[VAC] Re: Insulation Revisited

[Dan Weeks <theprofileco@xxxxxxx>]

Brian and other interesteds:

Here's my plan to insulate my Argosy 26 for use as an office in Iowa's -20
winter temps, with no structural and only easily reversable cosmetic
changes:
--reweatherstrip leaky roof vents
--seal windows and outside access doors for the winter with zip-away
weatherstripping from Red Devil--you gun it on like a caulk, and it peels
off easily in the spring. $2.50 a tube or so, 2 tubes should do it.
-- Remove belly pan and fiberglass insulation, replace with 2" foam panels
screwed to the underside of the floor. (A VAC tip)
--Install Lashway interior storms on all openable windows. See Tom
Patterson's site under "storm windows" for Roy's step-by-step instructions.
--Install same style storms on my roof vents, which I've turned into
skylight vents. Put a few layers of clear bubble wrap between storm and vent
to allow light to penetrate, yet insulate some.
--Install foam self-stick weatherstripping around frame of sliding door to
rear bath, which I use only for storage, as my trailer is an office, not a
home.
--Line the inside of all exterior walls behind cabinets, etc. with REFLEXTIX
insulation. This stuff is essentially two layers of bubble wrap faced with
foil on both sides. It's most commonly used as duct wrap, and is rated at R
5.6 for that purpose. Cuts easily with scissors or a knife. I use
indoor/outdoor carpet tape to fasten it to the interior wall skins, which is
quick, easy, and reversable, and doesn't call for drilling rivet or screw
holes in the skin, or using VOC-laden adhesives. Tape the seams with
aluminum tape. Insulate ductwork with same stuff.
--Line cabinet floors and flat walls (such as in my streetside closet wall
next to fridge) with CELOTEX 1" foil-faced foam sheathing. Installed bright
side up, it's rated at about r-10. Cuts with a knife. For long, precise cuts
I use a table saw. Tape CELOTEX to REEFLECTIX at wall-floor joints with
aluminum tape to seal drafts out. I also use celotex for friction-fit doors
that fit in passage between the front salon and center twin bedroom, and
inside the sliding door from to the rear bath. I work primarily in the
salon, and use the center twin bedroom as a library, layout table, and
second work station (and for naps!) so I only heat what I'm using at the
time.
--Use reflectix to insulate and seal off the water heater, the wall cutouts
around wheel wells, etc. between rooms, and the wheel wells themselves.
There are lots of big leaks here, but the relflectix and tape does a good
job of sealing. I've removed one of my twin bunks and will be replacing it
with a desk (a cut-down hollow-core door), so on that side I boxed in the
insulated water heater and wheel well with a full-length box of made of
celotex panel, with unfaced fiberglass bat filling the extra air space, then
paneled over the celotex with 1/4" luan. Looks good, and eliminated a major
source of cold air. Will pull the bed frame off the curbside wall and seal
with celotex and stuff fiberglass everwhere there's dead air space.
--I'll also line the walls in the center twin bay with reflectix, as they
are mostly hidden by curtains and cabinetry. Will carpet tape the stuff to
the walls,running the stuff under the interior window frames and bottom
curtain tracks for a neat, sealed, aluminum-tape-free installation there.
Then I'll cut reflectix shades for all the coach's windows for use at night,
and will either velcro on (for openable windows with flush interior frames)
or press-fit (into the recessed frames of fixed windows.
--stuffed fiberglass around the fridge from the outside access door. I use
it as a bookcase (!)


Goal is to get the coach tight enough to be able to heat at least one room
at a time with one 1500 watt ceramic heater even in Iowa's -20 winter temps,
and not use the suburban furnace, which is terribly inefficient and through
which cold air pours when not firing. If I can do that, I'll pull and store
that unit, and insulate the cabinet it sits in, and temporarily seal the
holes. It's 8 degrees right now in Des Moines, where I live, and I've got
the solon up to 68 and climbing with my foam door in, so I'm getting there.
My brand x ceramic heater works fine, but is noisy, so I went first class
and ordered a Pelonis Flex Furnace II (www.pelonis.com), which has an
electronic thermostat for constant temp maintenance, and is supposed to be
very quiet. I'll use the brand-x one also for quick warmups. I studied the
payback on installing a Dickenson heater (www.dickensonmarine.com), and the
payback didn't justify the $500+ costs. Also like that I can move the
ceramic heater around to heat me wherever I am.

That's all so far. I'm about 1/4 done and already notice a difference. I'll
report again when job is finished, or if anyone has questions. Meanwhile,I'd
love any additional comments or advice, and thank the list very much for the
many suggestions I've used. Most of the stuff above is not original to me.

Dan Weeks
75 Argosy 26