Keeping aluminum cool

[Officerelmore]

I have a fiberglass boat with aluminum hatches that I bought recently. It has horrible carpet that needs to be replaced. I've noticed that in the sun, the hatches get hot enough to burn you on contact. This generates a lot of heat in my live well, as well as my cooler. When I re-carpet the deck, I want to put some sort of insulation under the carpet to keep the storage cooler. What do you guys recommend? I thought about using some heat resistant tape under the carpet, but was concerned that the carpet glue would not adhere to the tape as well as it would to the aluminum. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[gm280]

Officerelmore, Some people put a frozen two liter bottle in the live well and that seems to do the cooling very well. You could always use some foam board to help as well. I am sure there are other options. Others will chime in and offer more shortly. JMHO

 

[Scott Danforth]

Paint the aluminum bright white