Our RV Stove Fan Was a Heat Magnet — Here’s How We Fixed It With Reflectix and Velcro

Let me tell you about one of the most frustrating (and honestly dumb) design choices we’ve come across while living full-time in our RV: the overhead stove fan. Who thought it was a good idea to leave a permanent open vent right above the stove? These things are meant to exhaust smoke and smells when you’re cooking — fine — but the flap on the outside stays open all the time unless you physically go outside and shut it. Which means if you’re inside, trying to cook without melting into the floor, you’re out of luck. We noticed our A/C was constantly struggling to keep up, and it didn’t take long to realize that this overhead fan was letting in a massive blast of hot air. We’re talking oven-level heat pouring straight into the RV, directly over the cooking area. Not ideal when you’re cooking… and trying to not die from heatstroke at the same time. So we got a little creative. We had some leftover Reflectix from another project (shoutout to every RV owner’s favorite shiny bubble wrap) and a few strips of Velcro, and we figured — why not block it ourselves? We cut a small square of Reflectix to fit the grease trap opening, and used Velcro to make it removable. That way, we could easily swap it in and out depending on whether we’re cooking or just trying to survive another 90+ degree day. ✅ The result? Immediate improvement. The heat stopped pouring in. You could feel the difference almost instantly — the A/C didn’t have to work as hard, the stove area wasn’t radiating heat like a campfire, and best of all, we didn’t have to keep running outside to open and close the vent. It’s one of those tiny RV hacks that makes a huge difference — and all it took was a bit of scrap material and a few minutes of creativity. ⸻ Have a similar heat-leaking nightmare in your RV? Try making your own DIY Reflectix block — cheap, easy, and extremely effective. Got your own RV ventilation horror story? Drop it in the comments — we’re always up for a good rant and a better solution.

Here we just sized up some reflectix to about the size of the grease trap filter. Afterwards added some Velcro and bam, no more hot air being pushed inside!

It’s not the best looking but it gets the job done!