Insulation options?

[wandererr]

I'm kinda fighting with myself trying to decide whether to insulate or not the trailer. The build is going to be a 8'W 10'L 6'H trailer. Looking to have the wals buit from .688 pine plywood. What are my options/choices in that area if I don't want to add too much weight?

 

[smlobx]

You could use styrofoam panels.
They have an R rating of about 5 per inch and you can easily find them ranging in thickness from 1/2 to 2 inches. You can use a good adhesive to glue them into place.

 

[wandererr]

I was thinking about that and am altogether on the fence regarding insulation. My original plan was to use the .688 panels as a skeleton - cut out openings in it and fit styrofoam into the cutouts and then use thin skin on the inside for finish and something from the outside. Then I started looking at the plywood that I'm looking to use and I'm half tempted to use a resin type finish on the outside (my dad was a shipwright and showed me some resin finished plywood) to protect it against the elements. This made me wonder about how to deal with insulation.... so to put insulation on the inside I'd have to put some sort of thin framing as well so that I could attach skin on top of the styrofoam.... now I'm back to my original dilemma of weight.... maybe I will just forget wall insulation and put insulation on the ceiling? That's going to be the biggest problem probably for me... not planning any extremely cold trips... issue would mainly be the trailer getting hot from the sun (SoCal). Should we end up in Death Valley on a hot day (went once in April and it was 117 - record breaking year....) I don't think wall insulation would make any difference as the air all around was just crazy hot making insulation in a trailer useless without any AC....

 

[FMF]

I used foam on mine. It was easy to work with and turned out very well so far.

 

[Haf-E]

insulate the ceiling at a minimum - otherwise it will be like sitting in a toaster oven. Doing the sides also helps since the sun is lower in the morning and afternoon. You'll want a fan to blow the air in and out to keep cool - but you don't want the sides to radiate heat inside.

0.688 is pretty thick plywood - you must be not using any type of frame then?

 

[wandererr]

Yup - goal is no frame - plywood for structure

 

[IdaSHO]

Wanderer, please do realize the differences between styrofoam and XPS foam.


You do not want styrofoam.

You DO want XPS (extruded polystyrene)