As we explore the effectiveness of thermal strategies used to keep cars warm at night, we propose to take 4 nights of temperature measurements, focusing on the car’s core temperature and the temperature of the air outside the car.

Night 1: No insulation.

The car was parked in an open location on the curb of a typical suburban street.

Night 2: Insulation.

The car was tested with common car-insulating techniques learned on the street including lining the floor of the car with newspapers, covering the ceiling of the car with a blanket, covering the windows with cardboard.

Night 3: Gallon water containers.

Testing the same insulating strategies used on Night 2, 10 gallons 20 gallons of hot water in plastic containers were placed in the back seat of the car as thermal mass.

Night 4: A person.

Adding to the environment from Night 4, one of our experimenters spent the night in the car to test the effect of body warmth on the car environment. The experimenter was allowed a thermal ski coat and a cold-weather sleeping bag.

Materials:

Twenty one-gallon plastic milk containers, newspapers, common blankets (not wool), duct tape, 6 HOBOs, one 200 cubic foot compact car. Each night, we collected data from 10:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m.