Dimming a skylight.

[ynottony99]

Our TT has a skylight above the shower. It lets in a lot of light. The bathroom and our bedroom is only separated by an accordion door. So during daylight hours, the whole area is pretty bright. I would like to reduce the amount of light coming in. Does anyone have any idea how this might be done. I am thinking that I might just spray paint the skylight white.

Any thoughts???? Depending on your feedback, I may do it this afternoon, since we are leaving Thursday morning for a few nights at FW.

 

[2goofycampers]

We bought a shower curtain rod and hung a dark colored shower curtain on it and put it up to the ceiling so the light doesn't come in.

 

[Stinkerbell1973]

We went to a camper store and bought shades that you velcro over the sky light. They definitely help with light and heat coming into the unit. I know there is a technical name for what they are, I just don't know what it is.
But I will say that they work WONDERFULLY!!

 

[auntie]

They used to have some type of pillow that fit into the skylight that would darken it as well. I think I saw this in the campingworld catalog. I'm not sure how it was secured..but if it were my husband..the ol' roll of duct tape would be makin' it's appearance.

 

[mariettadisney71]

I believe the skylight above the shower is a dome to accomodate standing in the shower, so a straight cover might not work. We used window tint from an auto parts store. It was a little tricky to get it to lay flat on the curved surface but with some cuts in the tint it laid pretty flat.

 

[medic9016]

We went to a camper store and bought shades that you velcro over the sky light. They definitely help with light and heat coming into the unit. I know there is a technical name for what they are, I just don't know what it is.
But I will say that they work WONDERFULLY!!

I did the same thing. But I went to Wal-Mart and bought the cheapest pull dow auto window shade and used it. Pull it off the roller and velcro it up. You can find them in the Automovite and baby section.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

See my post on the sharpie thread re. my buddy who forgot his socks.

 

[ynottony99]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I opted to go with plan A) Spray paint the skylight. I went up top, cleaned the dome then primed it with some kilz. Followed that with a coat of black grille paint. Followed that with another coat of kilz. It looks fine being white like everything else up top. Inside, there is no evidence of the paint except that 99% of the light is now blocked out. The test will be how well the paint sticks to the plastic.

 

[clkelley]

We use an old auto windshield shade that we cut to fit and use some velcro to attach it to the ceiling. (We have a carpeted ceiling.)

 

[ftwildernessguy]

(We have a carpeted ceiling.)

Ooooh - kinky.

 

[ynottony99]

Just an update to this. I wish I had done this when the camper was new. We have had quite a lot of rain and so far the paint seems to be holding on just fine. The inside of the shower had yellowed quite a bit from the sunlight. Now the trailer stays cooler, and I can nap during the day, with no problem.

 

[P.I. Squirrel]

The good thing is, other than the occasional nosy big rig driver, you'll be the only one that knows it's painted.

Because of the dew that settles in there, I can't see using anything absorbent, like a pillow. I probably would have done the velcro thing myself, since the painting is a permanent deal.

Speaking of running cooler, we used some windshield covers to place inside our bunk area. It must have lowered that end of the TT a good 15 degrees.

 

[des1954]

Tony - Spray paint!! That's using your old "Yankee Ingenuity"! My only concern is how well the Kilz will stand up to the elements. I thought that product was only for indoor use. Maybe by spray painting over it, the Kilz will be okay.

The "pillow thing" Phyllis was referring to are the ones you stuff in your vent fans to block the light. They are like 9"x9" square.

Are you going to be at the Fort for the October 09 GG?

 

[keylime359]

We took a peice of foam board cut it to size and covered the top with an emergency blanket (silver) we then jammed the board up there and held it in place with 2 small tension rods. It was less than 10 bucks and it can be removed if we ever shower.

 

[keylime359]

Not that we don't shower, we go to the CS because I like the shower for storage

 

[ynottony99]

The good thing is, other than the occasional nosy big rig driver, you'll be the only one that knows it's painted.

Because of the dew that settles in there, I can't see using anything absorbent, like a pillow. I probably would have done the velcro thing myself, since the painting is a permanent deal.

Speaking of running cooler, we used some windshield covers to place inside our bunk area. It must have lowered that end of the TT a good 15 degrees.

The dome looks better white than the semi-clear, yellowing plastic did. Since there is a prismatic lens on the inside that diffuses the light, I think I could carefully remove some or all the paint, and now one would know the difference at least from in the shower.

 

[P.I. Squirrel]

The dome looks better white than the semi-clear, yellowing plastic did. Since there is a prismatic lens on the inside that diffuses the light, I think I could carefully remove some or all the paint, and now one would know the difference at least from in the shower.

Come to think of it, putting something reflective inside might raise the temperature of the plastic window, and cause it to crack even more. You may have just made your window last a few more years than normal by painting it.