Black car vs White car in summer heat

Is there a big difference in how hot the interior of a car gets
depending if the exterior is black or white?

For instance a 2006 Black Toyota Camry with Black leather interior vs a
2006 White Toyota Camry with a light Beige cloth interior. Will the
Black car fill up with heat and get hotter inside overall once parked
in direct sunlight after having been driving with the A/C on. Parked
with the windows rolled up, no sunshades, and some very lightly factory
tinted windows?


Is there really much of a difference? A decernable difference?


East-

In article om>,
wrote:

> Is there a big difference in how hot the interior of a car gets
> depending if the exterior is black or white?
>
> For instance a 2006 Black Toyota Camry with Black leather interior vs a
> 2006 White Toyota Camry with a light Beige cloth interior. Will the
> Black car fill up with heat and get hotter inside overall once parked
> in direct sunlight after having been driving with the A/C on. Parked
> with the windows rolled up, no sunshades, and some very lightly factory
> tinted windows?
>
>
> Is there really much of a difference? A decernable difference?

Absolutely. In a hot sunny parking lot, the darker cars will be hotter
than the lighter colored cars. Black attracts heat; white reflects it.
Just go out to any parking lot on a sunny day and put your hand on a
black car, then put your hand on a white car. The black car will be
hotter, assuming it has been in the parking lot for a while.

Shawn Hirn wrote:
> In article om>,
> wrote:
>
> > Is there a big difference in how hot the interior of a car gets
> > depending if the exterior is black or white?
> >
> > For instance a 2006 Black Toyota Camry with Black leather interior vs a
> > 2006 White Toyota Camry with a light Beige cloth interior. Will the
> > Black car fill up with heat and get hotter inside overall once parked
> > in direct sunlight after having been driving with the A/C on. Parked
> > with the windows rolled up, no sunshades, and some very lightly factory
> > tinted windows?
> >
> >
> > Is there really much of a difference? A decernable difference?
>
> Absolutely. In a hot sunny parking lot, the darker cars will be hotter
> than the lighter colored cars. Black attracts heat; white reflects it.
> Just go out to any parking lot on a sunny day and put your hand on a
> black car, then put your hand on a white car. The black car will be
> hotter, assuming it has been in the parking lot for a while.

But then it is only a matter of degree. On a "hot sunny parking log"
both are going to be very hot inside. The black car will be hotter but
I still won't like crawling into the white car.

Harry K

wrote:
> Is there a big difference in how hot the interior of a car gets
> depending if the exterior is black or white?
>
> For instance a 2006 Black Toyota Camry with Black leather interior vs a
> 2006 White Toyota Camry with a light Beige cloth interior. Will the
> Black car fill up with heat and get hotter inside overall once parked
> in direct sunlight after having been driving with the A/C on. Parked
> with the windows rolled up, no sunshades, and some very lightly factory
> tinted windows?
>
>
> Is there really much of a difference? A decernable difference?
>
>
> East-
>

A study done in Australia (albeit by a TV show similar to your Fox News,
so with minimal credibility ;-) ), found that different colours on a car
made little difference to internal car temperature in summer. However
larger cars got considerably hotter than smaller cars, most probably due
to having more window space.

I wouldn't buy a black car though. No matter how meticulously you look
after it, it will look terrible after a few years as any minor scratches
show up very easily.

White cars are the best at hiding minor imperfections in paint work, but
white cars are also boring :-)

Can't comment on the leather seats. I've only driven cars with cloth seats.

--

SL.


Take back the web. www.Getfirefox.com

http://www.firefoxflicks.com/flick/?id=20272

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> wrote in message
ps.com...
> Is there a big difference in how hot the interior of a car gets
> depending if the exterior is black or white?
>
> For instance a 2006 Black Toyota Camry with Black leather interior vs a
> 2006 White Toyota Camry with a light Beige cloth interior. Will the
> Black car fill up with heat and get hotter inside overall once parked
> in direct sunlight after having been driving with the A/C on. Parked
> with the windows rolled up, no sunshades, and some very lightly factory
> tinted windows?
>
>
> Is there really much of a difference? A decernable difference?
>
>
> East-

Just do a Google search on "black versus white heat" and get thousands of
studies. Here's one...

http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives...1057.Ph.r.html

The bottom line is that it does make a difference up to the point of time
when they both have absorbed as much heat as they can. So if it's a couple
of hours, there is a difference, over that, they both merge to the same. A
4"x 8" sheet of plywood, on the roof rack, helps a lot, and if it has solar
panels, you can charge your battery.

On 13 Aug 2006 17:14:41 -0700, wrote:

>Is there a big difference in how hot the interior of a car gets
>depending if the exterior is black or white?
>
>For instance a 2006 Black Toyota Camry with Black leather interior vs a
>2006 White Toyota Camry with a light Beige cloth interior. Will the
>Black car fill up with heat and get hotter inside overall once parked
>in direct sunlight after having been driving with the A/C on. Parked
>with the windows rolled up, no sunshades, and some very lightly factory
>tinted windows?
>
>
>Is there really much of a difference? A decernable difference?
>
>
>East-

Black absorbs light where as white reflects it. But as far as the
interior of the car goes, you are also dealing with the greenhouse
effect caused by the glass. As far as a real difference, black will
get hotter and you might live a little longer in the white car if you
got trapped in it on a hot bright summer day. I can speak from
experience that beige cloth will not burn your skin like smooth black
leather or vinyl will after being in direct sunlight for a while. I'm
guessing cloth disperses heat better because air passes through it
easier. I think even black cloth won't burn you as bad as white vinyl
or leather. Your tinted windows may help some but since I don't have
tinted windows, I'm not sure how much that will help.

If your thinking of getting one of these cars I would go to a dealer
and see if you can sit in one of each of these cars, preferably that
have been sitting out in the sun, and see for yourself. That would
probably be the best thing to do.

> wrote in message
ps.com...
> Is there a big difference in how hot the interior of a car gets
> depending if the exterior is black or white?
>
> For instance a 2006 Black Toyota Camry with Black leather interior vs a
> 2006 White Toyota Camry with a light Beige cloth interior. Will the
> Black car fill up with heat and get hotter inside overall once parked
> in direct sunlight after having been driving with the A/C on. Parked
> with the windows rolled up, no sunshades, and some very lightly factory
> tinted windows?
>
>
> Is there really much of a difference? A decernable difference?

Like most things it is not as simple as you might think. I have a black
Thunderbird (body, roof, interior), a Red Expedition (gray interior), and a
Gray Nissan Frontier (gray interior). The outside skin of the Thunderbird
car doesn't get any hotter to the touch than my Nissan Frontier and both are
cooler to the touch on a sunny day than the outside of the Expedition
Expedition. The Thunderbird has plastic front fenders, hood, and rear deck.
The Frontier has all steel body panels. The Expedition has an aluminum hood,
and the other panels are steel. Apparent surface temperature is related to
the material, so it might be they all have similar actual temperatures, but
different apparent temperatures.

The light gray interior of the Frontier gets much hotter to the touch than
the black interior of the Thunderbird, while the light gray interior of the
Expedition is coolest of the three. The apparent air temperatures also are
different. The "air" in the Thunderbird gets really hot, but the seats don't
(the steering wheel does though). The air in the Frontier and Expedition
don't get as hot. Maybe they have better venting than the Thunderbird? And
the shape and location of the windows in the Thunderbird limits the amount
of sunlight actually falling on the seats. The glass area of the Frontier is
probably 25% greater or more than the Thunderbird and the Expedition
probably has significantly more than twice the glass area of the Nissan. So
why does the Nissan have the hottest feeling interior? Damn if I know. All I
can say is that the heat absorption of a material is dependent on the
absorption of all wave lengths of light and the apparent temperature is
dependent on the heat transfer properties of the material. The visible color
is only dependent on the absorption of visibility wavelengths. The glass
used for the various windows is also a factor. The Thunderbird has no
"privacy glass." The Nissan has privacy glass on the small rear side windows
and the rear. The Expedition has privacy glass on all the rear windows
(everything back of the driver's doors). There is a lot of volume in the
Expedition, so maybe it takes a long time to heat things up. I noticed the
other day when I was sitting in the sun, the amount of heat on my arm was
much greater with the front windows down, than up, so I assume the window
glass, even the non-privacy glass, is blocking a lot of the sun's energy.
And to make things even more confusing, I am sure the shape of the surfaces
and the orientation to the sun makes a huge difference. At home, all three
vehicle are parked in a similar orientation. At work, the Thunderbird is
pretty much always parked in an orientation that lets the afternoon sun
shine in the windshield and the interior temperatures are noticeably higher
when parked in this orientation.

I can only suggest that you try to find a dealer with examples of the color
your are interested in, sitting in the same orientation on the lot. Try each
and make your own decision.

Ed

"Harry K" > wrote in
ups.com:

>
> Shawn Hirn wrote:
>> In article om>,
>> wrote:
>>
>> > Is there a big difference in how hot the interior of a car gets
>> > depending if the exterior is black or white?
>> >
>> > For instance a 2006 Black Toyota Camry with Black leather interior
>> > vs a 2006 White Toyota Camry with a light Beige cloth interior.
>> > Will the Black car fill up with heat and get hotter inside overall
>> > once parked in direct sunlight after having been driving with the
>> > A/C on. Parked with the windows rolled up, no sunshades, and some
>> > very lightly factory tinted windows?
>> >
>> >
>> > Is there really much of a difference? A decernable difference?
>>
>> Absolutely. In a hot sunny parking lot, the darker cars will be
>> hotter than the lighter colored cars. Black attracts heat; white
>> reflects it. Just go out to any parking lot on a sunny day and put
>> your hand on a black car, then put your hand on a white car. The
>> black car will be hotter, assuming it has been in the parking lot for
>> a while.
>
> But then it is only a matter of degree. On a "hot sunny parking log"
> both are going to be very hot inside. The black car will be hotter but
> I still won't like crawling into the white car.
>
> Harry K
>
>

Black is much harder to keep clean and looking nice.
Swirls show up more on black.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

C. E. White wrote:
> > wrote in message
> ps.com...
> > Is there a big difference in how hot the interior of a car gets
> > depending if the exterior is black or white?
> >
> > For instance a 2006 Black Toyota Camry with Black leather interior vs a
> > 2006 White Toyota Camry with a light Beige cloth interior. Will the
> > Black car fill up with heat and get hotter inside overall once parked
> > in direct sunlight after having been driving with the A/C on. Parked
> > with the windows rolled up, no sunshades, and some very lightly factory
> > tinted windows?
> >
> >
> > Is there really much of a difference? A decernable difference?
>
> Like most things it is not as simple as you might think. I have a black
> Thunderbird (body, roof, interior), a Red Expedition (gray interior), and a
> Gray Nissan Frontier (gray interior). The outside skin of the Thunderbird
> car doesn't get any hotter to the touch than my Nissan Frontier and both are
> cooler to the touch on a sunny day than the outside of the Expedition
> Expedition. The Thunderbird has plastic front fenders, hood, and rear deck.
> The Frontier has all steel body panels. The Expedition has an aluminum hood,
> and the other panels are steel. Apparent surface temperature is related to
> the material, so it might be they all have similar actual temperatures, but
> different apparent temperatures.
>
> The light gray interior of the Frontier gets much hotter to the touch than
> the black interior of the Thunderbird, while the light gray interior of the
> Expedition is coolest of the three. The apparent air temperatures also are
> different. The "air" in the Thunderbird gets really hot, but the seats don't
> (the steering wheel does though). The air in the Frontier and Expedition
> don't get as hot. Maybe they have better venting than the Thunderbird? And
> the shape and location of the windows in the Thunderbird limits the amount
> of sunlight actually falling on the seats. The glass area of the Frontier is
> probably 25% greater or more than the Thunderbird and the Expedition
> probably has significantly more than twice the glass area of the Nissan. So
> why does the Nissan have the hottest feeling interior? Damn if I know. All I
> can say is that the heat absorption of a material is dependent on the
> absorption of all wave lengths of light and the apparent temperature is
> dependent on the heat transfer properties of the material. The visible color
> is only dependent on the absorption of visibility wavelengths. The glass
> used for the various windows is also a factor. The Thunderbird has no
> "privacy glass." The Nissan has privacy glass on the small rear side windows
> and the rear. The Expedition has privacy glass on all the rear windows
> (everything back of the driver's doors). There is a lot of volume in the
> Expedition, so maybe it takes a long time to heat things up. I noticed the
> other day when I was sitting in the sun, the amount of heat on my arm was
> much greater with the front windows down, than up, so I assume the window
> glass, even the non-privacy glass, is blocking a lot of the sun's energy.
> And to make things even more confusing, I am sure the shape of the surfaces
> and the orientation to the sun makes a huge difference. At home, all three
> vehicle are parked in a similar orientation. At work, the Thunderbird is
> pretty much always parked in an orientation that lets the afternoon sun
> shine in the windshield and the interior temperatures are noticeably higher
> when parked in this orientation.
>
> I can only suggest that you try to find a dealer with examples of the color
> your are interested in, sitting in the same orientation on the lot. Try each
> and make your own decision.
>
> Ed

Sorta an aside here. There is a very small fan, solar powered, being
flogging on the TV here. I can't recall the name now or the price but
it appears to be a total scam. The fan is about the size of your palm,
clips to the window which is then rolled up tight. The claim is that
it will keep the interior temp down in the high 70s on a hot day.
Being the skeptic I am, it smelled of rotten fish the first time I
heard it. Local TV did a test. Got two identical cars, put the fan in
one, parked in the sun. An hour later the one with the fan showed a
booming 2 degree lower temp. Temps have been running low/mid 90s for
weeks here.

Harry K

> Sorta an aside here. There is a very small fan, solar powered, being
> flogging on the TV here. I can't recall the name now or the price but
> it appears to be a total scam. The fan is about the size of your palm,
> clips to the window which is then rolled up tight. The claim is that
> it will keep the interior temp down in the high 70s on a hot day.
> Being the skeptic I am, it smelled of rotten fish the first time I
> heard it. Local TV did a test. Got two identical cars, put the fan in
> one, parked in the sun. An hour later the one with the fan showed a
> booming 2 degree lower temp. Temps have been running low/mid 90s for
> weeks here.
>
> Harry K
>

If the thermometer was digital, there might have been no difference in temp.
between the two cars. If the actual temperature is say, 95F, it will show
up on some digital thermometers as either 94F or 96F. I suspect that the
fan had ZERO effect on temperature inside the car. -Dave