How Much Head Room ?

[Madoxen]

Hey Guys n Girls , I was just wondering what head room in your habitats you are running with ? Now I know it depends how tall you are but If you work out the distance between the top of your head and the inside of the roof what is the minimum Height you feel you could live with ?

I'm 1.8mtrs my partner is 1.85 and we have figured 100mm gap from the tallest person is enough , do you agree or disagree with this would you like more or less above your head.

Also attached to this question is in the master bed what space from the base of the bed ( where the mattress sits to the roof did you feel was good again can be taken from sitting up and space above the head from sitting ? or do u only have lying down space ? .

Thanks All would be great to hear your thoughts

 

[Peter_n_Margaret]

2" (50mm) is plenty I reckon.
Over the bed, it is nice to be able to sit up comfortably. Helps to make the bed too.
Pop tops are a second (not first) choice. Ours is only over the N-S bed (head at the rear), and if necessary for sub zero or very strong wind conditions, we can sleep with it down.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

 

[grizzlyj]

Our previous camper had a cabover with the bed height to not allow sitting up. That roof height carried back meant a massive headroom at the rear.
It had Ikea type bed slats and maybe 100mm of average foam mattress. While we were away my wife decided she couldn't sleep on it any more so we had to change to a normal domestic mattress which was then a bit close to the ceiling.
Current camper (not yet finished) has sitting height in the bed hopefully (1005mm bed floor to ceiling), 1900mm bare floor to ceiling which is a bit bigger than I would have gone with but recommended by a body builder. I have a raised floor area just infront of the bathroom where you would have to stoop if you stayed put but has some plumbing stuff and storage under it and there's no need to stay standing there, it's just access to bathroom and beds. You can sit there to dry off/dress in privacy though. Shower tray raises the floor a bit as I wanted the drains etc inside. So standing height can vary too perhaps?
Less than 1900mm was also an issue for a minimum remaining material left above the access door, too much more cut out and I'm told the sandwich panel may not have been strong enough locally. So available door height slightly dictated ceiling height.
I'm only 5'6"

 

[Madoxen]

Thank you Peter ang Grizzlyj, such a worry u are going to make things too tight when in reality u will mostlikely make it too big lol. The more i give in height is pushing me over the max total height with solar etc on roof. Atm have it up to 3.835 heigh. But if i shrank too 50mm over head i would be on 3.635. But will loose a good space in garage or storage if i keep bed at 1000mm.

 

[nathane]

I'm 1.96m and as a result have had to get used to limited headroom in boats etc over the years. I have gone with 2.0m headroom on the basis that this is enough not to hit my head when I'm standing. My box is self supporting with a base frame that increases its height, and adding underfloor heating and solar on top means we will also be around 3.7m all in on the back of our 1550. Ideally I'd have been lower, but comfort counts enough to mean I'll live with this.

 

[Madoxen]

I guess something else to take into account is Shoes, sounds silly but these can add 25-30mm to your height dropping your 50-40mm head room to 10 or 20mm, but that would be a good way to help enforce a no shoes in the Hab rule

 

[billiebob]

If you work out the distance between the top of your head and the inside of the roof what is the minimum Height you feel you could live with ?

Contrary to popular opinion cuz I've done this for years, I'm 6'0", my minimum is 5'10" and I'm a senior, not some young agile yoga freak. I veiw being inside as losing the battle. Inside is about sleep. abulutions, dressing. Maybe a warm spot to curl up in bad weather or when under the weather. None of those require you to stand up and stretch. Win the battle and go outside for that.


PS if you are 5'6" and invite me into your 5'4" space, very cool, we would get along well.

My cargo/work trailer is 5'8"..... that is a bit uncomfortable.

Conversion to metric

6'0" ...... 1.80M
5'10"..... 1.75M
5'6" ...... 1.65M
5'4" ...... 1.60M

 

[billiebob]

from the base of the bed ( where the mattress sits to the roof did you feel was good

So.... for me, an aged senior first I like the bed 16" off the floor, same as a regular chair, then for headroom, 36" is the minimum, 40" is ideal so you can dress or undress her without pretending we'er teenagers in the back seat.

Again conversion to how the rest of the world thinks

16" ..... 0.400M
36" .... 0.900M
40" .... 1.000M

in Canadian speak where laid back counts

 

[Joe917]

We have a 10" mattress with 38" clear above. plenty of room to sit against a bunch of pillows and watch a movie.
Headroom in the camper is 6-8", less about an inch at the lights, luxury.
I would say a minimum of 2" over the tallest person (don't forget lighting) is comfortable.

 

[Madoxen]

All really good input and advice thanks,

Billiebob, I am not sure That my missus would be happy with me or even go travelling with me if i made the living area 2 inches shorted than she is and she is almost never indoors, but on the occasion that she is she wants to stand tall and not stoop. but do agree with your thoughts on the bed

 

[billiebob]

All really good input and advice thanks,

Billiebob, I am not sure That my missus would be happy with me or even go travelling with me if i made the living area 2 inches shorted than she is and she is almost never indoors, but on the occasion that she is she wants to stand tall and not stoop. but do agree with your thoughts on the bed

Without a doubt, headroom is a personal choice.

On that topic in a house, there are lots of homes sold with vaulted cielings in the bedroom, that to me is ridiculous. A bedroom should be intimate. Vaulted, 2 storey, 10' cielings should be for "great" rooms, kitchens, not intimate spaces.

When deciding on headroom in an RV, the obvious factor should be where will you park it off season. I'd give up a few inches if it meant I could park it indoors.

 

[Iain_U1250]

We have 185cm but with 195cm on the centre section of the roof.

Make sure you have enough height over the bed, unless you just want to use it for sleeping

 

[Neil]

We are 1.95m inside height.

Simple formula.

Garage area that can take a bike + under bed GRP platform + Mattress + wife sitting up in bed drinking tea = 1.95 m

This keeps us under 3.5m externally which was important to us

Neil

 

[Sitec]

This is where doing a scale drawing comes in handy. When I was at the point you are now, trying to picture how high it was all going to be was hard! I had to draw our truck and work out how much room I wanted and where... Attached is a (very rough) sketch of how ours is. With the truck sat level, the top of the chassis rails are at 1.2m high (currently chocked at my ideal finished height). The overall exterior vehicle height is 3.55m (50mm too high in my view, but I didn't factor in the 50mm roof hatches!). We have standing room of 2.1m inside the kitchen/living area. There's then a step up into a 'hall' between the toilet and shower rooms. This area is 1.9m tall (giving me cable and pipe access under both the toilet and shower). There are then two steps up into the sleeping area which is 1.12m high from floor to ceiling. The height of this was dependant on two things... Being able to sit up in bed and read etc, and also having the ability to have two spare wheels mounted vertically at the back of the truck but in under the bed area, keeping the whole truck under 8m in length, whilst retaining a 6m long Hab Box. I think I have it all right. My wife is shorter than me, but I still want decent standing room in the living area, as having been in a few trucks with low ceilings, they felt cramped. To get these heights, I have had to make the base of the Hab Box the subframe for my 4 point mount, and have mount pivot points sunk into the centerline of the chassis. Hope this makes sense.

 

[Iain_U1250]

Can you kneel on your bed at that height Simon? ??