Effect of Open-Window Gaps on the Thermal Environment inside Vehicles Exposed to Solar Radiation

Abstract

To avoid a sharp rise in temperature in the cabin of parked vehicles exposed to solar radiation, experienced drivers leave some windows partly open when the vehicle is parked in the sunlight to achieve cooling through natural ventilation. However, the effectiveness of this measure to reduce the temperature under different weather conditions has not been verified. To this end, this study investigates the effect of open windows on the thermal environment of a vehicle under different environmental conditions. A field measurement, in which two identical vehicles with and without window gaps were used, was carried out in Daxing District, Beijing. The measurements were conducted for 15 days under different window gaps and ambient conditions. The results revealed that open windows resulted in a maximum temperature reduction of 6.7 °C in cabin air temperature under high temperature and high solar radiation, while only 0.6 °C can be reduced under low temperature and low solar radiation. The results also showed that when window gaps effectively reduce the air temperature, lower air temperature can be obtained with larger open-window areas.