Forum Discussion

Wagonqueen_Truc's avatar
Jan 10, 2016

Winter boondock... Cold cab over. Need ideas.





Took a quick overnighter to the Forbes Forest state game lands in the Laurel Highlands of PA last weekend. The temp was 19 degrees. First true winter boondocking in the old girl. The furnace was actually so warm we had to set it a bit lower so it didn't turn on quite as much, but when it did turn off, the cold from the from panoramic window ( in the cab over) made it pretty chilly in a matter of minutes. I am thinking that I need to come up with something that is custom fit to that window to try and create a barrier to hold back the cold. Any suggestions are welcome.

Took the pup on her first camp trip. She at least kept our feet warm.
  • Naio's avatar
    Naio
    Explorer II
    I used a $5 closed cell foam pad like backpackers sleep on, cut to fit. In my rig i can even squish it into a space between glass and trim, so it stays put.

    Another idea: It's ugly, but you would be amazed how much added warmth you get from a large tarp, sheet of fabric, or anything similar, thrown over the room if the cabover and tucked in at the bottom. Gives you several inches of trapped air insulation all around.
  • I would think 1/2 foam would do well for the windows. Use blue painters tape to hold it in place. I use the tape to hold in acrylic I use for storm windows and don't have problems removing it after the winter. I just make sure it only adheres to the metal window frame, not the wall itself as it will peel off the paper after a few days.

    An alternative would be to hang a heavy curtain across the cab over opening trying to keep the cold in that area.
  • DW made curtains with sewn-in clips purchased from the RV store. The clips are the type that run in a common track we had in our Pop Up (like a sleep area partition). I suspect you can buy that track easy if you have none. The curtains stayed in the track pulled back, or run out an end for cleaning or stowing.

    The curtains had fleece on the sleep side. (Oh what a nice night - I sleep with my hand arm out and against the headboard, or tent fabric).

    The curtain outer fabric (against the tent fabric) was a water resistant some such or another. That's her department.

    The quilted inner was basic thin quilt batt.

    The curtains were are so short you can easily do it on a basic home machine.

    We went both ways in Nov/Dec Alaska Highway. Coldest comfortable night was -5. Coldest UN-comfortable night was -30.
  • You might be able to glue on some ceramic magnets in places, then put other ones into a cover over your insulation. Then the insulation will just click into place, and you can pull it off easily when you need to. I use them so I don't need curtain rods and they work great for the entrance door.
  • With that curved front window buy a sheet of dense 1" thick closed cell foam and cut it to fit the entire window and use industrial double sided tape to hold it in place. I have used that foam to stay nice and comfy at 5* in Yosemite in my Lance. I covered all the glass in the doors, windows and skylights in it.
  • We use reflectix. DW used scissors to cut it to fit all windows, skylights and vents. She cut the skylight and vents pieces a little larger so they stay in place. In the windows, the blinds hold them in place. For the back window of door, we attached the reflectix with velcro. We also cut it to fit underneath the bed.

    The piece under the bed stays. The rest we roll up and store in a nylon round bag that she made out of cordura. She also cut pieces to fix the cabinets near the bed to keep that cold out. Those stay in place.

    It makes a huge difference. You can buy rolls of it at Home Depot or order online.
  • The first thing that comes to mind is reflectix but with such a large window you may need more than that. Removable plexiglass storm windows that can be fastened on the inside are used by some but would be very difficult if not impossible to fit on your curved window. I can't tell if the front window is flat other than the wrap-around curves. If so you might be able to use coroplast. This is the white double-wall plastic stuff that is used for temporary advertising signs. You can get it at home improvement stores, cut it to size, then seal the edges with tape. You'd probably have to piece several pieces together and can affix it with painters tape. One advantage of this is this material is that it lets the light through. If your window bubbles out the only thing I can think to suggest is getting a hot water heater blanket insulation of suitable size, cut it to fit, tape the edges, then tape it in place.
  • We put rigid foam board in ours and same under the mattress. Wow what a difference it made.