The Benefits of Radiant Barrier in Hothead Headliners
Hothead Headliners is a company dedicated to making your Jeep a more comfortable and energy-efficient space. To achieve this goal, we use radiant barrier technology in all of our Jeep hard top headliners and soft top headliners. In this article, we'll explain what radiant barrier is and how it can improve your Jeep experience.
What is Radiant Barrier?
Radiant barrier is a heavy, tear-proof foil material that is used for insulation purposes. It's commonly used in the construction of homes and buildings in areas such as walls, roofs, attics, and now in your Jeep Wrangler insulation! Radiant barrier is effective because of its two key properties: reflectivity and emissivity.
Reflectivity
The reflectivity properties of radiant barrier reflect or block radiant heat (heat transferred by radiation) by at least 90%. In a Jeep Wrangler without radiant barrier insulation, the exterior heat and radiation from the sun is absorbed and reflected directly into the interior and onto your body, increasing internal temperatures and making your air conditioner work harder. With a radiant barrier in your Jeep, the heat and radiation is reflected away, keeping you cooler inside and reducing the stress on your air conditioner system.
Emissivity
The emissivity properties of radiant barrier are approximately 0.03, which is excellent (the lower, the better). This means that only 3% of heat is emitted to the surrounding air. In a Jeep without radiant barrier, heat from the interior is easily radiated outside, making it harder to regulate the temperature. With a radiant barrier in your Jeep, the emissivity properties will not allow as much heat to leave the interior, allowing your Jeep to warm up faster in cold weather and to regulate temperature better.
Hothead Headliners with Radiant Barrier
At Hothead Headliners, we include a radiant barrier on the back of all Jeep hard top headliner panels and in the middle of all Jeep soft top headliners. Although the radiant barrier can't cover your entire Jeep, you should notice a considerable difference once it's installed. The reflectivity properties of the radiant barrier will reflect away much of the heat and radiation from the sun, keeping you cooler inside, and the emissivity properties won't allow as much heat to leave the interior, allowing your Jeep to warm up faster on cold mornings and to regulate temperature better.
Satellite Radio Owners
For Jeep owners with satellite radio, we make sure that there is no interference in your signals by cutting out a section of the radiant barrier in the panel located over the top of the factory satellite radio antenna. This panel is located on the passenger side of the sound bar, and we perform these cut-outs on all Jeep models from 2007 to present. For Jeep soft top headliners, we also cut out a small section of the Radiant Barrier directly over the top of the satellite radio antenna (located on the passenger side top of sound bar) so our headliners will not interfere with reception.
See it in Action
To better demonstrate the Radiant Barrier technology in our products, we have provided video demonstrations of our Jeep Hard Top and Soft Top Headliners. Check out our videos to see the Radiant Barrier in action and how it can improve your Jeep experience.
Jeep Hard Top Headliners
Jeep Soft Top Headliners