Originally Posted By: ducktapeguy


However, since the temperatures vary, what the insulation can do is mediate the temperature extremes. So if the peak temperature was 100 degrees, and the low was 50 (and assuming a balanced temperature graph on each side), a well insulated item would average around 75 degrees

Storing item in a styrofoam cooler or insulated bag is a cheap way to protect any sensitive items in a car. When I used to carry camera equipment in the car that's what I did. Even during the hottest day where the interior of the car would be too hot to touch, the items in the cooler were still comfortably warm. Not a very scientific test, but good enough that you could tell right away it was effective.



I've had different results.

One should consider that in summer the interior temp of the car is more like 120 or even hotter.

I've tried to protect electronics in a cooler during summer Colorado days. For a full day's heat soak a frozen bottle of drinking water in the cooler was required to keep the soft-sided cooler from letting the electronics get hotter than body temperature by mid-afternoon.

While it would be nice to have passive thermal control, I don't think it's easily achievable. But "easily" is a relative concept.

Other- I've used an IR thermometer to measure paint surface temps here. Black car read 175 while white car read 120 on a 99F summer afternoon. No black cars for my family!