No insulation in caravans

Whenarewethere · Guru

No insulation in caravans

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

I see sheets of white EPS.
Cheers,
Peter

Whenarewethere · Guru

Fair enough, I was looking for the fluffy stuff.

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

EPS will be better than the "fluffy stuff" and closed cell polyurethane will be almost twice as good as EPS.
Cheers,
Peter

Greg 1 · Guru

Mine is insulated through the walls and roof. Watched them putting it in as I was permitted in the factory to watch the build. If I had another built though I would insulate the floor. When a cold wind is blowing the floor gets quite cold and a lot of heat is lost through that. I have looked at doing it now but with all the plumbing and water tanks etc it would be a bit of a nightmare so have placed it in the too hard basket.

Possum3 · Guru

Greg you can buy Corflute sheets at the big green shed - cut with scissors to required shape/s - Glue to galvanised sheets/ thin aluminium foil/sheets (to stop sparks/fires) - cut panels to shape/size then bond to floor. Otherwise you could insulate on inside under bed/s and cupboards. Add large carpet mats to traffic areas in Winter.

-- Edited by Possum3 on Tuesday 30th of June 2020 03:23:27 PM

Greystone · Senior Member

Cork tiles are excellent insulation!

Warren-Pat_01 · Guru

It's not only caravans but houses too! When we moved to Townsville in the late 80s, our place (3 years old) & a lot of others were not insulated. Sure it doesn't get cold but it's hot. I wasted no time doing ours - could tell on the ceiling where I was up to.

Our Jayco has some hairy stuff in the roof - what it does, I don't know - the walls? I have no idea. Were the old Franklin caravans built in the 70s ahead of their time? They used foam to bond the outer aluminium skin to the internal plywood walls.

You can insulate a ready made van by up to 7 degrees by painting it with one of the special thermal paints eg Thermoshield, Dulux Acritex, etc.
I was involved in a trial at work (Telstra) with three identical (heat load, direction faced) roadside cabinets. Two were painted with one of these paints, the other left natural as the "Test" unit. And it didn't matter what colour the cabinet was painted - the paint agent thought it might & argued with me over the amount of green tint was added. One was white, one was green - the test unit was plain old eucalyptus green. Both repainted ones had the same results - a 7 degree reduction in inside temperatures. Enough to save very expensive optic cards.

An added benefit is the cool touch of any metal painted with these paints; just ask anyone who works on a roof painted with this on a hot day vs an "unpainted" one.

Regardless - I don't think insulation would have saved the van in the news item!

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

Nothing that is only 3mm thick is going to provide good insulation unless it is a vacuum panel and they are even too expensive for all but the most expensive fridges.
Fridges, by the way, typically use 35mm of closed cell polyurethane for insulation and thicker for the freezer.
The typical fibreglass sandwich panel now used for RVs uses 20mm of closed cell polyurethane in the walls (plus 1.5mm of fibreglass each side) and 45 or 50mm in the floor and roof. Very few other construction methods even come close to that.
Cheers,
Peter

Mamil · Senior Member

This is what my walls are made of.

Whenarewethere · Guru

Every square mm bonded instead of a pack of staples!

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

amil wrote:
This is what my walls are made of.

EPS = Expanded PolyStyrene.

Budget priced insulation.

Cheers,

Peter

markmack · Veteran Member

Hello Greg," Empty the basket" Like you i found the floor cold on the feet and blamed the chassis for drawing the cold and then transfering the cold up into the van.. A couple of 25mm polystyrene sheets cut with a hand saw into strips and lined the chassis . Started on the area where we walked and found that it was so easy all the chassis was soon lined.. By the time that i started working in the area where the plumbing is and water tanks are i had found that a hacksaw blade was also good for cutting the foam around the pipes... Steered clear of the diesel heater and lined the rest...Laying there admiring my work, wondering if i could have done it better. I had a flash !! Cut some squares and filled in the areas between the foam under the floor.. Once it was finished, a light spray of grey paint hid/sealed all the joints.. The weight of the sheeting to do this job is not worth bothering about. Also between the floor and the foam is 20mm of heat insulation batt.. (but that was optional ) It seems to have given the van a new feeling when we walk inside, maybe not so hollow. Looking forward to the bare foot test.

erad · Guru

I look at the latest range of caravans and wonder why they are all dark colours. They must get hot inside. It is bad enough with a white caravan, but darker colours??? In the early days of the Snowy Scheme, they used to paint the pipelines typically battleship grey. Inside the pipelines, they were painted with Coal Tar Enamel. At Guthega (the first station to be commissioned), when they drained the pipeline for maintenance or inspection, the coal tar used to melt in the sunshine, and drip onto the inspectors. Apart from losing paint protection for the pipelines, it was an OH&S hazard. They then painted the pipelines white and noted a 15 Def F (about 10 Deg C) drop in the temperature inside the pipelines. Since then, all pipelines in the Snowy were painted white. Of late, a fungus has been building up on the painted surface and they are now trialling a drone machine to clean the pipelines (again an OH&S issue because the largest pipes are 5.3 m diameter, and they are on a steep slope as well). So why are new caravans painted dark colours?

Magnarc · Guru

Hi Robert regarding dark coloured vans its called the sheep factor. One manufacturer thinks it looks good and, before you know it they are all on the bandwagon. The fact that they get hotter inside means nothing, selling the product is everything. The sheep factor can also be seen in all it's glory in the fashion industry.

Whenarewethere · Guru

PVC & Styrene:

It is recommended that installers ensure general market PVC insulated and sheathed electrical cables be installed in such a manner that they do not come in to direct contact with aromatic polymers (e.g. styrene, Styrofoam and polyurethane), bituminized papers and waterproofing. Cables should be installed in suitable conduits or protected by the use of polyester or polypropylene separation tapes. Alternative PVC cables utilizing non- migratory plasticizers are available, installers should ensure any such cables sourced can demonstrate suitable long term test results to substantiate performance.

Whenarewethere · Guru

https://www.buildmagazine.org.nz/assets/PDF/BUILD65-26-ElecCableInPoly.pdf

Screenshot_20200701-083704~2.png

KJB · Guru

Same with "checker plate" - it was designed as a non slip flooring material. As a wall material it is heavier, no stronger , often more expensive and harder to clean.

A bit like building a wardrobe out of floor tiles......

oldbloke · Guru

Ours only has some polystyrene in the roof. So can get cold.

Just a point. Polystyrene burns really well.

Whenarewethere · Guru

There was a recall about 5 years ago. It needs to be removed from buildings as it is a fire hazard. There is thousands of km of the stuff around the country. We had our block of Units checked to make sure we didn't have any of this Chinese electrical cable from Infinity with the poor quality PVC. I wouldn't be surprised if some of it worked its way into caravans. Probably worth checking with the manufacturer & get it in writing for your safety that they didn't use any of the Infinity cable.

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

I dont think the owner is too concerned now ? Yes I fitted thin bubble rap type alloy covered insulation on bus conversion. Not sure if it helped sealing or insulated better ? It was much more comfortable. No droughts !!

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

Magnarc wrote:
Hi Robert regarding dark coloured vans its called the sheep factor. One manufacturer thinks it looks good and, before you know it they are all on the bandwagon. The fact that they get hotter inside means nothing, selling the product is everything. The sheep factor can also be seen in all it's glory in the fashion industry.

Did someone mention

sheep ?!