Skylight: Too Much of a Good Thing? - Dutchmen Owners
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Old 08-03-2014, 09:27 PM   #1
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Skylight: Too Much of a Good Thing?

Hi all,
So far, we love our Kodiak 221RBSL. Yes, it has the usual assortment of minor issues resulting from less than stellar workmanship, but we understood the competitive nature of the marketplace and what we could expect at this price point going in. So far, nothing we can't fix or live with.
My question is this: We have a skylight over the galley/living/dinette area, which really brightens up the interior. I'm glad it's there. That said, some days it's hot and the sun is really beating down on the top of the camper. The sunlight coming through the skylight actually makes the Corian countertops HOT. A blessing in cool weather, but a bit much on a hot day, especially if we're dry camping and don't have A/C. Today, I cut a piece of white tileboard (masonite with a hard, white, shiny surface, left over from a home project) to a 16"x32" rectangle. Tomorrow, I will attach Velcro hooks to the board and Velcro loops at strategic points on the perimeter of the skylight trim. Hopefully this will allow us to easily block the sunlight (and much of the resultant heat) when we choose or remove it and enjoy the skylight when it is to our advantage. Has anyone else done this?
We're headed out Thursday for about a month. I'll post pictures when the project is complete and let you know how it works out.
Bob
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Old 08-03-2014, 10:14 PM   #2
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Yes - we have done something similar in our bedroom with the vent being directly over the bed.....I'm a morning person BUT!!!!! Our skylight is in our bathroom over the tub - so that is a non-issue as far as I am concerned.

Post pics and let us know how it worked for you....just a thought - you may want to place a piece of rigid insulation of the top side of the tileboard - may help with insulation issues on the cooler trips!
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Old 08-03-2014, 11:09 PM   #3
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My last fiver had a nice day/night shade installed over all the skylights in the unit... but it weren't a Dutchmen.

Only skylight on the Coleman is in the bath over the shower, going to come up with something to help tone it down.

Aaron
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Old 08-04-2014, 02:33 AM   #4
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I guess I have never considered blocking the skylight. Two reasons, first, I am over 6' tall and the headroom is nice, and second, the bathroom (for whatever reason) is cold enough to freeze the balls off a ..... (you get the gist) when the a/c is on.
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Old 08-04-2014, 11:00 PM   #5
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Thumbs up Sun blocker in place.

It ain't fancy, but it works great. Interior was significantly cooler today. As soon as I can scrounge a scrap of duct board, I'll cut it a little smaller than the tileboard and glue it to the back. That should add reflectivity, insulation and stiffness (Thanks Nana & Poppy).

Bottom line... You can get as fancy as you want, but just the simple piece of masonite makes a big difference.

BTW, we also have a skylight in the shower, but I have no plans to put a sun blocker there (I too need the headroom). I believe this one will make the living area a lot more tolerable on those dry-camping or WalMart boondocking occasions when it's warm and we can't run the air.

Bob
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Old 08-05-2014, 01:01 AM   #6
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We were in Walmart the other day and I saw a foam type piece that said it was for blocking the skylight. First time I had noticed something like that and I thought it was a good idea. As I said this was a type of foam and was made to just push up in there.
Being in Colorado we don't have much need for this so far but I've got it stores in memory in case the need comes up in the future.
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Old 08-05-2014, 09:02 PM   #7
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Our one skylight in the main living area came with a factory intalled shade. However, the bath skylight was not so equipped. I fabricated a cover out of the foil-backed bubble wrap stuff that you can pick up at a big box hardware store and velcro loops. We keep it in place when the rig is not in use, and it comes out easy enough when we want to use the shower or have more light available in the bathroom. It sure keeps the sunlight out and less discoloring of the plastic shower head and faucets.

For our vents, we picked up some of those fabric-covered foam thingies available at CW or WalMart for about $10/ea. They work pretty good too.
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Old 08-05-2014, 10:00 PM   #8
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Living in the desert we have huge skylights in our bathrooms in our home. We bought some shade cloth & using velcro we install them ever summer. Lets light in but keeps heat out. We install them (which are in frames) to all our outside east & south facing windows in our home also.
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Old 08-06-2014, 03:30 PM   #9
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Our Dutchmen Denali has a day/night shade that works well. I also have cloth covered form fitting foam available at CW or Amazon that slide in and out of standard vent openings. We use these mostly to keep cold out but they work both ways. One could be fashioned for an opening not the standard vent size. In the shower, I am afraid we just live with it and turn the vent fan on for a shower.
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