skylight Cover... Pillow?

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tanglemoose

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May 14, 2013
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We have covers, well like pillows,  for our 14" vents. Like them to keep camper warm in winter and AC in during the summer...

We have two skylights in our camper. Has anyone found pillows to stuff in them?? I looked and did not see anything. Just this thing on Amazon and am thinking it is not what I want.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DVNMLBK/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1UMBRA5ZTBCX8

Normally we camp in the mountains and it is cool temps, but last week, we had temps in 90's at 6000' elevation... the heat coming thru skylight in kitchen area!!! Thought be nice to block that out.. AND maybe sun coming up at 4:30 in the summer!
 
I bought two of these. When I first saw them I thought they were a gimmick but they?ve been very handy in the summer heat
 
If you can find foam, like foam mattress material, cut a piece a couple of inches larger than the vent. Stuff the foam into the vent - it will block heat and light.
 
HappyWanderer said:
If you can find foam, like foam mattress material, cut a piece a couple of inches larger than the vent. Stuff the foam into the vent - it will block heat and light.

That's exactly what we did in our shower skylight.
 
The previous owners of our Winnebago used velcro to attach the aluminized bubble wrap-type of insulation to the bedroom windows and the bathroom skylight. For them, it was more for darkness so their youngest child could sleep than for insulation, but it helps nicely with that as well.

Like this stuff:
https://www.amazon.com/InfraStop-Double-Bubble-Reflective-Insulation/dp/B006FLGQ56/ref=lp_7937230011_1_1?srs=7937230011&ie=UTF8&qid=1531747646&sr=8-1

We rarely use it, but it works pretty well. (I have no idea what they used to adhere the velcro to the plastic surround on the skylight, but it's on there pretty solidly.)
 
We had a large, trapezoidal-shaped, skylight in the shower that lost/gained a lot of heat despite being a double-layer.  I bought a 1/4" white foam-filled sign board at Walmart and shaped it fit, using velcro tape so we could remove it as desired.  When not in use, it was stored under the bed mattress. Between the reflective white surface and the bit of foam, it helped quite a bit.  I had originally thought to add a piece of 1" foam on top of it, something I could roll up and put away later, but never got around to it cause it wasn't really needed.  Maybe would have done that if out in freezing weather...
 
I had some left over foam sheet that has a reflective backing, R-Max I believe. Cut it out and glued a piece of material left over from making the windshield curtains. friction fit, just push it into the hole and use a butter knife on the edge to pop it out...easy as pie
 
Rene T said:
Scott, in his first sentence, he said he has pillows for the vents. He's looking for something for his skylights.


Ah misunderstood. Thought he was looking for something other than the pillows
 
I struggled with my homemade reflectix shades for a long time in the skylights.  They just wouldn't stay up long term.  The best solution I came up with was to glue in some of those plastic knob push-pins used on bulletin boards...as little knobs that the screens could rest over.  Worked kinda sorta, but not perfectly.
then I bought these for the roof vents...well similar to these... from my local camping world
https://www.campingworld.com/vent-cushion-with-strap

basically a firmly 'stuffed' pillow (actually foam I'd guess) with a fake lambswool cover

works great.  The only gripe is that they a a bit bulky to store, but we have interior cabinet space to spare, so no big deal really.

If you're talking more like the skylight I have in my shower... I've not seen anything, but if it were me I'd go to a fabric or hobby store and by a piece of firm seat cushion foam and cut to fit (oversized of course so it wedges in like the pillows at camping world)

For my shower, when I had my roof done by rvroof.com, I had them spray over the thing.  It's darker in there now but wow what a difference re. heating and cooling!  and a bonus is you can jump on the skylight now (not that I would, but it's good to know it's tougher now...)
 
blw2 said:
then I bought these for the roof vents...well similar to these... from my local camping world
https://www.campingworld.com/vent-cushion-with-strap
If you're talking more like the skylight I have in my shower... I've not seen anything, but if it were me I'd go to a fabric or hobby store and by a piece of firm seat cushion foam and cut to fit (oversized of course so it wedges in like the pillows at camping world)
For my shower, when I had my roof done by rvroof.com, I had them spray over the thing.  It's darker in there now but wow what a difference re. heating and cooling!  and a bonus is you can jump on the skylight now (not that I would, but it's good to know it's tougher now...)

Brad, he has the pillows for the standard 14" X 14" vent. He's looking for something for his skylight. You touched on something that may work. How about sanding the top of the skylight and then give it a good coat of silver paint.
 
yes, I wasn't reading carefully.  Others also had previously suggested foam too.  :eek:

Good idea about painting.  I think that if I were going to paint the dome though, I'd take the inner dome down and paint the inside surface of the outer dome.  that way it wold be less likely to get scratched and such....or better yet do the outer to protect the plastic from UV AND the inner too, to hide light leaking through any future scratches.  Another thing about painting is I'll bet you could control the amount of translucency...anything from blackout to a light shading..
 
Friends of ours have tambours for their vents and skylight in their Tiffin. They look pretty nice, and work well.
 
Thanks everyone, I may try the foam... don't need it all the time... but would be nice. The Lance RV's have them built in and they are nice, like a window shade... pulls across... and snaps shut... but that was not enough to make me buy one!

Ha.. I will check out foam.. Always have to laugh at the comments... I do everything on our RV but hook it up, winterize, fix, etc.. as my hubby doesn't like "messing" with it.... It is always me asking questions on the forum...  and I always get an answer! Thanks everyone!

Donna
 
You may be surprised at the insulating quality of plain old cardboard. The way it is constructed gives it many layers with air pockets in between providing a thermal break and it is cheap, plentiful and can be decorated in many ways.  Works well in a pinch.
 
tanglemoose said:
Thanks everyone, I may try the foam... don't need it all the time... but would be nice. The Lance RV's have them built in and they are nice, like a window shade... pulls across... and snaps shut... but that was not enough to make me buy one!

Ha.. I will check out foam.. Always have to laugh at the comments... I do everything on our RV but hook it up, winterize, fix, etc.. as my hubby doesn't like "messing" with it.... It is always me asking questions on the forum...  and I always get an answer! Thanks everyone!

Donna

If using foam, keep an eye on it. I got a piece of old foam from where I use to work one time. It was rather stiff and was black. I put it inside the skylight for a day. A day later I pulled it down to inspect it and it was totally melted on the top surface. It got really hot in there for it to melt. I don't know if it was because it was black or the composition of that foam.
 
Guys, if you need foam, foil backed curtain fabric, etc, Joann (the crafts store) is surprisingly a great place to shop. The bigger stores have a lot of stuff. I need to replace the cushion on the driver's seat of my motorhome. An upholstry shop wanted $250 just for the foam. I got a 4 inch thick piece for $35 at Joann.

As for the skylight, you could get some velcro, or even screw in snaps and make a piece of wood that goes over it. You could even add some foam tape to it fill in the gap, if needed. I bet you can make something for less than $10.
 
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