best way to warm a minivan ?

[Filliam H. Muffman]

"Reflective bubble wrap is only good for reflecting radiant heat. It's works only at high temperatures."

So why are there so many places that sell reflective emergency/survival blankets?
http://www.amazon.com/PrimaCare-Medical-...B000FNQ7A4

[OWC Jamie]

Filliam H. Muffman wrote:
"Reflective bubble wrap is only good for reflecting radiant heat. It's works only at high temperatures."

So why are there so many places that sell reflective emergency/survival blankets?
http://www.amazon.com/PrimaCare-Medical-...B000FNQ7A4

Because Dave's got it on inside out.

[bazookaman]

http://guide2homelessness.blogspot.com/2...-warm.html

[davester]

Filliam H. Muffman wrote:
"Reflective bubble wrap is only good for reflecting radiant heat. It's works only at high temperatures."

So why are there so many places that sell reflective emergency/survival blankets?
http://www.amazon.com/PrimaCare-Medical-...B000FNQ7A4

Good question. The answer is that the blankets only work when they're within about an inch of your body where they can: 1) reflect back the small amount of radiant heat coming off of your body, and; 2) since they are impermeable they stop any advective loss of the warm air immediately adjacent to your body. Putting foil on the windows of a cold van is not going to do diddly because the radiant heat from your body attenuates quickly with distance away from you.

As an aside, although reflective bubble wrap has some uses, it is waaaay oversold based on specious claims and lack of understanding of the thermodynamics (and I'll be the first to tell you that thermodynamics was one of the most difficult classes I ever took, so understanding it is not an easy thing).

[AAA]

If anything the foil will reflect/stop the microwaves from the cell towers that are incrementally, constantly exciting your molecules and thus producing heat as well. So, less chance of cancer. More chance of popsicle.

[DRR]

I second both the tent idea and the foam pad.

In the minivan, you are the heater. A tent or something similar will create a smaller space that your body has to heat. The foam pad will prevent body heat from leeching out of your body by creating a layer of heated air (inside the foam) that will insulate you.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

The reflective films that go up in the attic are generally laid across the top of the insulation, so they are several feet away from the object radiating heat.

[davester]

Filliam H. Muffman wrote:
The reflective films that go up in the attic are generally laid across the top of the insulation, so they are several feet away from the object radiating heat.

The preferred location to put them is stapled up to the rafters. However, since the roof (i.e. the radiant object) is planar, and has an area larger than the floor of the attic, the heat has nowhere to dissipate to which is why the reflector is still effective if it is on the attic floor. The amount of heat radiating down from a heated roof is also absolutely enormous in comparison to the amount of heat beaming off of a human body.

[macphanatic]

I use what was called a space blanket (about 30 years ago). It's red on one side and silver on the other. I put the red side down with a foam pad and sleeping bag on top. The silver side reflects the heat up and helps prevent heat transfer to the ground. The blanket (more like a tarp) was also sold for survival purposes. Wrap yourself in it, red side out. Absorbs heat from the outside and helps keep you warm on the inside. Works quite well.

You could hang thick blankets along the walls of the van. It won't warm it up, but it should help keep the cold from radiating in.

[macphanatic]

Found a link to the space blanket:

http://www.amazon.com/All-Weather-Space-...11?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1256089782&sr=1-11