T&T: Window Insulation Ideas

[Ken Tischler]

Dave,

Our trawler has very large windows in the pilothouse, and salon. During the
summer months here in south Louisiana it was near impossible to keep the
boat cool during the day, even with four 12K BTU air conditions running full
blast. I noticed that some RV's had large foil window shades and went to the
local RV store to see what I could find. They have this insulation in rolls.
It is basically bubble wrap material coated with foil on both sides. It was
a little pricey, so I went to the local building supply store and found
large rolls there for much less. We bought two 4' x 25' rolls and cut panels
for every window in the boat. Works like a charm!! Boat stays about 15
degrees cooler now, and air conditioners actually cycle on and off.

The pilothouse windows are sloped inward, so the panels didn't like to stay
up. We purchased some of the spring loaded bars used in RV refrigerators to
keep stuff from sliding all around. They are adjustable, and one per front
window in the pilothouse keeps the foil panels in place. All other windows,
being vertical, are no problem. Just cut the insulation fractionally larger
than the window frame and friction will keep it in place. When we are not
using them we just roll them all up together and store in bow stateroom.

They are also great for those times early and late in the day when the sun
is blasting through the windows. We just put the panels up on that side of
the boat and enjoy the shade!

Here is a link to the stuff at Lowes... http://tinyurl.com/nxe35y

-- 
Ken Tischler
Microship
DeFever 49 RPH


On Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 3:16 PM, David Dunbar <David.Dunbar at ipaper.com>wrote:

> Does anybody have any good ideas on how to insulate the front windows on
> your Trawler?  On my GB42, the front windows are slanted a bit outward
> which really exposes a lot of area to the sun and I'm having a heck of a
> time keeping the cabin cool.  So I was thinking of getting some type of
> insulation similar to what you might put in your car window- you know the
> ones you fold up and then throw in the back seat...  But I need a bit more
> surface area and also the ability to cut to fit into the windows or at
> least conform to the area of the windows.  I guess I could splice a few of
> the shades together but that would look a bit tacky I reckon and I would
> think that someone has already come up w/ an ingenious idea that they would
> like to share.
>
> many thanks
> dave