rooftop vent

[proconsul100]

Hi guys,
what is the purpose of the rooftop vent, is it needed more in the summer or winter? also i see no way to close it, and i know heat escapes from there. for the summer i was thinking of installing a computer fan in there. does anyone remove their vent? here are a couple of old photos that show it:

http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/t50 ... NY3493.jpg

http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/t50 ... NY3792.jpg

[GreyEagle]

I figure, (really don't know) but I'd guess it to be a fresh air vent for the summer.....

[proconsul100]

i agree, but there really is no way to close it.i see them on a lot of school busses. I might try to rig up a way to close it that would be recessed so i wont bump my head on it

[Diesel Dan]

You're lucky, I can't even see or access my vent from the inside. I have an acoustic ceiling in front so the vent must just open up between the inner and outer layers of the ceiling/roof. I have wondered about the disadvantage of having a portal for air to escape that cannot be shut down - especially in the winter when you are trying to heat your bus. If I had easy access to mine I would definitely want to create a way that I could shut it down as needed - even if it was just a "plug" of some sort that I could shove in there and then remove when not needed. My first thought would be a piece of wood with insulation on top and a rubber gasket around the edge to seal it and help to hold it in place. Perhaps there would be magnets involved to hold it up? Or perhaps there would be a lip on the bottom of the ceiling and you would angle the plug in and then let it settle down flat on the ridge. Just brainstorming easy fixes here... Without seeing a closeup pic it's hard to know what options you have to work with. Hmmmm... now I'm tempted to cut a hole in my ceiling and do something with my vent as well...

[ol trunt]

That roof vent must have been required by the original bus gods because even my 1935 has one--it can't be shut off and has a drain trough for water. I'll be welding it shut as there are PLENTY of other places for air to get in Jack

[crazycal]

If you go to Home Depot or Lowes, you can probably find a magnetic cover that fits over your vents at home. They would work.

[crazycal]

http://www.homedepot.com/buy/frost-king ... 815/3.html

[bansil]

that would be $$$ he'd need probably about 40 of them...might look cool if you painted a design on them...you could change it every week

[crazycal]

Why would he need 40? This is for the roof vent up front, right. This is a 3 pack of 8x15". That won't cover it?

[bansil]

His vents into the perforated ceiling, on my bus the perforated area is width of bus and maybe 8 feet long, on mine they sawed or chewed a hole in the perforated panel and had a drier ducting taped to the top vent and a screen on the perforated place...so they could close it off, during the summer I had a 4” computer fan powered by a solar panel to keep air pulling out, it helped a lot

[crazycal]

From the second picture, the roof doesn't look perforated to me.

[bansil]

CC you are correct so your idea would work perfect for that.
I didnt even notice the pictures
there I go thinking again
Dan's post sidelined me

[crazycal]

Thinking is dangerous to your health. I try to do as little as possible.

[proconsul100]

thanks guys, those magnetic covers might work great!

[proconsul100]

i blocked off the vent using a piece of felt underlayment, and insulated the huge gaps between the bus skins around the vent hole

[proconsul100]

i agree. it could be for that, except that there are ribs between the skins about a foot away from the vent on all 3 sides except toward the front, so im not sure if there would be a good air exchange between the skins, at least this is how it is on a Wayne, Im not sure about other manufacturers. after closing it off i have noticed a definite temperature increase as i believe more hot air from my heater is being retained, and not going straight out the top of the bus. i could see it being used to reduce condensation from inside the bus though.