Extra insulation in a Northstar/Texson T1000

[kerry]

Bought two 24"x25' rolls of the foil faced thin foam insulation at HD for about $22 apiece. One piece stayed original length, it goes inside the pop-up portion against the canvas and behind the raising bars. I feed it down each side from the back. So it extends from the front of the raising bar on one side, around the back and forward to the front of the raising bar on the other. Cut the other piece at about 18'. It tucks behind the raising bar on one side, goes up front, across the canvas at the end of the bed and back down the other side to tuck behind the other raising bar. Takes about 3-5 minutes to install both sections.
Camped last night in temperatures that got to about 25 degrees. While I have no quantitative data, I think it made a significant difference. Had the furnace set at about 50 degrees and it only came on twice during the night.
When I remove the foil/foam, I fold each piece into a pile equal to the length of the mattress and store them under the mattress.
Looks like an inexpensive and effective improvement to cold weather camping.
Also, with foil all around the inside in place of the canvas, it's really bright at night with the lights on
Got the idea after seeing a somewhat similar system described on here and and used in a pop up trailer. I've used this foil/foam stuff behind the hot water radiators in my house to reflect the heat into the room.

 

[pods8]

Reflectix is the brand name of the stuff you are talking about by the way.

 

[Northern Explorer]

I have a similar project in mind this spring.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Its a very popular mod with pop-up trailers, we also use it under the mattress in our pop-up trailer.

 

[kerry]

Yes, here's their website:
http://www.reflectixinc.com/

I used the stuff without the staple edge. 24" was just the perfect width for the Northstar. It stays in place almost everwhere without any modifications. Only across the front of the bed does it have a tendency to drop down.

 

[Regcabguy]

My wife bought us a couple of 5'X7' Space Blankets years ago. They'd been sitting in the original bags all these years. She gets cold sleeping against the canvas so we folded the blanket lengthwise and she sewed it up. I epoxy'd strips of Velcro on the upper metal horizonal section in numerous places. The wife sewed the corresponding material onto the SB. It fits perfectly. Now we'll test it out in DV next month. Thanks for the HD idea! The popups do get cold,but the furnace wakes me up,so I don't use it much.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Northstar has a snap up insulation kit you can buy from the factory( i think it runs $400) and can be installed anytime the only down falls are that the pop top windows are blocked and it needs to be taken down(does not take long, just a small pain) before the top can be closed. Just an idea.