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Insulating the walls inside of the cabinets and front cap

Durhamcutter
Explorer
Explorer
Has anyone insulated with thermal insulation on the inside of the cabinets against the outside walls of your RV? I would like to try this if this is possible. If you have any experience with doing this please let me know. Thanks in advance
18 REPLIES 18

bcbackroad
Explorer
Explorer
http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/stay-away-foil-faced-bubble-wrap

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/community/forum/green-products-and-materials/23805/reflectix-still-claiming-r42-its-bubble-wrap-my-h

gmachine
Explorer
Explorer
We used aluminum faced 1/2" foam board in all cabinets. Helped a lot.
Jim & Sally
Bering MD23(Cummins ISB)w/60" flattop Kenworth sleeper & 2005 Excel 35MKO Limited, 2006 Scion XA.

Hammerboy
Explorer
Explorer
sarahm wrote:
Good point. Has anyone done blown insulation in their rig?


Blown in insulation can settle on its own, I can't imagine where it would end up as the rig is bouncing down the road.

Dan
2019 Chevy crew LTZ 2500 HD Duramax
2017 Wildcat 29rlx fifth wheel

Lantley
Nomad
Nomad
Gsport wrote:
We did our pantry and all the cabinets on the kitchen side. Definitely makes a difference...


Is it producing any cash savings? If you pay your own utilities it may . But most of us don't have a utility bill
19'Duramax w/hips,12'Open Range,Titan Disc Brake
BD3,RV safepower,22" Blackstone
Ox Bedsaver,RV760 w/BC20,Glow Steps, Enduraplas25,Pedego
BakFlip,RVLock,5500 Onan LP,Prog.50A surge,Hughes autoformer
Porta Bote 8.0 Nissan,Sailun S637
Correct Trax,Splendide

routemaster
Explorer
Explorer
When CW welded the frame under the chin,so when the cap was off,I went to HD and bought the pink stuff and added extra strips.Thats is when I thought could we blow stuff in I would think one would have calulate the area to be filled yes?. Also pumped foam in the can all around the hich were it goes into the cap.
One of the other thing I did was bought the sheets of white insulation and lined the basement ceiling.Another thing buy the pipe wrap for the hot and cold Plex pips in the belly (I had to drop the belly to change gate valve anyway) and basement behind the walls.Saves heat loss at the shower i could push it up behind the wall to the taps.
2017 Landmark Arlington 365
2015 Silverado LTZ 3500 c/c LWB.

sarahm
Explorer
Explorer
Good point. Has anyone done blown insulation in their rig?

laknox
Nomad
Nomad
sarahm wrote:
Is there anything in the end cap? I was thinking of blowing in insulation.


I thought about that, too, but then thought, where would the air exhaust? Might come out in the rest of the rig, given how tight (not) they build these things. Be a bit of a mess... :B

Lyle
2022 GMC Sierra 3500 HD Denali Crew Cab 4x4 Duramax
B&W OEM Companion & Gooseneck Kit
2017 KZ Durango 1500 D277RLT
1936 John Deere Model A
International Flying Farmers 64 Year Member

sarahm
Explorer
Explorer
Is there anything in the end cap? I was thinking of blowing in insulation.

routemaster
Explorer
Explorer
Hows about blowing insulation though speaker hols?
2017 Landmark Arlington 365
2015 Silverado LTZ 3500 c/c LWB.

aruba5er
Explorer
Explorer
did my rv with refelx ? bubble alum foil and really feel I made a differance. did it in yuma az all the cabinets and the windows in the bedroom. Because of a water leak I had to remove the front cap and SURPRISE' NO, NONE, NADDA insulation between the cap and inside wall. Got plenty in there now. Now if I could just figure how to do the ceiling. There isn't enough to spit at in the ceiling.

goducks10
Explorer
Explorer
Dayle1 wrote:
If you have a standard RV refrigerator, the cabinet may benefit from insulation. Frequently this cabinet is just 1/8 inch plywood with little or no insulation and with upper and lower vents to the outside, temps on the backside of the cabinet are pretty close to outside air temp. I discovered this problem since the thermostat was located on the cabinet wall and it would never function properly.

Anyway, I pulled the refer out of the cabinet, found the factory insulation that was visible from the backside was just a couple of strips about 8 inches wide and 2 ft. long, totally ineffective.

I used 3/4 inch rigid foam board and was able to install a double thickness, first one set inside the framing and second one completely covering the framing. Also did the underside and back of the cabinet above the refer. This fixed the problem with the thermostat.

If I were lining the inside of other cabinets, I would use rigid foam board and NOT reflectix. Foam board does not require a dead air space and it works for both heat and cold. Refltixec is not really an insulation, but a mirror for IR rays. So it has limited benefit after dark and being metallic it is actually very conductive thermally. Attach it to a cold wall and it will still conduct heat from inside the RV to the outside.

Reflectix was designed to use in outer space where there is no atmosphere. But here it has limited value without a dead air space. You won't find it used in residential home construction. The RV industry uses it because it is cheap, light and they can claim and 'effective R value' even when they install it incorrectly.

Just my $0.02


Actually you will find it in home construction.
https://www.reflectixinc.com/wp-content/uploads/F1CN-Solutions-for-the-Homeowner-Canadian-Rev-0416.p...

You do need an air space. The RV industry uses it with no air space so it's virtually useless. They can tout high R values by installing it wrong.

Dayle1
Explorer II
Explorer II
If you have a standard RV refrigerator, the cabinet may benefit from insulation. Frequently this cabinet is just 1/8 inch plywood with little or no insulation and with upper and lower vents to the outside, temps on the backside of the cabinet are pretty close to outside air temp. I discovered this problem since the thermostat was located on the cabinet wall and it would never function properly.

Anyway, I pulled the refer out of the cabinet, found the factory insulation that was visible from the backside was just a couple of strips about 8 inches wide and 2 ft. long, totally ineffective.

I used 3/4 inch rigid foam board and was able to install a double thickness, first one set inside the framing and second one completely covering the framing. Also did the underside and back of the cabinet above the refer. This fixed the problem with the thermostat.

If I were lining the inside of other cabinets, I would use rigid foam board and NOT reflectix. Foam board does not require a dead air space and it works for both heat and cold. Reflectix is not really an insulation, but a mirror for IR rays. So it has limited benefit after dark and being metallic it is actually very conductive thermally. Attach it to a cold wall and it will still conduct heat from inside the RV to the outside.

Reflectix was designed to use in outer space where there is no atmosphere. But here it has limited value without a dead air space. You won't find it used in residential home construction. The RV industry uses it because it is cheap, light and they can claim and 'effective R value' even when they install it incorrectly.

Just my $0.02
Larry Day
Texas Baptist Men-Retiree Builders since '01
'13 Silverado 3500HD LT 2wd CCSB SRW, custom RKI bed
'19 Starcraft Telluride 292RLS
Rig Photos

Durhamcutter
Explorer
Explorer
Do you have to create a air space between the wall and the material? if so how did you do that.?

cpaulsen
Explorer
Explorer
I have done 2 5vers with Reflectix inside the cabinets and my front pass thru storage...made a big difference.
cpaulsen