Insulation and the generic benroy

[rhltechie]

Hi All,

I have noticed on the generic benroy plans the roof and possibly the floor are insulated. do other insulate the walls too? Is this something I should be considering modifying on the plans? If so, how would I go about it?

THanks,

Mandy

[mikeschn]

On the GB plans, only the roof is insulated.

For summer camping you really don't need insulation.

Now if you are planning on doing some extreme camping, you can always add insulation. There's 2 ways to do it...

1) Add foam backed carpet, like Len does

2) Add sticks, and put EPS inbetween them.

Mike...

[rhltechie]

eh..you make a good point. My only worry was being in the south we get some extreme heat. so i was curious if extra insulation would also keep the heat out in the summer. i dont really do much camping in the winter. i guess for my first build i should just skip it and worry about another part of the TD!

Thanks Mike.

[tinksdad]

As a transplanted Yankee, I haven't come across anything I would call extreme heat yet!!! But then I've only been here four years!! I just keep reminding myself of Buffalo winters and wind chill factors of negative 20 and 30!!! A little sweat.... ooooops, excuse me, you're a lady.... a little glow is good for you!!!

[Mary K]

I insulated. But only because that's what the plans said to do. Anywho, I'm glad I did cause I do my camping in the winter time. It's off season now for me.


Mk

[rhltechie]

I am def going to insulate the roof and floor like the plans say...i will just skip the walls i suppose.

well...we have been at a few campgrounds around the area during july or so and almost died in a tent it was so hot...whew man. maybe we are just wimps but it was almost unbearable! it should help having the fan up top as well.

[bledsoe3]

Insulating the side walls is not that much more work.

Plus, if you do it now, you won't be sorry later that you didn't.

[Mauleskinner]

Insulating the side walls is not that much more work.

Plus, if you do it now, you won't be sorry later that you didn't.

Ditto...mine's going to have insulated walls. Not that much more expense or effort, and will end up lighter and more rigid.

David

[satch]

Insulating the side walls is not that much more work.

Plus, if you do it now, you won't be sorry later that you didn't.

Same here, since I went the "sandwich" route, it made the walls lighter too.

[rhltechie]

I think my issue with doing the walls is that i am not a experienced woodworker so the curved framing around the doors may be challenging for me..specially since I do not have a router (its weird to say that word and not mean a piece of network equipment that moved packets!).

This sounds a little silly but one of the reasons I wanted to insulate the walls was to add some depth for a wall switch that I otherwise have to install in the ceiling or up front in cabinets...I'm torn. I guess I will wait until I get to that point and decide if I wish to take it on.

[shoeman]

I did not insulate my Generic at all. IMHO, insulating the walls will either make you chose between reduced interior dimensions or building wider than 5' overall to make up the difference. If you are going to be solo camping or can use a smaller bed than a queen then you could insulate the walls and keep the original overall width. I wanted a queen mattress, and even that is a VERY tight fit in the original plans. The number 58.5" will be burned in your brain if you build to the project plans!
You could certainly expand the overall width as needed to maintain that interior dimension, but be sure to consider materials availability for skinning/finishing/roofing, and be VERY SURE to know your final width so you can figure wheel spacing and axle ordering if going the Dexter route as I did.
You can build these to any size you want, it just means more original thinking on your part and guaranteed some sleepless nights thinking about it.
By the way, I live in Maine, where it is often 82deg in the day and 59deg at night this time of year. I can run my vent fan (see my post in Electrical for more on that!) for a very short time at night to pull ALL the hot air out from the day and get the interior temp comfortable. You'll have to be leaving windows and vent open and maybe the fan on to pull your exhaled moisture out anyways. We just pile on an extra fleece comforter if we feel we need it. If I ever planned on camping in the winter I may have thought about insulation, but to be really effective all exterior surfaces would need it, and winter here means snow, and no way in heck am I getting the Benroy out of the garage and on the salty crappy roads we have here that time of year.