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Solar Barrier Fabric- seems to help a bit with reducing energy use in desert smr

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jlsoaz:
I know I have mentioned this before in other contexts, but I'm not sure if I've mentioned it here:

For more than 10 years I've been using this fabric to mitigate some of the summertime harshness of a large skylight:

http://solarthermalfabrics.com

My location is Southern Arizona, USA.  It seems too be a relatively low-cost solution that for me has been a keeper, so passing the point along.  I've also recently tried using it in a garden and so far the results seem not bad.  I am talking about using the reflective fabric mainly in the summer.  There is also an absorptive fabric that should help with winter heating, but I have not had as much success with that.

DamonHD:
We use solar reflective curtains/blinds to keep strong sunlight and thus heat out of the house on the two warm days per year in London that are our summer, eg as mentioned here:

http://www.earth.org.uk/manage-the-heat-Maltese-style.html

Rgds

Damon

MattM:
Shouldn't the two be combined.  One side reflecting, the opposite absorbing.  The fabric needs to be insulative considering it's the downside of extreme temperature deltas.

Mary B:
My bedroom window faces south and being on the second floor right under the roof it gets very hot quick. I bought a roll of reflectix insulation and made a 4 layer window cover that is incorporated into a window shade setup so it is not visible inside the house. Pretty simple and cuts the temps in my bedroom by 10 degrees. I can't roll it up but it is velcroed on so easy to remove if I want light in that room.

jlsoaz:

--- Quote from: Mary B on July 02, 2017, 08:08:28 PM ---My bedroom window faces south and being on the second floor right under the roof it gets very hot quick. I bought a roll of reflectix insulation and made a 4 layer window cover that is incorporated into a window shade setup so it is not visible inside the house. Pretty simple and cuts the temps in my bedroom by 10 degrees. I can't roll it up but it is velcroed on so easy to remove if I want light in that room.

--- End quote ---

Right on.  I guess my own situation sounds like it was similar to yours.  I didn't mention this on the original post, but the reason I like this particular material is that it allows a lot of visible light through, but still seems to do an excellent job of keeping the heat down.  That particular room in my house went from being unbearable to being basically the best room in the house (home is partially underground, so natural light is at somewhat a premium).  Still, if I did get a completely reflective material that did not do much or any visible light through, it would probably do an even better job of keeping the heat out.

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