[VAC] Re: VAC Insulation, anyone?

[Patrick Ewing <pre52@xxxxxxx>]

Dan,

I've spent a number of winters in my 1972 31ft. Sovereign and might have a tip
or two for you. First those beautiful wrap around windows make it harder to
heat. I have both mini-blinds and the lined curtains to help out here.
In Iowa I'll bet you usually have a pretty good breeze blowing most of the time.
Make sure your belly pan is nice and tight. If it needs any rivets ............
do it. Then in any gaps use some expanding spray foam insulation to give a nice
& tight seal.
That gap around your door should be letting in a lot of cold so check it out. If
it has become "flattened out" for some reason try (maybe with a friend) bending
the top back in. You will have to go a little "extra" as it tends to pop out a
bit. The careful use of a 2"x4" can help.
Make sure your roof vents close tightly against the seal. As hot air rises this
could be a source of heat escaping.
Make sure the walls around your refrigerator are tight as the way the venting is
a lot of cold air can enter the coach through any holes or cracks around this
unit. If I'm not using the fridge I've blocked off the screened bottom of this
vent .............. however you need to remember to open it up before starting
up the fridge.
Your outside storage compartment doors need to seal tightly as well. I've
noticed on a number of units that these tend to need some work to get to seal
well.
Some sort of skirting around the base of the unit will help out a lot. However
this can be somewhat involved to do. I had a 35ft. SOB type unit for a winter in
a cold and high wind area and skirting it helped out tremendously.
You might need to run your furnace some to help the poor little electric heater
out.
If you aren't using the water system during the winter I highly recommend
winterizing the water system. It wouldn't take much to freeze up a pipe if the
power were to go out and you weren't right there to keep things warm.
I'm glad that you are enjoying your "retreat!"

Pat