[Archived]

Whether they are cellular or pleated, it’s a must that they are a light color facing the windows. Dark shades create more heat than they keep out when the sun is shining on them.

[Thomas]

Bryan,

We had day / night shades in our first coach. The lower portion were day shades, a gauzy type material would could see through, but which would allow us to block some of the sun. The upper portion when lowered all the way down was a solid material and it blocked all light. But it also had the ability to block the cold air that spilled from the windows when we were in single digit outside temps.

They were pleated, but not cells which likely would be even more effective thermal barriers. If you are seeking shades to create a thermal barrier I would think the cell type would work well but to be effective they have to go all the way down to the sills so you don’t get the heat or cold behind the shades from spilling out. When we sat in our chairs when it was bitter cold outside, the solid material pleated night shades completely stopped the cold air from spilling off the windows to our shoulders. They were a very pale gray so as Fred points out when used in the heat of summer they were not radiating heat into the coach.

[Roger]

Thanks for the advice. We’ve had pleated shades in our prior coaches and that seems to be the standard. I wonder why the cellular shades are not commonly used in bus conversions when they seem to be far more popular in general (based on the far greater variety of cellular shades available through online sellers).