My experiment today was to take my 2007 Toyota Yaris and park it in direct sunlight with no sun shade up and let it sit all day with a GE Indoor/Outdoor thermometer measuring the heat both in a storage space under the dash and directly on the dash.
Today's temperatures in Phoenix, Arizona: 105 F (40.5 C) with not a cloud in sight.
When I first got back to my car, I wasn't hopeful. All the LCDs were "on" because of the heat.
The thermometer has a "max" feature so I decided to let it cool and figure out the results.
Under dash result: 148 F (64.4C)
Dash result: Off the scale.
I was able to heat the device to almost 160 F (about 70 C) before it registered "HH" on the display, meaning that sunlight-beaten dash exceeded that. I will look for a better thermometer.
The lesson: It gets HOT in there and sunlight exacerbates it. Read your user manual's maximum storage and operating temperature before leaving it in your car!
2 comments:
Say goodbye to the LiIon batteries in your devices then.
I find that while the dash and surrounding area is like an oven, under my seat is always cool. I have a bottle of water stashed under my seat and it's always got condensation on it and is nice and cool to drink.
I used to put my N800 and other things in the glove box when not using them, but now they live under my chair in the little tray for my car's handbooks. On a sunny day I remove everything off my dash so it doesn't cook during a car journey.
Coming from the arctic wastes of Northern England (well, it mostly rains actually) I've found the top of my dashboard gets really hot not because the sun shines on it, but because I have my car's heaters on full to demist the windows. A constant jet of engine-hot air is probably as bad direct sunlight during a long car journey.
I suggest an oven thermometer would be better for this type of test. Since you're essentially testing a solar-powered oven.
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