Best exterior color during heat waves

Silver is the best color for deflecting heat. Significantly
better than white, even. Silver has the most reflecting
properties. On a hot summer day, touch a white car,
and then touch a silver car - you'll feel the difference.
Don't touch a black car, though - 'cause you'll get hurt!

Rebuttals anyone? ;^)

-=G

I would guess that there's a little more scientific reasoning behind the
answer to this question then... touch it and feel.

Here's a little something I found in a discussion of radiator colors:

"In a hot climate, the best color to paint a roof so that it stays cool is
white. The white color does not absorb much visible light from the sun, but
the white color is also good at emitting heat when it gets hot.

In the ultraviolet light range, some metals are transparent, and in the
infrared, some semimetals are transparent. Plastics and many types of glass
are essentially "black" in the ultraviolet.

Silver paints are a special case. These pigments contain metal particles
which have peculiar optical properties. They usually are poor absorbers or
emitters of radiation, either optical or heat. So do not use silver paint
on
a radiator."

The rest of this can be found he
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasc...9/eng99320.htm

Now from that bit of information it still sounds like white could be the
better color. Although silver is poor at absorbing radiation, there will be
some radiation entering the car through the windows. Silver is also poor at
emitting radiation, thus what gets in may also stay in better than in a
white car. This wouldn't be a big deal if the AC is on, but what about the
two cars being left in a sunny parking lot for several hours? Although the
silver car may be colder to the touch on the exterior, it may be warmer on
the insider due to the poor ability to radiate the heat that gets in through
the windows.

Maybe it's something to send off to the Mythbusters to find out...

Steve
72 Skylark Custom455

"Grumbler" > wrote in message
...
> Silver is the best color for deflecting heat. Significantly
> better than white, even. Silver has the most reflecting
> properties. On a hot summer day, touch a white car,
> and then touch a silver car - you'll feel the difference.
> Don't touch a black car, though - 'cause you'll get hurt!
>
> Rebuttals anyone? ;^)
>
> -=G
>
>

"Grumbler" > wrote in
:

> Silver is the best color for deflecting heat. Significantly
> better than white, even. Silver has the most reflecting
> properties. On a hot summer day, touch a white car,
> and then touch a silver car - you'll feel the difference.
> Don't touch a black car, though - 'cause you'll get hurt!

It depends on time. Years back the local newspaper parked two cars in
the sun on a 110+ day here in sunny Phoenix, AZ. Both had all the
windows closed. One car was black, one was white and they were both
equipped with means to measure the interior temperature.

The two cars reached exactly the same interior temperature but the
black car got there hours sooner.

So.... if you're going to park outside all day, it makes absolutely no
difference, if you're parking for an hour or so it makes a big
difference.