PHOENIX — Are white cars really cooler in Arizona's heat? Or is that just an old wives tale?
To verify, we took two cars to the 12News parking lot; a white SUV and a dark gray SUV.
When we started, both cars had been sitting in the shade and had roughly the same exterior temperature.
We placed a thermometer in both and waited for the sun to hit the cars and start heating things up.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: ¿Son los carros blancos en verdad más frescos en Arizona?
After 30 minutes, we used an infrared thermometer to check the surface temperatures of the roofs of both cars. The white car measured 121 degrees, the dark gray car came in at 153 degrees. Already, there was a big difference.
An hour later, we came back to check on the cars again. The interior center console of both cars had topped out at roughly 122 degrees.
The temperature on the roof, however, was dramatically different.
The white SUV was 124 degrees, while the dark gray SUV topped out at 170 degrees. For comparison, a well-done steak is above 170 degrees.
We also checked the thermometers in both cars. While experts say for the most part, radiant heat is the same regardless of the color of a car, we found a seven degree difference, with the dark gray car measuring 123 degrees to the white car's 115.
So we can verify that in our tests, the color of a car does make a difference to the exterior temperature of the car.
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