In a recent blog post, I commented that we slept in our car thoughout an 11 day road trip.  It certainly wasn’t a five-star hotel, but we did save a lot of money by doing this.  After deciding to camp in our vehicle, the next thing we had to decide was how to cover up the windows.  The back windows are tinted, but we were looking for a little more privacy than that.  It seemed logical that curtains would be the way to go.  We found that Honda makes privacy curtains specifically for the Element, however, the pricetag was over $100.  This was much more than we were interested in spending for this particular project.  We continued to search online and came across a post about this very topic in the Element Owners Club forum.  As it turned out, a cheap alternative to curtains was to make panels out of Reflectix.  That became the solution to our problem.  We made a set of inserts and they worked great.  They were cheap and relatively easy to make. Start by purchasing a roll of Reflectix (which is essentially bubble wrap covered in a sheet of some kind of silver paper). 

Plan on paying about $20-$30 (although I have seen smaller rolls for cheaper).  You should be able to find this at most hardware stores. Next take measurements of the windows in the vehicle from the inside.  Do not worry about slants and curves for now.  Measure the longest length and width for each window.  Add at least an extra inch to each measurement just to make sure you do not measure short.  Another reason for doing this, is that in some cases after continued use, the panels have shrunk a little.royal heritage home lorenzo purple curtains Transfer those measurements onto the roll of Reflectix and cut out the rectangle.winnie the pooh curtains cape town Take the rectangle of Reflectix back to the car and place it over the window you are working on.  curtain fabric shop north finchley

Push the edges of the Reflectix into ledges of the window.  For the corners that have a slant or curve, use the Sharpie to mark where you need to cut.  Trim it where you made your marks. For the side windows take the panel you just made and use it as a stencil to make a duplicate for the window on the other side. Once all panels are cut and trimmed, it is time to put them all in.  Line up the Reflectix insert with the window and then tuck the edges into the ledges that border the window.  dauphine curtain rod partsIt should stay nice and firm.  bay window curtain rods homebaseIf, for some reason it still seems too big, feel free to trim it further until it fits.  harrison grommet curtain panels

Just make sure you do not trim it too short otherwise you will need to start over.  It is difficult to cut the perfect shape, but don’t worry too much about that because usually you can just tuck in the extra material. To store your panels while they are not in use, take all the panels and lay them in a pile.  Then roll them up like a sleeping bag and secure the roll with a strap or bungee cord. If done correctly, you should be able to block out just about all light that would come into the vehicle.  jacobean rod pocket/back tab window curtain panels and valanceThis makes your vehicle private and cozy.  One thing I should add though, if your windows are shut while you are sleeping in the vehicle, don’t be surprised to see an accumulation of water on the windows in the morning.  It is just trapped condensation and it will go away after a few minutes of running your defroster.

For our first time camping in a vehicle, the Reflectix inserts worked great.  There were a couple of corners that we cut short that let in a slit of light, but it wasn’t enough to bother us.  Overall, this was an effective and inexpensive project and we were glad we used the inserts rather than paying the extra for the privacy curtains.Your feed is empty! Get more inspiration every day by following your favorite channels.Customize your feed »We recently wrote about the use of fans to stay cool in hot weather.  And in the past we’ve mentioned the value of Reflectix – that wonderful insulation that looks like reflective silver bubble wrap – for keeping warm during cold winter nights in our Roadtrek. Reflectix is equally valuable for keeping cool on hot sunny days. The greatest source of heat when the sun is shining is the windows. The heat load can be so high that your air conditioner may be unable to cool your camper down to a pleasant temperature when the sun is beating on it.

There are several things you can do to help out your A/C unit.   The front window is the biggest, so deal with it first.  We just bought a reflective folding windshield shade from a Walmart auto department to fit.  It doesn’t have the insulation value of Reflectix, but it folds, easier to store since the window is so large.  But you can help out more by using an outside cover when possible.  We got two wrap-around covers that cover the front and door windows from the previous owner of our Roadtrek.  One was a vinyl mesh material which lets in some light, and allows you to see out (see photo), and also a solid vinyl cover.  The mesh cover is our favorite.  It helps reduce heat – though not as good as the solid cover – but the advantages of letting in light and allowing us to see through it is worth it.  And if it is letting in too much heat we can add the reflective sunshade behind it.  We also have pieces of Reflectix that fit in the passenger and driver door windows.

Next is the two side door windows.  We cut these pieces of Reflectix to fit between the window and the screen with a notch for the window hinge.  To install we open the window and slip them in from the outside.  And if desired the window can be left open with the Reflectix in place.  They make a huge difference if the sun is shining on the passenger side of the vehicle.  This approach of putting the Reflectix between the window and screen could work on the big Dodge rear window, but the convenience of inserting from inside is nice.  This should work for the Chevy dual rear windows. As mentioned with winter camping, cut Reflectix to fit your rear side windows.  Trim carefully to fit and they will stay in place. We also cut a piece of Reflectix for the large back window to fit between the vertical curtain tracks. The Dodge Roadtrek has one big door on the back with a single window – wonderful for views. We usually have Reflextix in the kitchen window all the time. 

Actually it is two slightly overlapping pieces so we can “open” half of the window as desired. If you have a Sprinter that would account for all your windows.  But for those of us with Dodge and Chevy vehicles, we are blessed with three more windows! Three Little Windows is not just the name of Mark Sickman’s song about Roadtrek travels, those three little windows are also a source of a lot of heat on sunny days.  The early Roadtreks had no covering for the windows, then Roadtrek added curtains, and more recently little covers for each window.  Our Roadtrek has the curtains.  The poor Roadtrek sprinter owners will never know the pleasures of light through their three black decals! We got into the habit of storing the Reflectix for the door windows under the curtains.  It was a convenient storage spot, but then we couldn’t enjoy the light and the view out those windows.  And since they didn’t fit tightly against the windows there was still a lot of heat getting in.

It wasn’t until we saw Loren Phillips’ beautiful 1994 Roadtrek that we saw the perfect solution.  He had made Reflectix covers, by cutting pieces to fit perfectly and then holding them in place with a small metal rod held with mirror clips.  A trip to the hardware store provided brass rods and mirror clips.  We had to file the back of the plastic clips a bit for them to sit correctly on the metal window frame.  They do a nice job of keeping out heat (and light) when in place. Lastly there is the Fantastic Vent Fan  to consider.  Obviously it needs to be open if you are trying to cool without A/C, but if you are running the A/C there is a significant heat increase directly under that opening.  Like for winter camping, you can put a piece of Reflectix over the frame held in place with mini bungee cords (see photo here). Others have reported having some special UV reducing window tint installed that is not dark but does help with heat.  We have not looked into that yet, but it would be nice not to loose the views when it is 95 degrees outside.