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Friday, August 30, 2019

How I Beat the Heat with DIY Magnetic Solar Screens on My RV / Camper / Trailer

Beat The Heat With Diy Homemade Solar Shades For Your Rv Or Camper - Tutorial Here - Pin it for later

Beat the heat! How I built solar screens on my RV windows.

Beat the heat with DIY homemade solar shades for your RV or camper tutorial here - tons of ideas and projects Pin it for later

We've been in cooler regions of the United States this summer, so heat wasn't a problem -- but we had to come back to central Texas this month! Heat over 100 degrees! 

Beat The Heat With Diy Homemade Solar Shades For Your Rv Or Camper - Tutorial Here - Pin it for later

I made really nice adjustable, removable fabric awnings for my previous camper.
(If you want to know how, click here) 
Adjustable removable awnings for any camper from pvc
I liked them a lot, and they are super cute, but they have a couple drawbacks. If it gets really windy in the middle of the night, they will bang on the camper. Sometimes loudly enough that you have to get out of your cozy bed and put them away.  It took a lot of time to make the awnings - making the solar shades take almost no time at all!

Beat The Heat With Diy Homemade Solar Shades For Your Rv Or Camper - Tutorial Here - Pin it for later

So, I came up with the idea of solar screen covers for the windows. There are a lot of advantages.  There is a video at the end of this article that shows how stable they are in a windstorm.

Beat The Heat With Diy Homemade Solar Shades For Your Rv Or Camper - Tutorial Here - Pin it for later


  • They block up to 90% of the sun's heat.  
  • Unlike the silver stuff, you can see through your windows and don't feel like you're living in a cave.  
  • They are easy to put up and take down. 
  • You don't have to remove them if it rains or is windy. 
  • You can open and close all your windows, including the emergency window without removing them.
  • You can have airflow through the trailer and still block the heat
Beat The Heat With Diy Homemade Solar Shades For Your Rv Or Camper - Tutorial Here - Pin it for later

Best of all YOU CAN SEE OUTSIDE!

The screens are held up with magnets and are easy to install and remove without a ladder. Interested? Read on to see how I did it!

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To hold up the screens, I glued one magnet to the RV and sewed a matching magnet into the screen. There has been discussion about using snaps, but I didn't want to make holes in my camper. I can remove the magnets if I ever want to.  

Beat The Heat With Diy Homemade Solar Shades For Your Rv Or Camper - Tutorial Here - Pin it for later

This is what I used:

Solar Screen (obviously)




Plan on using a magnet about every 1-2 feet. My windows are small. The largest two are only about 48"'w x 24"h. If I had larger windows, I would have used larger magnets or more magnets closer together. On the 48-in windows I used 4 magnets across the top. On 36" windows I used 3 magnets across the top. On 24" windows I just put a magnet on each corner. Mostly your concerned about the weight of the screen fabric.

If I had larger windows, these magnets would have worked better.
Be VERY CAREFUL with the magnets, be VERY careful with them, they are extremely brittle. They will also give you a blood blister if they catch your finger between them.

Once they are mounted on the RV wall, or sewn into a pocket they are pretty sturdy. It's just slamming together with no cushion that causes them to break.

I cleaned the area around the windows with rubbing alcohol and stuck the magnets to the camper wall using the adhesive that was included with them.

Beat The Heat With Diy Homemade Solar Shades For Your Rv Or Camper - Tutorial Here - Pin it for later

I measured the windows I wanted to cover, including the frame. Then I planned out how I was going to do it and how much screen I needed to buy. Yes, I admit I'm a bit detail-oriented about drawing out my plans and knowing exactly what I'm going to do before I start.

Beat The Heat With Diy Homemade Solar Shades For Your Rv Or Camper - Tutorial Here - Pin it for later

This is the solar screen I used.  I got mine at Lowe's for about $15 per roll. It took about 2 1/2 rolls. It blocks 90% of the radiant heat. It seems to work even if it's not in direct sun.  If I bought the screen that blocks only 75% I could have cut my price in half. Amazon has some here.
Cut pieces of solar screen about 1"-2" wider than the windows and 6-7" taller.  It needs to have enough to fold over 2-3" and be long enough to cover from the magnets at the top to the bottom of the window, even longer if I was going to put magnets along the bottom of the window instead of just at each lower corner.

Beat The Heat With Diy Homemade Solar Shades For Your Rv Or Camper - Tutorial Here - Pin it for later

Plain ol' school chalk marks the screens, it works great!

Fold over and pin the top. I allowed 2" for the top hem/pockets.  

Beat The Heat With Diy Homemade Solar Shades For Your Rv Or Camper - Tutorial Here - Pin it for later

Fold and pin the 2" top hem/pockets.

Beat The Heat With Diy Homemade Solar Shades For Your Rv Or Camper - Tutorial Here - Pin it for later

I sewed very close to the top edge to form a crease. I used a long straight stitch. I marked the approximate locations of the magnets and sewed a pocket about 3-5" wide for each magnet. Around each magnet pocket, I used a zig-zag stitch. Make sure to insert the magnets before sewing the final side :)

Beat The Heat With Diy Homemade Solar Shades For Your Rv Or Camper - Tutorial Here - Pin it for later

This is similar to the sewing machine I have, which I bought at Sam's Club for $135 
I DID NOT SEW THE WHOLE TOP FLAT - I left it open between the pockets. This is the trick to making them easy to install!

Beat The Heat With Diy Homemade Solar Shades For Your Rv Or Camper - Tutorial Here - Pin it for later

I did not sew the bottom corner magnets until I test fit it to the window to mark exactly where they needed to be.

Beat The Heat With Diy Homemade Solar Shades For Your Rv Or Camper - Tutorial Here - Pin it for later

I mounted the screen to the top magnets, pulled to make it even, used chalk to mark where the bottom edge of the window is, and where the magnets are.  Remove the screen. Cut the screen about 1/2" - 1" below where I marked the bottom of the window.  If I was putting magnets under the window, the screen would have needed to be longer.

Beat The Heat With Diy Homemade Solar Shades For Your Rv Or Camper - Tutorial Here - Pin it for later

I can use my awning hook or WDH bar to push the screen up to attach to the magnets. This is why I made the magnet pockets large - so that I don't have to line it up perfectly when I am trying to install the screens.  Also, if I mistakenly put one of my magnets on with the wrong polarity, I can turn the magnet inside the screen over without having to remove it from the pocket. 

Beat The Heat With Diy Homemade Solar Shades For Your Rv Or Camper - Tutorial Here - Pin it for later

Then I cut out the bottom magnet pockets. I only put one on each lower corner. We've had pretty good windstorms and rain and the covers haven't budged on our camper.

Beat The Heat With Diy Homemade Solar Shades For Your Rv Or Camper - Tutorial Here - Pin it for later

Lastly I sewed the bottom pockets on - remembering to insert the magnet. 

Beat The Heat With Diy Homemade Solar Shades For Your Rv Or Camper - Tutorial Here - Pin it for later

I insert my awning pole or similar into the pocket and use it to lift my screens into place.  The magnets snap together instantly all the way around the window. Then I pull it a bit to adjust it evenly. TA-DAH!

Beat The Heat With Diy Homemade Solar Shades For Your Rv Or Camper - Tutorial Here - Pin it for later

Enjoy my view without the heat!!

UPDATE: We had a strong windstorm and the screens stayed on perfectly!



If you enjoy this blog or learn something from the article,
please buy through my link and help me continue to bring you DIY ideas and tutorials.

For those wondering how you would remove glued on magnets - Use fishing line to separate them from the fiberglass, Goo Gone to remove adhesive.

Now Go Play Outside!

Beat The Heat With Diy Homemade Solar Shades For Your Rv Or Camper - Tutorial Here - Pin it for later

17 comments:

  1. Nice work. How many pockets did you sew shut without magnets?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi, thanks for visiting! Oddly, I didn't miss any pockets! But I did manage to glue a magnet to the camper wrong side out!

    :D

    Liz

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great instructions! I've looked all over for this - I knew there had to be a way to do this. Thank you for writing all the instructions and which magnets to get.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Awesome ��������. Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  5. IlÑ–ke what you guys are usualⅼy up too. Such clever work and exposure!
    Keep uup the very good worқs guys I've incorporated you guys to my own Ьlοgroll.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I need to replace the screen windows on my pop-up camper and was searching the internet for a way to do it. I came across your post and am intrigued by the idea of reducing heat at the same time. Do you think the screen material you used would work for my purpose? The screens need to fold in when we bring the slideouts down. Would it be too stiff? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Iris! Wacky Pup here! I think you could use the screen on a pop-up camper. It might actually work better than regular screen because it's heavier. However, you could buy a small roll of it at Home Depot or Lowe's and see if you think it will work. They may even let you open a package or have a sample in the store. I'm glad my article helped you and inspired you to come up with an improvement for the screens on your pop-up. Happy travels!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Our camper has tilt bottom windows (the kind the crank out at the bottom...I despise them but better than nothing! LOL). How would you suggest modifications in that case? Should I just try to cover the top window and leave the part that opens alone? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sarah, they will work fine. I have an emergency window that opens outward, and the screens work fine. Just make sure you put strong magnets at the top of the windows, about every 2' or even 12-18" if the windows are tall. If it doesn't hold, add a couple more magnets. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wacky Pup,

    I created and installed the solar screens just as you instructed. It was a great tutorial.

    I encountered on problem however. I have just started living in Arizona and the extreme heat on the afternoon sun side makes the sticky circles for the magnets ineffective. Two of the screens, started falling off.

    I did one upgrade to using industrial strength velcro where the magnets kept coming off. I even used a couple of staples on the velcro attached to the screen side. Works like a charm.

    And as you said the normal installation with stands strong winds.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I bought the Hola Black Privacy Film at Home Depot and applied it to the interior of all my RV windows, and the exterior of my doors (because of the textured glass) I went back and put a second layer on over some of the windows that were in the direct sun and you cannot see it at night even in I have the lights on but I can see out and it greatly reduced the indoor temp and was super easy, and I have moved several times and been through a tornado and some serious wind and the ones on my doors have been fine, in spite of the fact it is not made for out door application, just another way to reduce the heat and still have a view! ☺️

    ReplyDelete
  12. Shirley

    Thanks for the heads up on problems with the glue in the heat. We routinely get temps over 100 degrees, and haven't had a problem, but I can see where it could. The sellers on amazon are various and probably use various glues on their magnets, there is no telling the the 3M adhesive is real or faux. If I have any problems, I will glue them on with E6000 which is a wonderful glue that holds ANYTHING! and is made in the USA, so I know it's not a knock-off.

    Glad that the post was helpful, thanks for commenting!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Jentfur -

    That is another great idea! I hate reflectix and this seems like a good alternative.

    Liz

    ReplyDelete
  14. Excellent post! Will that screen also keep out bugs? I want to cover the open cab windows for ventilation and this idea could be a great solution. I wouldn't even need magnets on the doors! Thanks for sharing your innovations.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Iddins Design - thanks for the comments! I think the idea would work on cab windows. I think regular screen would be better, the sun-blocking screen is 80-90% screen with only small holes, which would deter ventilation, imo. If you wanted to make it more 'bug-proof' how about putting some sort of stiff material on the 4 sides. It wouldn't have to be attached to the screen, just like some pieces of wood, with the magnets inset into them so that when the wood was stuck to the cab, there wasn't space under it. That way, you could hold the screen up, put the bar/wood across the top and stick it to the cab, then do the same at the bottom. Maybe even the sides. The bugs couldn't get into the cab then. Brainstorming here - maybe something like aluminum channel that would allow you to glue the magnets in such a way that the edge of the aluminum would hold the bar tight to the cab. Let me know if you try it, or if just plain magnets sewn into the corners will work well enough. Good luck! Have fun designing & testing!!! - Liz

    ReplyDelete
  16. Here are my novice questions:

    -What is the adhesive actually for? Don't the magnets stick on their own when both are in place?

    -Can you sew by hand if you are patient?

    -I don't see a link to the sun shade material you used. Can you please share? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi, I don't know if you'll see this comment, but I just used normal solar screen from a lumber yard.

    You could sew by hand, or you could probably use hot glue.

    The adhesive is on the magnets. Travel trailers are either fiberglass or aluminum siding and magnets won't stick without adhesive.

    ReplyDelete

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