thanks

pumapal809 wrote:
I have a "dream" to convert my 2009 travel trailer into a 4 season residence. I have been told it is impossible by camper dealerships and even those who build tiny homes, which is where my inspiration came from. I looked up the specs on the manufacturer's website and my style camper has R7insulation which I read is minimal and why it won't hold up to winter living. I lived (in a regular house)in southeast MO and now in northern TN. With the cost of housing and all that goes with that, camper living is very appealing to me economically. Granted I could pull up and move further south for the winter but I don't know that I want to do that. I questioned several camper knowledgeable persons about coating the underside with spray on insulation but was told it still wouldn't prevent freezing of pipes and holding tanks. Someone help me understand why. I read about people who renovate campers and since this one is in real great shape I don't want to gut it, I just want to insulate it well. Anyone have any ideas or experiences in this area? Thank you.

Not gonna happen and especially if your goal is being cheap.

Spray on foam is very expensive and needs to be protected from UV and not to mention if you ever NEED to access any of the pipes, plumbing, tanks you will be swearing so bad it will make a sailor to several shades of red..

Spray in insulation is so darned sticky when sprayed in, it sticks to pretty much every substance known to man.. Most likely would stick to teflon if you tried it.. Once set it can be very difficult to remove.

Spray on insulation is not cheap at all, for just the underside alone you could be talking $1K or more..

To increase the R value you would also need to lose room INSIDE the trailer since you would have to fir in the walls at least 3" in oder to get the equivalent of a 2x4 which would only give you R13 at best.. Firing OUTSIDE is not much of an option since it would most likely exceed 8' 6" width (the legal max without a special permit).

Then you would need to fir the roof UP at least 1'which would get you perhaps an additional R21..

All told you can sink $4K-$6K into insulation mods and you have not addressed the worst offenders.. DOORS AND WINDOWS..

Yep, Doors and windows in RVs are basically R1-R2 at best, double pane RV windows are available but you will be looking at $500-$1K PER WINDOW! And doors, not happening with RV doors, you are plain out of luck there..

The end result will be very expensive and STILL BE COLD in the winter..

You are NOT going to live "cheaper" in a RV whether it is a three or four season or even a super highly insulated modded RV..

Cold winds get under the trailer and will simply chill everything even if you had 20" of insulation.. I fought that battle in a MOBILE HOME which is better suited for winter living.. The floor ALWAYS WAS COLD, I ALWAYS FELT THE COLD creeping up even with my feet up off the floor.. I ALWAYS FOUGHT freezing water lines..

Even if it is well insulated you can easily burn through a 30lb propane tank in two days.. At $25 for 30 lb tanks that is $375 per month just to heat 400 square feet!.. And that would only if you kept the temp set to 50 degrees.

I can easily heat my 1200 square foot sticks and bricks for under $200 per month on natural gas and that is with the temp set to 73 degrees.

Save yourself from a money pit and run.