Polishing and Solar Gain

[dryan]

Does polishing the exterior shell of an Airstream to a high luster, significantly reduce solar gain?

[CanoeStream]

First take? Probably not. Older trailers don't have the roof painted white like newer -- and the white elasticote supposedly improves thermal performance.

The unpolished vs polished issue is probably similar to which side of the foil to leave out for baking a potato -- it really doesn't make any difference.

Now .... let's see what those with actual experience would say (I don't). Cheers!

[GlenCoombe]

Like Bob my experience is limited. I have a small improvement in solar rejection since I painted my roof white. I also tinted my over abundant windows.
I'd also like to hear from some of those who have polished.
My gut feeling is that we're up against inadequite insulation and no thermal break between outer skin and interior fixtures.
Gain or loss should be minimal, but shiney is all good!