Is a dark colored hat that much warmer than a light colored hat?

I've never been convinced that any perceived difference is more than psychosomatic. I'd agree that other variables - crown height, ventilation, liner type, weight of felt, et cetera - are more significant.

Edward said:

I've never been convinced that any perceived difference is more than psychosomatic.

Click to expand...

Go walk barefoot on an asphalt road in the mid-day sun. Stand like this on the bare pavement and then go do the same on a part that's painted white. I think you'd be convinced after that.

I agree,Nyah.

I've found that darker colors heat up quite a bit in the sun and a taller crown can help mitigate this to some extent. Humidity also seems to play a factor in how hot I may feel in a hat

Well, the question was, is a dark colored hat that much warmer than a light colored hat? The real word answer, as we've seen here, is that "it depends." However, it's just a fact of physics that the emissivity of black objects (emissivity is the measure of how a surface emits thermal energy) is greater than that of lighter colored. In engineering/physics, black bodies are theoretical objects which have perfect emissivity and collect all electromagnetic radiation. Black absorbs thermal radiation more efficiently than white.

So for two identical hats (construction, materials, etc.) of different colors, all else being equal (temp, humidity, person wearing it), the black one will collect heat more efficiently, and should make the wearer hotter.

I knew that! Lol.

Or not...

I said Lol!

I wear black clothing and hats in summer here (104 degrees sometimes) never been an issue for me. I've worn light colours and I feel no different.

Indian and Mexican people living in the S.W. usually wear a long sleeve white shirt and a straw hat in the summer. I put my felt hats away for the summer and wear light colored cotton shirts. A wide brim is good also.

It gets pretty hot in Missouri and we have humidity. I wear a long sleeve white t-shirt when I go motorcycle riding usually and it is noticeably cooler. Of course it keeps the sun off your arms also and that's a big deal. If you spend the day in the sun then you should wear some kind of hat for protection from the sun. Felt might actually be better than straw for that unless it is a very tight weave straw.

BryanB said:

Just wondering if one any thinks it matters between darker colors? Some say an olive drab green would be more comfortable to a dark grey. I'm not sure why it would make a huge difference, since they are both dark colors

Click to expand...

OD green vs dark gray...I’m sure there is some measurable difference if your a scientist with sensitive equipment, but I doubt there’s any noticeable difference to the person under the hat.

Not sure it’s ready for a peer reviewed journal but this is a good read:

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/temperature-under-a-hat.100295/page-2

Nyah said:

Go walk barefoot on an asphalt road in the mid-day sun. Stand like this on the bare pavement and then go do the same on a part that's painted white. I think you'd be convinced after that.

Click to expand...

Possibly. Not sure whether that's a direct comparator for clothing. Interesting thing: I well remember this being studied in the 90s and there being firm conclusions reported that colour made no difference. Current thinking seems to have changed on that front - https://www.wired.com/story/should-you-wear-white-or-black-on-hot-days-heres-the-data/

I can't honestly say that I've ever found any difference when it comes to colours (as opposed to things like weight and weave), but I have a very low tolerance for heat (let's put it this way, I would never willingly experience anything over 20 Celsius given the choice), so that could well be a factor, as it's all just classifiable as "unbearable" to me.

tommyK said:

I've found that darker colors heat up quite a bit in the sun and a taller crown can help mitigate this to some extent. Humidity also seems to play a factor in how hot I may feel in a hat

Click to expand...

Humidity definitely hits me. I could wear a felt hat in likely much higher temperatures if it wasn't sweaty/ sticky. I also shave my head, which I suspect makes a difference: sweat will run down my face much faster / earlier than itwould have, I suspect, had I still had hair.

BryanB said:

I know it's weird but your body gets used to the heat. In Buffalo I thought the 70s was toasty warm. After years in Israel, it's light jacket weather. And the last I was back in the Yougntown ohio area, temps 30s were killing me. Plus the construction workers in Israel usually wear sweatshirts in the summer. I think the sun is worse than the temps.

Click to expand...

There's definitely a big element of conditioning. My mother had a schoolfriend who moved abroad from northern Ireland in the 70s. When she came to visit one August and everybody else was suffering in probably about 24C heat, the old friend was so used to the warmth wherever she'd moved that she was wearing a fur coat and shivering. In about eighteen months' time, I'll be passing the milestone at which I'll have lived as long down here in London as I did back in "the old country" in that part of Ireland which is closer Scotland than it is Cork. In that time, I've definitely noticed that I feel the cold much faster, being used to the drier and much milder Winters down here, though oddly I've still not gotten used to the ungodly heat in July and August. I could happily hibernate those months every year - or spend them in the Southern Hemisphere, where their "Winter" is closer my idea of a bearable Summer!

Personally I've worn black hats in the summer here, I can take the heat, cuz no matter what, you're hot. But the lighter colors are a bit more comfortable. But I'm wondering if dark grey vs dark olive drab makes that much of a difference.

Click to expand...

Could also be an element of the "expensive stereo test" - i.e. there's a band where the difference can be measured but isn't perceptible to the human...

I know when wear light color shirts the sun shines right through, that's why I'm looking at darker colors.

Click to expand...

It would also be interesting to compare material and colour - I've had dark coloured straws which felt no discernible difference to light ones, though vastly cooler than even the lightest felt. Clearly there it was about weave.

I wonder if - as the theory now seems to go - white reflects heat from the sun away, does that mean it also reflect body heat back on to the body?