HEKI Sun Protection & Reflectix

best thing I do is open the hatch to the first position which keeps the plex from cooking because it has airflow. I have a 1" thick rectangle (cut to match the hatch size) of closed cell foam that I pop into the hatch opening just above the retractable shade. nothing to hold the heat in around the plex and no heat gets through the 1" foam and into the camper.

Buzzcut1 wrote:
best thing I do is open the hatch to the first position which keeps the plex from cooking because it has airflow. I have a 1" thick rectangle (cut to match the hatch size) of closed cell foam that I pop into the hatch opening just above the retractable shade. nothing to hold the heat in around the plex and no heat gets through the 1" foam and into the camper.

Thank You! Is the foam white to reflect the heat?

So you are leaving your hatch open 2cm to 'ventilate' according to the instructions?

What about dust, critters, and rain?

foam is black, I guess you could cover it with something reflective if you wanted. I pull the screen shut after inserting the foam. If its raining and windy no heat issues so I close the vent, no wind I may leave the vent cracked open.

I made a cover for mine that I install over the Heki when we are not using the TC. I used 1.5" Polyisocyanurate foam board with a reflective coating. The box is about three inches tall. I attach it to the Heki with twine and bungy cords. I got tired of changing out the latches. We have had this TC for three years and have replaced the latches twice. The cover has been up there since last fall and it made it through our last Chicago winter with minor damage (some kind of animal tried to dig through it and gave up). I will go out later and get a photo or two and repost.

If the heat is intense, I think reflectix would intensify the heat. You could cover on the outside.

Mine is screwed down into the frame because the latches and hinges broke. I keep the blind closed all the time here in S Florida.


After reading this I may pick up a large white decal and stick it on the top to keep it cool..

...have you ever thought of a full-spectrum reflecting solar "tarp" that you could drape over the roof of your truck camper?? These things are used to cover anything from entire industrial building roofs in very heat-intensive climates (Arizona, Middle East, etc), to house roofs (to substantially reduce cooling bills where roof insulation is often not nearly sufficient, or almost entirely absent), to garden sheds, to camping beach tarps. One that comes to mind is: Sola Reflexx cool-tarp (among others). These are designed to reflect the full spectrum of in-coming solar...

I suppose that you could buy one of these tarps, and cut out the dimension required to insert into a camper roof vent (and, leave the vent lid open about 1/8th of an inch, to protect, or, as insurance against the Heki potentially self-destructing from incoming solar).

Good luck,
S-

I agree on how much heat that skylight introduces to the inside of the camper, especially if you live or visit the hotter climates. The instructions of not wanting you to leave the screen or shade closed while under way just makes it worse.

I am going to go to a car window tinting place where I have gotten all my auto widows tinted over the years. They had several different tint materials that served different purposes from just reducing light to reducing UV rays and HEAT! Some were rated to reduce those items by 100%.

We don't have the HEKI front hatch cover over our large cabover escape hatch opening but heat and cold were still a problem. It's white plastic cover but they get dirty fast and it gets hot as heck in the summer with the sun beating down on it and cold a heck and sweats in the winter as we often winter camp in temps all the way down to way below zero F. Yes, we do have the Lance snap on winter insulation cover but with it on you can't open the hatch a little to exhaust moisture when wanted or get a little fresh air when desired. My wife goes nuts without some fresh air sometimes as she gets claustrophobia often.

So, I simply cut 2 rectangles about 18 X 27 inches of foil bubble wrap to fit the entire inside of the hatch cover and stuffed it in in a concave shape. Then picked up the one side and used 3M double stick automotive trim tape all across that side, then the next side, and the next until all sides had a total perimeter around the outside edges of the wrap with the double stick tape. Then did the same thing with the second sheet double sticking it to the first. Perimeter sealing stops hot or cold air flowing. Now has double the insulation and never sweats even in way below zero temps at night and totally cool in hot sun and the Lance inside cover is nevr needed on.

Cool in summer sun and warm in bitter cold winters and it looks like it was made that way OEM! Can open it anytime as much as wanted and have true quick escape capabilities not having the snap on inside cover. We want it dark up there anyway for sleeping or napping and NO sun fading. If we want bright light up there or air flow, simple open the cover as desired anytime or in any season. Got a window on each side anyway for light or a little air.

I took it a little further as in -10 temps, the inside about 3" walls around the hatch opening would sweat some and cold drip on you when sleeping isn't pleasant in the least. Therefore, I cut 4 strips of the foil bubble wrap and double stuck them around the entire hatch recess opening walls from molding to molding and tucked the edges flush with the molding so it looks truely professional. Not one drop of sweat since and it's been done on 2 different TC's since 2001 and they have been slept in in -10 degrees and colder many nights in the U.P. of Michigan and up in Ontario Canada in deep winter. It's still up there and still looks like new! The Lance inside cover is under the mattress near the foot end and will stay there.

I remember sending some pics of the foiled hatch to silversand and maybe he still has them.

Having said all I did about insulating from the inside, if a good reflective type cover (brigth white or bright silver) could be added to the exterior of the HEKI cover, it would certainly help a lot too. The common issues would be sun ray rot and wind flex deterioration while driving problems or I would have put the foil bubble wrap on the exterior side also as it would protect the plastic from the elements aging also.