Keeping Your Cargo Trailer Cool This Summer

Every summer, there seems to be stories on just about every news channel about how hot a car gets in the summer heat. What you don’t hear a lot about is the same heat builds in your trailer while it sits in the sun. Estimates indicate closed vehicles and trailers can reach temperatures in excess of 150 degrees Fahrenheit on a hot, sunny day.

Whether you use your cargo trailer for business or pleasure, you want to make sure you and everyone else stays safe wherever you travel around Michigan. Here are some things you should know about the summer heat, and how to help keep you trailer cool this summer.

Risks of a Hot Trailer

There are very real risks for allowing your trailer to get too warm, regardless of how you use it. If you carry any type of flammable liquid, you run the risk of a spontaneous flash occurring. For gasoline, this risk is increased because the amount of gas vapor increases with temperature.

You also run the risk of melting heat-sensitive items in your trailer, including plastics, waxes, oils, and more. Fortunately, there are some easy things you can do to help reduce these extreme temperatures.

Choose Your Color Carefully

First, carefully consider your trailer’s color. Specifically, you want to be careful painting your cargo trailer a dark color. Many studies and amateur experiments have demonstrated how much more heat these absorb.

Rather, consider sticking to a white base paint, which helps reflect some heat away from the trailer. There are even some paints that claim to offer even more reduction in heat transference due to additives in the paint. Even if you choose these higher technology paints, stick to a white base whenever possible, and then add your logo or message on top.

Install Trailer Vents

Even more important than color is adding the right trailer vents. In order to have the proper effect, you need not only a ceiling vent, but also vents on the walls. Together, these create a draft which helps push hot air through the ceiling vent.

Mechanical Ventilation

If you are parked for long periods, you may want to add mechanical ventilation. This is a fan you install on the ceiling vent to help push hot air out. If you have the right trailer vents installed on the walls, it creates low pressure in the trailer, drawing in the cooler outside air. You’ll need to look at the power consumption of your fan to determine if a simple batter will be enough to power the fan, or if you’ll need a generator.

Air Conditioning

If you work from your trailer, or are concerned about keeping the temperature down even further, consider adding an air conditioning unit. Some people attempt to mount window units on the trailer wall. However, these are not very classy and tend to be sensitive to the rough roads around Michigan.

A sleeker option is to install a roof-mounted RV unit and an RV generator. While not normally used for trailers, they do the job of providing reliable cooling, and are less sensitive than window-mounted units.