Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hi!



I'm new to Teardrops and this site, I want to say thanks for this site ,I tried using the search but with no good results, I'm in the planing stages and one of my big questions is, do I need to insulate the side walls? I'm in northern Indiana and I will not be using it in the winter but probably on some cold nights, looking over some designs some have insulation and some do not but it looks as if all have insulation in the top, why would that be the case

thanks
Fred

Many insulate to avoid condensation problems. I didn't want to be concerned with being too hot or cold so I insulated
with 1 1/2 inches of blue dense foam insulation. Haven't used mine yet as it is about 80 % complete.

Fred:

I think I would insulate not only for heating, cooling purposes and condensation problems, but also for noise control. After being a tent camper for so many years, it's so nice not to hear everything from outside when I'm inside my insulated TTT.

Oh, and welcome to a really friendly place.

Any hardshell habitated structure that isn't insulated is a shack.

Suit yourself, but you'll regret it when you get to camping. Like others have said it isn't just to keep heat in. its to keep heat from coming in, heat from getting out...same with sound.

I love tent camping..when I go afoot or under paddle power. When I'm on tires I want to be as comfy as possible.

I have come to believe that there is little to no benefit from insulating the walls. Most insulated buildup walls have very little insulation. Also the internal wall frame directly connects to the inside and outside skins, which causes direct thermal and sound transfer. So for the most part the insulation adds very little value, while adding a lot more time and complexity to the build. I believe if you are concerned about condensation and sound then you should consider some sort of headliner material for the inside of the trailer.

I also believe that you receive little benefit from insulation in the floor or roof of the trailer, but do to the nature of how the they are constructed it is easy to insulate them. But again I do not think you benefit much from it.

Dan

I've bought one no insulation and built 2 with 3/4" walls insulated and 1 1/2" in roof and can tell you definitely that the insulation helps with sound proofing very much and with cooling factors as well as I was using mine in 100 plus heat in Texas and could kill the AC and it stay cool inside for a very long time. The non insulated had solid 3/4" plywood walls and an insulated ceiling but would heat up fast in the summer heat without the cooling running nonstop.

Yes it matters as well as if you completely glue inside and outside walls to the frame and foam adds massive amounts of strength to the structure.

Ours is stress panel construction, very thin inner and outer skin with 1.5" foam, very quiet, very warm/cool. The volume is not great in a tear so that heating and cooling is not that difficult even if you do not insulate.

thanks everyone for the info! my real concern is condensation, I was told that if I didn't insulate, on a cold night the inside of the walls and floor would get very wet, I plan on building a woody with an aluminum sheet top and the inside finished with wood paneling, I would prefer for it not to buckle and bow do top moister on the inside



thanks

Fred

Fred I am a fellow Hoosier and yes you need summer insulation. If you are up for a short drive to Frankfort IN and have a pickup I can fix you up with a pickup load of 3/4 and 1" blue foam from window and door cut outs at our plant for NADA ! Thats right FREE ! We have been out at
-15 wind chill and 98 with full sun and in either situation you NEED INSULATION! You might look in my 4x7 build in the build journals. In that build I added it as a material wrapped insert that is removable. You need to join us for our spring gathering in Madison IN at Clifty Falls State park. It is a great opportunity to meet other builders and get some first hand knowledge of where we screwed up so you don't make the same mistakes

Any questions PM me I will see if I can get you to someone that might actually know something.

Bob Henry

P.S. Welcome to the insanity !

Thermal bridging of framing is a factor. But, I would guess that the woods that are being used have a pretty good r value. Thermal bridging would be a concern if you used metal framing or were converting a box trailer/truck.

If the air temp is cool enough to put on clothes then insulation is needed. At the temp when you stop taking off clothes to stay cool you're reached the beginning of the heat insulation threshold.

If I were to always camp at temps between high seventies and eighties I wouldn't need clothing...or insulation.

Treeview wrote:Any hardshell habitated structure that isn't insulated is a shack.

ITS NOT A SHACK!!! ITS A SHANTY DAMMIT!!!

You guys are all forgetting about windows. Chances are you arent putting thermal windows in your trailer, so you're still going to have some level of heat transmission, whether it be in or out.

absolutsnwbrdr wrote:
You guys are all forgetting about windows. Chances are you arent putting thermal windows in your trailer, so you're still going to have some level of heat transmission, whether it be in or out.

And yet we suggest we leave a window slightly open
for fresh air to avoid oxygen depravation

Oooo...you're right, shacks don't move, shanties do. Thanks for the reminder!

Tom

bobhenry wrote:

absolutsnwbrdr wrote:
You guys are all forgetting about windows. Chances are you arent putting thermal windows in your trailer, so you're still going to have some level of heat transmission, whether it be in or out.

And yet we suggest we leave a window slightly open
for fresh air to avoid oxygen depravation

HAHA yeah, that too

It's not really that difficult to do a bit of research on the internet, determine the approximate "R" value for different forms of construction, the total surface area involved, and calculate (reasonably accurately) the difference between insulated construction and un-insulated construction. I did so in a post "long, long ago and it is probably still out there in cyberspace.

Cheers,

Gus