The car sun visor is a light article, apparently not very important, to the point that on many occasions drivers do not carry it in their vehicles or forget to put it on after leaving the car parked in the sun. This is a big mistake, which can lead to enormous annoyance when parking in the sun in the short term. The car reaches a very high temperature in a few minutes, to the point of burning when knocking on the door, the steering wheel and even the seat. For further details, go here: Best Windshield Sun Shade
The car parasol against the heat, that summer enemy
A car parked at during the summer can reach unhealthy temperatures, on the order of between 50 and 60 degrees without difficulty. Obviously, when you open the door and access the vehicle, the room inside becomes unbearable, being necessary to activate the air conditioning and leave the doors open for several minutes so that the heat is reduced enough. Still, the temperature of the materials will not drop as easily, so that both the seats and the dashboard and steering wheel (and gear change in some models in which it is more exposed) can end up burning the skin. In addition these elements are usually dark, and often made of plastic materials, so they especially absorb solar radiation.
Study of the RACC and TCS
The Royal Automobile Club of Catalonia (RACC) together with the Swiss Automobile Club (TCS) carried out a study in 2015 on the effect of solar radiation on the interior temperature of the vehicle. It was carried out in a test chamber in Zurich, at a temperature of 25º with UV projectors that reproduced an intensity of solar radiation of 900 W / m2, typical of a summer day. It analyzed the temperature in two vehicles for 60 minutes, one black and one white. The results in sheet metal temperature showed a noticeable difference, although to be expected. In both, a very rapid increase is observed at the beginning, being less and less from minute 15, until having a very small increase after 30 minutes of exposure.
And with a parasol? However, when putting a car sun visor on the windshield, the maximum temperature reached on the dashboard is only 38º after one hour. This means cutting it in half, an amount that will not cause burns and that is perfectly bearable and normal in summer! The interior temperature reaches 32º, 11 less than without a parasol.
Dashboard discoloration
In case the temperature benefit of using a car sun visor is not enough, this is another point in favor. The materials of the car, usually plastic and painted black, fade with the passage of time and the incidence of the sun (as, for example, clothing). With a sunscreen it will prevent rays from hitting directly when the car is parked in the sun, reducing this problem and extending the life of the dye used in the manufacture of the parts.
Types of car sunshade
There are basically two types of car parasol due to their shape: accordion and folding . The first are 'lifelong', are those that fold in folds of between 10 and 15 centimeters, maintaining the entire height (in the case of not very rigid aluminum windshields, it can also be folded vertically). The folding parasols fold over themselves, normally in the shape of 8, until they are reduced to a circle of about 25 centimeters in diameter. They usually come with a bag to store them and enter the glove compartment of the car door. The choice between one type and another is indifferent, it only depends on the skill of each one: the former take up more, but are easier to collect than the latter.