
I can also believe that having an extra tarp over the awning would make things cooler in that area.
But I don't see how it would help with making sleeping at night more comfortable. In fact I imagine it would make matters worse because of that extra trapped layer which I imagine would actually keep internal temperatures higher.
Am I missing something with respect to the double roof argument as a hot weather solution?
Cheers from the Moose.

Hi Moose

No don't think you are missing anything - we were just replying to the general question
about keeping cool, and as you suggest you don't want a trapped air situation.

Most of the damage I have seen is from people sitting under a tarp during the heat of the
day and wondering why they get red even with a 50 factor tarp.

By and large this is caused by re-radiation from the hot underside surface.

Two layers or in the case of a camper, a tarp over it making a second layer, generally happens such that there is quite a gap to ensure air doesn't get trapped in it at any time.

By tarp I'm referring to the silvered poly tarp as the effect is greater than with pure canvas and it is the separated two layers that allows circulation that does the trick.

As you imagine anything done to assist air flow works even better.

Just a comment on sleeping at night, here the same effect works also in that if you sleep on a strecher or lair bed or some system that allows circulating air underneath then its much cooler. than say a mattress on the ground/floor.

Robin Miller

A tropical roof is what use to be used before air conditioning was around, alot of containers, earth moving gear and buildings use to use it.

The air between the inner roof and the outer roof would act as a insulator and the hot air between the two would rise keeping the lower air cooler.

We stiil design and use tropical roofs in some applications to help in cooling.

Much the same as a house, the inside of the house maybe 20 deg. and in the roof 40 deg.

you have to have a gap of about 100mm plus to make it wok.

Just goooooogled it and found Kimberley Kamper offer it as an option.......heres the link:

http://www.kimberleykampers.com/energy/tropical_roof.php

Regards Richard

Thanks guys. Going to give the fan and tropical roof a try up at 80 mile beach and see how we go. Think I'll give Hairy's fairy a miss though.

Sounds like you are describing the invention of the coolgardie safe....
Remember when we all had canvas waterbags hanging of our front bumper - absolutley essential on long trips from Sydney to Gosford - but they do work via the evaporative effect. Havent seen one for years, must look into it...