Insulation for the winter

[Airboutique]

I am going to attempt another Colorado winter in my Airstream. I noticed that some people who live year round in their rv skirt their rigs in thick foam board. I am thinking that instead of skirting I would attach the insulation directly to the bottom of my a/s. Any thoughts? It would be a lot less labor intensive for me but wondering if it would be effective. Thanks for any input.

Shelly😆

[AWCHIEF]

I have seen hay bails used effectively in extreme cold around mobile homes, tiny homes on wheels and travel trailers.

[Rich W]

You need to restrict air movement under the trailer, keep an air pocket under there. Homes with crawl spaces underneath do the same thing but there is additional insulation under the flooring to keep the pipes from freezing and the floors from being cold. I would think that however you keep air movement at a minimum would work for you. Maybe have some bales of straw on standby.

[TG Twinkie]

Hay bales make great homes for mice and other critters. Not a good idea. IMHO
Skirting is the best and most efficient way to keep things warm.

[rmatkovich]

Between U and me I would not spend a winter where it gets below 25 degrees. Check out the insulation in the walls of UR trailer they R only rated about an R-7. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR that is not much insulation to keep U warm. And for another problem because the insulation R-rating is so low it will create condensation behind the curtains and then mold will set in. I know from experience.

[Sodbust1]

Hay bales work well but another issue other than mice and rats is a fire hazard.. we live in a very rural area with less than 2000 people in over 1000 square miles.. the number of trailers that folks winter in is just a hand full.. but every winter we have a trailer fire due to hay bales stacked around the base. Smoking would be my guess but a lot of things start Bale fires..Sodbust

[IanPoulin]

There's a thread worthy to review of member deauxrite winter camping at the Grand Canyon south rim; and includes their experiences which, if I remember right, include their insulation methods. It's also a phenominal "no-move travelogue" thread wise.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f459...yon-98031.html

[KenBrodin]

Do not use hay bales, use STRAW BALES
Hay is inclined to combust.
Straw has almost zero green matter (nitrogen source) that would cause it to heat up.
One can never know how well hay is cured, straw on the other hand is only stems that have usually dried for sometime before cutting and bailing.
Buy a bale of hay and a bale of straw, wet them outside in a safe place, stick your hand in the bale and check for heat, check it again over the next few days, if the hay was any good as hay there will be a significant temperature rise, the straw will not show a significant change.
Straw, either wheat or oats, will do a great job for you.
I would buy contractor sized trash bags, put the bales in the bags and then place them, use smaller bags stuffed with loose straw to seal up any odd holes. Purchase one 10 piece of slotted drain tile to place under the trailer, just tape it to the botom and let the open ends stick out either side, it will provide enough air exchange to manage moisture and you can regulate the air flow duct tape on the ends or stuffing the ends partially.
Good luck .

[AWCHIEF]

Originally Posted by KenBrodin

Do not use hay bales, use STRAW BALES
Hay is inclined to combust.
Straw has almost zero green matter (nitrogen source) that would cause it to heat up.
One can never know how well hay is cured, straw on the other hand is only stems that have usually dried for sometime before cutting and bailing.
Buy a bale of hay and a bale of straw, wet them outside in a safe place, stick your hand in the bale and check for heat, check it again over the next few days, if the hay was any good as hay there will be a significant temperature rise, the straw will not show a significant change.
Straw, either wheat or oats, will do a great job for you.
I would buy contractor sized trash bags, put the bales in the bags and then place them, use smaller bags stuffed with loose straw to seal up any odd holes. Purchase one 10 piece of slotted drain tile to place under the trailer, just tape it to the botom and let the open ends stick out either side, it will provide enough air exchange to manage moisture and you can regulate the air flow duct tape on the ends or stuffing the ends partially.
Good luck .

Learn something new everyday. I am basically a city boy and did not know there was a difference. Thanks for the info.

[Rich W]

Originally Posted by AWCHIEF

Learn something new everyday. I am basically a city boy and did not know there was a difference. Thanks for the info.

Hay is for eating and straw is for putting on the floors in stables to make cleanup easier. You can get straw in bales at your local Lowes or Home Depot in rectangular bales. I've seen hay in fields as large round wheels, not sure if it comes in other forms, but probably does. As KenBrodin pointed out, hay is fresh and can spontaneously combust while straw is dried out before baling. Both can contain mice, ants and other critters.

The key to insulating, however, is dead air. You don't want the wind blowing away any heated air. Storm windows/doors, insulated glass and the like all depend on preventing or limiting air movement. Styrofoam is good too but also liked by woodland creatures.

[Airboutique]

Thanks everyone for your input. Hay bales not an option due to the critter element. Guess I will have to try to level the ground around the base and puzzle the insulation in as I skirt the rig.

[Bev1940]

I lost a barn full of hay from hay heating up due to being damp when stored,but I don't think a single row of bales would do this, however straw is usually much cheaper.

[LYCAN92]

Just a thought for you, I put rubber on the underbelly, then attached with caulking a black rubber trim on the bottom edge of the outside, then on the inside I sprayed Plasti Dip rubber coating on the inside underbelly, then caulked all the screws, gaps, old utility holes and seams where the aluminum connects, then let dry, then sprayed on Great Stuff foam, let dry, then added pink insulation, then cut out and sanded down a pice of plywood to fit, caulk the edge of inside underbelly, slide it in, caulk the top of it in, then screw it down to the Steel frame.



Just a idea for you, besides hay.

[dwightdi]

Modern Airstreams are designed and built for recreational travel. They are not 4 season vehicles for winter housing. There are mobile homes specifically designed for that kid of useage. Two inch PE foam insulation partially buried around the trailer is the best solution to reduce the cooling under the trailer and will help to protect the three tanks. A bigger dehumidifier is also a must have.

[KenBrodin]

FYI, 2"foam underpinning R-Factor is 9, average straw bale R value is 28, at least.three times the insulation. It must be kept dry though.
If you have any trailer/ morotorhome/car/tractor idle it is an invitation to rodents. That is a seperate issue from insulation and warmth.
I store my AS in an all steel building with concrete floors, I still have to manage for rodents.They nest in cowling of the cars and in my friends Motor home and in the dash of my tractor which are also stored there, it has little to do with straw and the world to do with insulating materlas and the world to do with them finding small, confined dry spaces.
You will have to deal with rodents.
If I were wintering Colorado in an AS I would buy enough bales and bags to stack around up to the bottoms of the windows and I would loosly fill bags and put them on the top, as previously mentioned an AS is not designed for full time living, but with a little redneck engineering you can make your stay more comfortable, all be it not fashionable.
Explore the use of straw bales in houses if you need more understanding.

[Airboutique]

It has been difficult finding help on my many Airstream projects so it is solely up to me to get them done. The partial winter I lived in my a/s was brutal but I survived so I know I can do it again, just want to be better prepared this year.

[blogworthy]

Hi Airboutique - any update for how your winter in colorado went? We recently are currently planning to spend ski season in summit county colorado in our vintage airstream motorhome. We are planning to skirt the bottom with foam insulation but are worried as we are very naive to this process and we have a lot of windows!

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by blogworthy

Hi Airboutique - any update for how your winter in colorado went? We recently are currently planning to spend ski season in summit county colorado in our vintage airstream motorhome. We are planning to skirt the bottom with foam insulation but are worried as we are very naive to this process and we have a lot of windows!

Clear plastic bubble wrap fastened to the windows will provide some insulation while letting in the light. Adding 3M crystalline film to the windows will also block heat transfer without blocking the view, and is permanent, but is much more expensive than bubble wrap. You can use either bubble wrap, Reflectix (bubble wrap with an aluminum skin), or Prodex (more on Prodex below) to cover the inside of any roof vent or skylight, too.

If you want to skirt your motorhome, may I suggest using multi-layer flexible polyethylene foam insulation like Prodex (available in 16", 24", and 48" widths: http://www.insulation4less.com/Insul...l-16-inch.aspx) where the foam is encased on both sides by aluminum film, to make the skirt. Bind the edges of the Prodex with aluminum foil tape (https://www.amazon.com/3311-Silver-A.../dp/B00O9R4K7O), and use the aluminum tape front and back on any seams and to reinforce any holes that you punch for grommets or snaps.

You can fasten the skirt to the motorhome using snaps, Velcro, or even just duct tape (though my preference would be adhesive-backed Velcro). If you're not going to be running the engine, you can use the same Prodex material to cover the grille and enclose the engine compartment, too.

To secure the Prodex to the ground, you can set grommets along the bottom edge and stake it down like a tent. Or if you know you'll be parked on pavement, make the skirt extra-long (buy a wider width) so that a flap of Prodex lies flat on the ground, and add weights on top of the flap. Sandbags would work well enough for that.