Insulation

The Imagine line uses that "radiant foil" insulation to get those big numbers in the floor and ceiling. I'm not knowledgeable enough to know exactly how the system works, but I'm comfortably sure you're not actually getting R40 insulation value.

For an RV, your insulation is good.
The only improvement on top of what you have would be to get double pane windows - if avail.

theoldwizard1 wrote:
...

So is the R40 ceiling insulation standard or not ?

I just went on-line and looked up my Keystone Outback. According to the diagrams here's what mine is:

Roof: R-14 Blanket Insulation
Sidewall: R-7 Solid Block Foam Insulation
Floor: R-10 Block Foam Insulation

Travel trailers are simply insulated to the bare min, due the thickness of walls and the roof / floor. They also compete on weight and cost. People that stay in their trailers when it’s 10 degrees outside, or 106, are not camping, rather they are living. The standard travel trailer was never designed for this.

I live in Az and I would never go camping on a 110 degree weekend.

wsnider4853 wrote:
I will be purchasing an Imagine Grand Design 2018 RB2600. The insulation is listed as, Floor R-30, Roof R-40 but the walls are listed as R-7. I was wondering if this is sufficient insulation for the trailer.

The specs are somewhat confusing ! It does say R-40 in the ceiling bit then is also says the Four Seasons Protection Package Includes ...

High Density Roof Insulation with Attic Vent
.
.
.
Double Insulated Roof and Front Cap (R-40)

So is the R40 ceiling insulation standard or not ?

drsteve wrote:

It can be done, just not cheaply. An inch-thick vacuum insulated panel can provide an insulating value of R-25 or more.

Perfectly "still" air is actually an inexpensive and effective insulator ! The indoor ski resort in Dubai(?) has about 3 meters of sealed air, between the desert air and the indoor air cold enough to make snow !

Realistically it's near impossible to have much more insulation. Some Have Refectix which add's a good deal of R value but only for heat infiltration.
My advice is to get a second AC if it's available.
That way you'll have no problem heating or cooling regardless of insulation.

During the cold weather, most of your heat is lost through the ceiling/roof. Likewise, during hot weather most of the heat is absorbed through the roof. It makes perfect sense that the roof should have more insulation.

Having said that, I do not believe that the ceiling/roof really has R40. That would be more than 12" of fiberglass or about 4" of poly-iso insulation. The R-Value of poly-iso DECREASES below 50F-60F so below freezing your would need about 50% more to achieve the same "thermal resistance". Poly-iso is less efeective abouve 75F-85F.

XPS insulation is close to the same as poly-iso, but I don't think its value drops off in cold/hot weather.

donn0128 wrote:
It is what it is. Its just impossible to add more insulation value to a 2 inch thick wall. Not to mention thr R zero windows. If your planning to winter north of the Mason Dixon line plan on being cold.

It can be done, just not cheaply. An inch-thick vacuum insulated panel can provide an insulating value of R-25 or more.

"Is this sufficient insulation for the trailer."

Short answer: No.

You can never have "sufficient" insulation anywhere, not even in a house. But in a 2 inch wall, that's about all you are ever going to get.

Every RV owner, regardless of type of RV, deals with heat and cold, and every one of us has different ways of dealing with it. Some RV come equipped with 2 air conditioners. If the camper was 100 percent insulated, it could easily get by with only 1. But because of the thin walls, insulation can go only so far. For those who have only 1 air conditioner, if the air conditioner cannot keep up, owners will often swap out for a beefier air conditioner, or add a second one themselves. There is a point where even the best of campers are never insulated enough. It cost to cool them. There's no way around that. Even if you rely on solar power, you have the cost of the solar equipment to get the electricity to power them.

Same is true in winter. Read these forums and you'll see those that winter camp always have insufficient heat. One would think with a 100% insulated camper, a simple space heater would roast the inside when the outside temperature is 50 below zero. But in an RV, they just aren't insulated that way. Winter campers are always struggling for additional heat, supplemental electric heaters, looking for ways to boost the heat from their furnaces, skirting under their campers, sealing cracks, replacing windows with double pane windows, all sorts of things. WHY? Because 2 inches can only insulate so much, and it's NEVER sufficient.

For what you are describing about your new camper, you'rs is very, very typical of any RV. As someone else above said, "It is what it is." That is so true. Without massive modifications, you can expect the air conditioner to work hard in the Summer in Southern Texas or Southern Florida, and your furnace to be complete inadequate in Alaska in the winter!

But, we all adjust. It is, what it is.