We took our poorly insulated TC out over Thanksgiving. High 20's overnight. Furnace kept it warm enough, and roof vent kept condensation under control.I had added some reflectix underneath mattress. Seemed adequate for helping with condensation issues we had last year. It was also noticeably warmer, no cold coming up through the mattress. Plastic over windows helped too.But my side of the east/west bed is up against the front cap. I didn't feel any cold coming through the wall, but the entire left side of my sleeping bag was soaked from touching the wall.Has anyone added reflectix just up that first part? I hesitate to add anything thicker (like rigid foam insulation) b/c the space is so limited. Even if I have to pull it out after each trip and run the dehumidifier it would be better than getting the bedding wet.Our winter trips will only be for 1 or 2 nights...

I was adding some Styrofoam insulation to my Fleetwood camper during repairs. Even the upscale camper, with aluminium frame had cheap fiberglass for insulation. Fiberglass not only has lousy R value, but in camper usually falls down the wall cavity, leaving no insulation on upper part of the wall. In your case I would save Styrofoam packing from the boxes you might have and just stuck the foam against the wall for night. Polyurethane foam has even better R value and you can buy it at HD with aluminium liner on it.

P.S. I tried to get DH to install a Wave heater to help with battery use boondocking, but he declined b/c "The furnace will be fine for one night, Dear. For crying out loud, it's only 2 years old, let's use it first before we start adding expensive mods!"LOL, he's a light sleeper, and after waking up every time the furnace kicked on (and sweating his buns off when it overshot thermostat control, yet another mod he declined to help me with... adding a Honeywell digital thermostat) he admitted that maybe a Wave is in our future.

The digital thermostats I know require 24V AC power supply. Are you talking battery-operated one? This doesn't have to be advantage to mechanical thermostat, that suppose to have adjustment for range of kick-in/outCamper furnace also keeps your holding tank from freezing. Add-on heater will not.

Yes, there is battery operated digital T-stat, IIRC. It would be nice to be able to program it. The current one only has that "low end - high end" picture type adjustment... no numbers. Really, really hard to get it set to a comfortable temp.My 9 gallon fresh tank is in the front step area anyway, so "inside". No basement, but we don't use water system in winter. And it has a 5 gallon porta potty. Which makes winter camping a breeze.

Not everything what looks better first seen will turn better on long run. When I understand frustration of first time setting of thermostat with no clear scale, now you know how to do it. On the other hand the thermostat beeping at 1 AM becouse of low battery can hardly be beaten on irritation scale.... even if you have spare batteries. .....

Adding Insulation to Cabover | Good Sam Community

ab257
Explorer
Dec 08, 2015
We put in a foam board under the mattress, but were still picking up condensation on the bottom of the mattress, so we put in a layer of mesh (Hydravent, Dry-mesh, etc) that helped quite a bit.
Stars101
Explorer
Dec 08, 2015
Yes, since it's not permanent I expected to have to dry wall off by toweling and running a dehumidifier when I got home. I was just thinking about trying to keep sleeping bag dry for 2nights. Not a perm. fix.
Deb_and_Ed_M
Explorer II
Dec 08, 2015
Yeti plus wrote:
Since I spent many nights in tents over the years I would suggest a foam pad that one would use under a sleeping bag in a tent. Instead of putting it under you put it up against the wall, perhaps hold it in position with velcro.
Here is a link to REI
http://www.rei.com/product/848717/blue-foam-pad-regular

Since camping mats can be expensive - look at a yoga mat, instead. They tend to be closed-cell foam, so won't absorb moisture. I've used them for lots of stuff - cut them up for kayak seat cushioning, etc.
mkirsch
Nomad II
Dec 08, 2015
Won't all of these ideas just trap the condensation between the foam pad and the wall? Or, won't the condensation just form on the insulation instead of the wall?
brholt
Explorer II
Dec 08, 2015
I bought some interlocking foam floor pads at Sam's club. Cheap and seem to work well in insulating and cushioning the bed area. Easy to cut work with and cut to fit.

Interlocking foam pads

You can find these lots of other places too.
Yeti_plus
Explorer
Dec 08, 2015
I often refer to the trailer and the camper as my "hard sided tents" because that is sometimes the way we treat them.
We can work around all the modern conveniences and most of the things in the two units have a direct relationship to many years in tents and 20 years in a pop up trailer.
Glad my idea helps.
Brian
Stars101
Explorer
Dec 08, 2015
Yeti plus - :S WHY didn't I think of that? I winter tent camp with my son and never even thought about using my "tent" stuff in the TC, well except my Wiggy's zero degree sleeping bag. Love that thing!

That's a perfect, cheap solution that would probably work for 2 nights.
Yeti_plus
Explorer
Dec 08, 2015
Since I spent many nights in tents over the years I would suggest a foam pad that one would use under a sleeping bag in a tent. Instead of putting it under you put it up against the wall, perhaps hold it in position with velcro.
Here is a link to REI
http://www.rei.com/product/848717/blue-foam-pad-regular
narcodog
Explorer II
Dec 08, 2015
I have made a tub using reflexic around the outside walls that has kept the condensation down and helped retain heat. I fastened the stuff to the wall using 3M removable adhesive. I have not removed it in seven years.

Lowes or HD have the thermostats you need to use I replaced mine eight years ago and just replaced the battery's last year.
Joe417
Explorer
Dec 07, 2015
Stars101,

I replaced our furnace thermostat with a $24 programmable from Lowes. It keeps the camper at + or - 1 degree. Well worth the money for us.

One item you might look into as far as temporary insulation for the front wall is the fan fold foil backed insulation used under vinyl siding installations. It's only about 1/4 inch thick and fold to a 24 inch section which could fit under the mattress when not in use. It's only R-1 or R-2 but may give you some relief with the soggy sheets.

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