We spent our first weekend in the new camper last weekend, and I only have two complaints really. The easy one to ***** about and fix later is storage. There's not much outside storage, so I figure I'll have to setup some kind of organized storage there. Same with the inside.
But the major complaint is how much light is let into the bedroom. Wife and I are late sleepers, but I'm also light sensitive sleeper. I might as well have been sleeping under the awning with all that light.
This is a front bedroom trailer. I have two full sized windows on the sides, a pop up vent on the ceiling, and a door in the bedroom. On top of all that, the only thing that seperates the bedroom from the rest of the trailer is a curtain.
So here's my questions. What have others done to light proof their RV's? I don't want a redneck solution, so I'd like to limit the use of velcro, duct tape, and tin foil.
CW has an option of something that looks like a foam pillow for $10. Any comments from actual users? How about tinted windows?
You don't say if you have blinds or curtains for the windows but there are a couple things you can do there. First is are your windows tinted? If not, you can get some of the tinting that you can apply yourself and that will help greatly. Second, if you have curtains, you can sew a heavy backing on them so the light can not penatrate or just get a heavier material and make a new set.
I've heard good things about the pillow as both a light blocker and an insulator for when it gets colder.
Third suggestion is for the roof vents. Many people get the tinted MaxAir vent covers and put those on to reduce the light and also protect their vent covers. They also allow you to leave the vents open even when it's raining or while you are moving down the highway. If you wanting it really dark, I even saw one gentleman that painted the inside of the maxair covers prior to installing them with black paint.
Good luck Count
2011 Silverado Crewcab 4x4
2012 Passport 238ML
Hope your travels are safe and the friendships made camping are lasting.
When I was parked in a area not popular to put RV's I used Reflex insulation to black out all the windows in my RV. I cut a 14X14" piece to fit into the ceiling vent as well.
It also helps insulate, so heat and cool will not pour in to quickly.
The vent over our bed brought in too much light for us so we came up with this idea. Went to a fabric store and found some dark material (actually our fabric has a design on it with parrots--kinda liked that one a lot) and my wife sewed two sides of it together with some material inbetween. I got some velcro and glued 4 receiving sections to the corners of the vent and sewed 4 attaching sections into the material. Now all we have to do is stick it up over the vent for some darkness.
For the windows (something we're planning to do very soon) we'll go back to the fabric shop and get some heavier dark material. We're going to do the same velcro thing along the top of the material and on the top of the window valance. We're not trying to do anything especially pretty, just something that works to darken the room. We'll pull them off the window and fold them up once we're up in the morning.
In anticipation of an Alaska trip, I made our bedroom a darkroom, by putting black contact paper over our windows by our head and made black felt curtains that Velcro'd over the big window and vent. But that cut out all our fresh air circulation. DW came up with something I never would have thought of: Tempurpedic Sleep Masks. Now I've tried a sleep mask in the past, but it was just a cheapy from the drug store. This thing is amazing. First off, it's comfortable, so you can actually fall asleep with it on. But unlike the cheapy, this thing blocks out all the light by it design. You could lay on the beach at high noon and not tell it was daytime. Not cheap, but very effective.
My first Wife Linda, 45+years
2004 F-450 CC, DRW 6.0 Classy Chassis Upgrade
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You would have to have the windows tinted even darker than "limo black" for it to block out the sun, and it would block light ALL the time! Even the foam pillow doesn't completely block the lite.
The roof vent and windows, with some velcro strips and pieces of mylar bubble wrap foil insulation (available at any Home Depot or Hardware store) will substantially cut down not only the light, but also heat of the sun and even cold. Also cut a piece for the vent.
As far as the entry curtain, you can get a folding blackout RV privacy door and install it for an easy fix.
My posts shouldn't be taken for factual data. They are purely fictional, for entertainment purposes and should not be constituted as actually related to scientific, technical, engineering, legal, spiritual or practical advice. Amen.
Get the pillows for roof vents and you'll need it anyways just to insulate. Those vents are just plastic and let either heat or cold in depending on season. The pillows are easy to just stuff in the hole, the foil with velcro is a pain since the velcro don't stick real well after it gets hot and pulls off when you want to remove the foil. If you don't have light blocking blinds on your windows check into the mini blinds.
06 Montana 3000RK
07 Dodge 3500 Dually Sport 6.7 Diesel
07 Pearl White Ultra Classic (My new Baby)
10 Chrysler 300 Touring
Texas Boomers---Stop by for a Margie some time!
When I want to close of the light in the bedroom area of my 5th, I just close my eyes, works like a charm.
Kevin
Retired, Fulltime RV'er
1999.5 F350 4X4 CC Diesel Flatbed
2007 Alpenlite Defender Toyhauler
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