6X12 Haulmark "Fly Fishing Camper"

[Gonefishin]

Air conditioning? Who needs air conditioning? Just another late July morning in Montana! Light up that furnace!

[Gonefishin]

OK, cold weather update for the foam floor tiles. It got down to 20 last night. With my furnace on all night, it was still 64 inside at sunrise. Thermometer is hanging 3 feet off the floor, a foot above bed height. This is about 4 degrees warmer inside than comparable nights before the foam flooring was added. Its still cooler on the floor than a few feet up, but not like before without the foam.

Now, If I could just get rid of those drafts from the front and back doors! I'm going to make an inside cover for the back doors out of some kind of reflective, insulated sheeting. The doors themselves just aren't air tight. On the RV door, it just doesn't seal tight when closed from the inside, so may try replacing the factory weather stripping with something else. Those are definitely the two cold spots though, I can feel it.

[Prem]

Jim,

All-in-one fix for that:



And of course:

[Gonefishin]

Ya, but then I need that darn A/C and a generator again. So far, I've been able to avoid that hassle. I'll be going to Campeche a couple times, catching some tarpon, and staying in a nice air conditioned ocean view room!

[Prem]

Jim,

Not hot all winter there. No need for A/C.

One solar panel. No generator. Or plug in to free house current at the RV park.

Not kidding.

[Rainier70]

OK, cold weather update for the foam floor tiles. It got down to 20 last night. With my furnace on all night, it was still 64 inside at sunrise. Thermometer is hanging 3 feet off the floor, a foot above bed height. This is about 4 degrees warmer inside than comparable nights before the foam flooring was added. Its still cooler on the floor than a few feet up, but not like before without the foam.

Now, If I could just get rid of those drafts from the front and back doors! I'm going to make an inside cover for the back doors out of some kind of reflective, insulated sheeting. The doors themselves just aren't air tight. On the RV door, it just doesn't seal tight when closed from the inside, so may try replacing the factory weather stripping with something else. Those are definitely the two cold spots though, I can feel it.

The floor tiles look good, add warmth, and are comfy for the feet. Sounds like a winner.

My doors don't seal real well either, but I have decided that they are part of my "air exchange" and ventilation.

[lrrowe]

Hi Cindy,
We traded posts on this much earlier I believe. How about the skirt idea around the bottom of the CT? It might be worth making a temporary skirt out of plastic and painters tape to test it out. But then again, if I remember right, you did add insulation under your floor did you not?

[Gonefishin]

Windows and doors are the air leaks I can feel. Im going to caulk around the window frames, and then try and make inside covers for both the doors and windows. At night, I'm currently taping some "pillows" in the windows that have fleece on one side, reflective something on the other, and closed cell foam inside. They help, but im going to try a window insulation shield like you can get for home windows. The back doors, I'm thinking still on that since I seldom opwn them anyway. The side RV door, no chance. It has to open and close too much. Maybe thicker weatherstripping around it.

But, high 60's inside on 20 degree nights thanks to the little furnace ain't too bad right now.

[lrrowe]

Sorry Cindy and Gonefishin,
I addressed my prior post to the wrong person. Guess that is what happens when one reads too fast.

[Gonefishin]

Bob, Cindy did insulate underneath her trailer. It's stylin'! I took the easy way out, and got a comfy floor out of the deal.

[lrrowe]

Well both are good ideas.

[Rainier70]

I did insulate my floor from underneath with 2 inches of pink foam board. It made a huge difference in retaining warmth in my CT. I frequently camp when the temps get down into the teens and below at night so every bit helps.

I don't think I would use a skirt. It would help, but it is too much trouble where I move my camp frequently. So there would be the set up, take-down, and storing it when not attached issues. Also we have LOTS of wind. Even staked down it would be prone to get torn up by the winds.

I am very tempted by the cushy foam puzzle flooring. I would add it to mine just for the comfort and style factors besides the added warmth, but my lungs abject to the fumes from new plastic/rubber products. I might be able to if we could lay the tiles out so they could air out for a couple of months somewhere, but still would be iffy since the ct is such a small enclosed area.

[Gonefishin]

Ok, it was a "moving" day between rivers today, and I just happened to be going through a "big city" and spotted a Home Depot this afternoon with a couple hours to burn. Why not? (In my part of the world, a town is a big city if there's a Wal-Mart, Home Depot, or other big box store) So I decided to try and do a little parking lot winterization on the trailer and take care of those door and window draft issues I posted about last week.

I bought some weather seal tape, bubble wrap, roll of round foam, and thin weather stripping. $20 bucks roughly.

I cut and taped bubble wrap over the window above my bed to get rid of that cool draft. Quick, easy, and removable at any time, like summer. I did the same thing over the roof vent above my bed. I left the other window and roof vent as they were, in the front of the trailer. I can compare the two, and still have a window and roof vent available to open on a warm afternoon.

I took this roll of foam and pushed it into the crack all around the rear cargo door. I never open it, especially this time of year, so it'll stay for the winter. If I did need to open the door, it would only take a few minutes to put the foam back in place.

The front door just wasn't tight all around, so I put on another layer of thin peel-and-stick weather stripping right over the existing weather strip. It's tight now, as I had to lean on the door pretty hard to close it the first time. After an hour or so of being closed, its now "just right" Snug, but can no longer see air between the door and the jam. When it wears out, I'll just replace it all with thicker weather stripping, but for now, this worked great without having to remove anything.

All fixed, in the Home Depot parking lot, in about 30 minutes! And its all easily removable when summer returns. I'm still going to make a full cover to go over the inside of the rear door out of Reflectix or something similar that uses the existing Velcro I have around the inside for my screen in the summer. My bed sits against this door, and that's where the cool air enters, especially if I have a wind from that direction. I could probably do the same around the windows and vents, but not sure if I want Velcro surrounding them or not. We'll see.

I've been on the road since September 18, and will return home for a few days on the 14th of October before heading out one last time before winter really hits. I could damn-near live in this thing! I almost have since mid-June, around 55 days/nights

[rebapuck]

What about that clear plastic sheeting that you shrink with a hair dryer? At least you could see through it better.

[Gonefishin]

Rebapuck, yes, I actually have that on some windows in my fixed home, and it would work. I dont have a hair dryer with me on this trip, so went with tape and bubble wrap. I didnt see any clear bubble wrap, but I know its available. Its ususlly dark when im inside anyway, so seeing out is not a priority. The taped bubble wrap stopped all draft from the window last night.