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Subject:Re: Purpose of Westy skylight?
From:David Beierl
Date:Thu, 15 Jul 1999 16:50:29 -0400

At 14:35 7/15/99 -0400, Vicki Derrer wrote:
>meant to take that stress.  If it's not a mini-sunroof, than what is it for?
>Someone told me, "Ventilation while cooking,"  but opening the screen in the
>canvas does just as well if not better, right?  What is the best way to use
>this thing?

The skylight is near the highest part of the van, which creates a chimney
effect, especially with the top popped.  Cracked open and with door vents
adjusted to taste, it give you circulation of fresh air when camping in the
cold.  Left fully open it vents heat from the upper story and draws in
cooler air from below to limit the heating effect of solar radiation.  This
is a big win when leaving the thing parked somewhere.  You can open it with
the top unpopped, which you can't do with the screen (sometimes stealth is
a virtue).  It's nice to look out of, assuming that it's not too old to see
through.  It's something else to break :-/  It nicely fills that big hole
in the roof <g>.

david
David Beierl - dbeierl@ibm.net