SkiFreak
Crazy Person
Not something that we normally have to consider, so most don't.
Here it's more about how well the insulation works when its' hot.
Mitsu Fuso Camper examples
- Thread starter haven
- Start date
Here it's more about how well the insulation works when its' hot.
Ferjablito
Active member
That's what I feared; it's not a good solution for traveling in cold climates.
Insulation is insulation. There is no such thing as insulation for cold weather and insulation for hot weather. The issues most Aussies won't run into is dealing with frozen pipes, installing tank heaters, condensate in air lines due to cold, etc. If you live in a cold climate, your engine is not subject to overheating as it would be in the hot, dry deserts of the Outback.
In the States, R-value is something like resistance to thermal transfer in BTU/hr, per square foot of wall, floor or ceiling area, per inch of thickness. In metric it's something like Watts/meter/Kelvin for each mm of thickness.
If it's 40*F and you want your camper 80*F, that is the same as you wanting your camper 70*F and it being 110*F outside. There is a 40*F temperature delta. The insulation does not "know" hot or cold. There is simply a resistance to thermal transfer in the product.
Add as much insulation as you can afford (dollars and wall thickness), minimise the size of the HVAC. Large units are heavy, expensive and suck lots of power or diesel fuel. Minimise window area, especially if they are plastic or single pane.
Reflectix and many other products marketed to van lifers and travellers simply do nothing but empty wallets. Even if a thermal break exists, it's so small that it may as well not be there at all. The resistance to thermal transfer offered by a 2-3mm thick sheet of foam with some aluminium foil on it, is laughable. Build it right or don't do it at all. This holds true whether you are building for 40*C in Oz or 0*F in Colorado and Utah.
In the States, R-value is something like resistance to thermal transfer in BTU/hr, per square foot of wall, floor or ceiling area, per inch of thickness. In metric it's something like Watts/meter/Kelvin for each mm of thickness.
If it's 40*F and you want your camper 80*F, that is the same as you wanting your camper 70*F and it being 110*F outside. There is a 40*F temperature delta. The insulation does not "know" hot or cold. There is simply a resistance to thermal transfer in the product.
Add as much insulation as you can afford (dollars and wall thickness), minimise the size of the HVAC. Large units are heavy, expensive and suck lots of power or diesel fuel. Minimise window area, especially if they are plastic or single pane.
Reflectix and many other products marketed to van lifers and travellers simply do nothing but empty wallets. Even if a thermal break exists, it's so small that it may as well not be there at all. The resistance to thermal transfer offered by a 2-3mm thick sheet of foam with some aluminium foil on it, is laughable. Build it right or don't do it at all. This holds true whether you are building for 40*C in Oz or 0*F in Colorado and Utah.
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