Tarp for Fridge Side of van with Kador Strip

[BigPritch]

Hi all hoping someone has the answer.
2007 T5 RH drive with addl awning rail on near side.
Just returned from hols and needed to put cover on the fridge side to keep harsh sun off it.
Only had the Outwell tarp, which whilst provided an element of cover, clear that we needed something a bit more.

Plenty of 'tarps' out there, but ideally want one with a kador strip, so I can slot straight in.

Has anyone got any ideas for a good heat reflective awning with strip - or any other ideas.

Cheers all

 

[MajE]

Pushing the envelope - stretching Cali's room to te limit

Aluminum shade for the fridge To avoid heating of the fridge on sunny days, I made this small adjustment. It's kind of a shadow diaper for the Cali. Ugly, but might be helpful for those days that you can't find a decent place in the shadow. Takes 1.5 meter of aluminum bubble foil, 50 CM...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

Try this or adapt a windscreen cover for the outside.

 

[WelshGas]

Hi all hoping someone has the answer.
2007 T5 RH drive with addl awning rail on near side.
Just returned from hols and needed to put cover on the fridge side to keep harsh sun off it.
Only had the Outwell tarp, which whilst provided an element of cover, clear that we needed something a bit more.

Plenty of 'tarps' out there, but ideally want one with a kador strip, so I can slot straight in.

Has anyone got any ideas for a good heat reflective awning with strip - or any other ideas.

Cheers all

Outdoor Revolution Motorhome Sunshade 260

New for 2025 is the Sunshade 260; a premium windout canopy mesh sun shade designed to protect from glaring sunlight. It easily attaches to the channel of your vehicle via our patented twin piping rail attachement system and its light weight makes set up a breeze. The premium mesh runs throughout...

www.aeleisure.co.uk

 

[barney108vwcali]

2.6m awning shade for wind-out awnings on motorhomes and campervans

Our awning shades are made from superior quality water proof fabric and have strong nylon webbing, D rings and bungee shock cords. The shade slides into your wind-out awning channels via the integrated keder and will give you shade in the hot sun, shelter from the rain and privacy when you are...

cysgodawningshades.co.uk

These come with the bead/round webbing that slide into the wind out awning on drivers side, so should slide straight into the awning rail (on near side) directly or you could use a kador stripe as well.

I would highly recommend the cysgod products as use them most time we go away and don’t use the full driveway awning we have

 

[Barbara]

I added by sewing a Kador Strip to a decathlon tarp. The dive weights are just there till I knocked in awning pegs. You will need the insert from the Campervan Bits shop to feed the Kador strip into. You could do a smaller one with the Kador at the top and sting at the bottom of any suitable material to fix to awning pegs. I started with that then after many variations got to this. If it does not provide enough cooling in the heat we are getting now I may try lining with the type of padding used for warm jackets. I think that will have to be fixed with velcro for ease of adding when in situ Maybe time for another experiment. Thinking about it maybe just fixing a drop down padded material onto the windows but protected by this tarp from rain. I don't have a fridge so no need to allow for the vent. However I am trying to find how to keep my cool box a bit cooler when I am not in the van as I turn it off when out.

 

[BigPritch]

Outdoor Revolution Motorhome Sunshade 260

New for 2025 is the Sunshade 260; a premium windout canopy mesh sun shade designed to protect from glaring sunlight. It easily attaches to the channel of your vehicle via our patented twin piping rail attachement system and its light weight makes set up a breeze. The premium mesh runs throughout...

www.aeleisure.co.uk

Liking this, just what we're looking for I think - thank you

 

[wildslammer22]

Bit left field and on the principle of everything doing double duty where possible I managed to fit an overlanding style privacy room to the nearside awning rail using some barricade brackets. So I now have a place to change at the beach, a quick to deploy and put away toilet tent, somewhere to shower outside and it’s positioned to provide shelter to the panel which the fridge is behind.

 

[Lambeth Cali]

Call me hopelessly VW crazy but given the other very clever design elements of the water tanks and gas bottle inside (keeping the water cool) I just struggle to believe this actually is a thing. As in I doubt it actually is a real problem as I doubt VW would have made such a design error.

I can believe that the fridge struggles in warm weather - our Miele at home does - but I doubt its connected to sun on the bodywork....

 

[BigPritch]

Call me hopelessly VW crazy but given the other very clever design elements of the water tanks and gas bottle inside (keeping the water cool) I just struggle to believe this actually is a thing. As in I doubt it actually is a real problem as I doubt VW would have made such a design error.

I can believe that the fridge struggles in warm weather - our Miele at home does - but I doubt its connected to sun on the bodywork....

I thought the same, till I felt the side after a day in the sun and it was roasting (we were in France), and the battery had taken a hammering.
We had the fridge on 5 deg, and could only put the drop in battery down to the fridge getting hot, and working harder than normal, as nothing else was on. So I guess the heat does affect it ?
I prove to be corrected of course, but it made logical sense to me.

 

[Up10]

Plus the cupboards become hot boxes too meaning any stored food is likely to spoil quicker. You've convinced me so I'm off to buy a shady tarp thing.

 

[Lambeth Cali]

Suddenly Metallic Wheat Beige seems a great colour!

 

[wildslammer22]

Call me hopelessly VW crazy but given the other very clever design elements of the water tanks and gas bottle inside (keeping the water cool) I just struggle to believe this actually is a thing. As in I doubt it actually is a real problem as I doubt VW would have made such a design error.

I can believe that the fridge struggles in warm weather - our Miele at home does - but I doubt its connected to sun on the bodywork....

I have a black van and trust me it is a thing. The side of the van gets hotter than the devils oven!

 

[Barbara]

My van is parked on my drive with a cover over the screen, all the blinds down and partly between the house and a hedge. Full sun on the roof. I have a sensor to record the inside temperature every 20mins. The last 2 days it had a max inside of 37.5 C and a min overnight at 5am of 21C. Yesterday was partly overcast but 29C outside in the evening. I am assuming it will get cooler inside overnight with the windows and vents in the roof material open at a campsite. Hope so.

 

[Up10]

I have a black van and trust me it is a thing. The side of the van gets hotter than the devils oven!

Yep, starlight blue. I feel your pain.

 

[secret lemonade drinker]

You could always get an Isabella shadow sun canopy, the correct length of course!

 

[Steve9911]

Pushing the envelope - stretching Cali's room to te limit

Aluminum shade for the fridge To avoid heating of the fridge on sunny days, I made this small adjustment. It's kind of a shadow diaper for the Cali. Ugly, but might be helpful for those days that you can't find a decent place in the shadow. Takes 1.5 meter of aluminum bubble foil, 50 CM...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

Try this or adapt a windscreen cover for the outside.

I made this, not sure it’s big enough? Not covering the cupboards but has the fridge covered. Just held on with magnets so super quick to put on.

 

[Lambeth Cali]

@Barbara - that’s kind of what I mean. I think it’s about the van getting hot, not so much the metal next to the fridge which surely has an air gap and then an inch of fridge.

 

[Barbara]

I made this, not sure it’s big enough? Not covering the cupboards but has the fridge covered. Just held on with magnets so super quick to put on.

View attachment 137926

View attachment 137927

That looks interesting. I was thinking something maybe useful on the rear door as that gets painful hot in the sun. Does the fridge have an air outlet to the outside.? If so it should not be covered. It would be interesting to have a temperature sensor behind it and another on the non covered area to see if it makes a difference. Does having cupboards on one side of the van help to keep the living area cooler, the beech does not have cupboards.

The problem I have with using an electric cool box when I travel is making sure nothing falls on the air outlet. Unfortunately as it vents into the van it gets the van hotter too. I have been trying to decide where to put the cool box to keep it cool, but as it generates heat putting in a place where the heat will not get in also means the heat from it may not get out. I will at least keep it away from direct sun.

I am going away for a few days starting tomorrow with an outside temperature of 33C so we will see if I get tit right! Not sure which way to park the van but depending on the site I may not have the ability to choose.

 

[Steve9911]

That looks interesting. I was thinking something maybe useful on the rear door as that gets painful hot in the sun. Does the fridge have an air outlet to the outside.? If so it should not be covered. It would be interesting to have a temperature sensor behind it and another on the non covered area to see if it makes a difference. Does having cupboards on one side of the van help to keep the living area cooler, the beech does not have cupboards.

The problem I have with using an electric cool box when I travel is making sure nothing falls on the air outlet. Unfortunately as it vents into the van it gets the van hotter too. I have been trying to decide where to put the cool box to keep it cool, but as it generates heat putting in a place where the heat will not get in also means the heat from it may not get out. I will at least keep it away from direct sun.

I am going away for a few days starting tomorrow with an outside temperature of 33C so we will see if I get tit right! Not sure which way to park the van but depending on the site I may not have the ability to choose.

There are no external vents, I can tell you that either side of the foil you can barely touch the metal but under the foil is noticeably cooler. I am no expert but for me it was a zero cost option so I thought I’d give it a go.

 

[Cali Phillip]

I have a black van and trust me it is a thing. The side of the van gets hotter than the devils oven!

Is also agree, if I park the Cali fridge side to the sun there’s a significant difference in the solar power produced/ used by the fridge vs a similar day parked away for the sun.

 

[wildslammer22]

Is also agree, if I park the Cali fridge side to the sun there’s a significant difference in the solar power produced/ used by the fridge vs a similar day parked away for the sun.

I have temperature sensor on the roof near my solar panel and at one point today it read 69°c, the ambient temperature was 38°. I could barely touch the metalwork of the van it was so hot! My 100w panel was unable to keep up with the fridge consumption (I believe the panel efficiency drops significantly in extreme temperatures). I’ve never felt the need for more solar until now!

 

[Lost Boy]

Outdoor Revolution Motorhome Sunshade 260

New for 2025 is the Sunshade 260; a premium windout canopy mesh sun shade designed to protect from glaring sunlight. It easily attaches to the channel of your vehicle via our patented twin piping rail attachement system and its light weight makes set up a breeze. The premium mesh runs throughout...

www.aeleisure.co.uk

WelshGas, I am looking for something similar, will this slot straight into the groove on the fridge side do you know? if so I think I'm in the market for one of these too....

How big does the Kador strip need to be to hold it securely?

 

[WelshGas]

WelshGas, I am looking for something similar, will this slot straight into the groove on the fridge side do you know? if so I think I'm in the market for one of these too....

How big does the Kador strip need to be to hold it securely?

I would have thought it would fit out of the box.
Why a Kador strip? Useful for a driveaway awning but I would have thought it would be easier just to undo the guys and slide out.

 

[The Pox]

Just an idea. If the sun is shining on the fridge side of your van, turn the van round by 180 degrees. Then the fridge side will be in the shade. No need for tarps etc. Simples!

 

[WelshGas]

Just an idea. If the sun is shining on the fridge side of your van, turn the van round by 180 degrees. Then the fridge side will be in the shade. No need for tarps etc. Simples!

Except that then the side you are sitting will be in full sun without the shade of the van.