Insulation and Winter Living (Part 1)

     Hey everyone, my name is Lee or, if you will, Molly's better half.  I’m only kidding.  I wanted to take this opportunity to bring everyone up to speed on our current situation and talk a little bit about the challenges we’ve faced keeping warm and the solutions we’ve tried to accomplish this.  We've now lived in our Airstream (AS) for about eight months.  Molly and I have officially finished graduate school and are both employed in the greater Salt Lake City area.

     Before I talk start talking about our current situation, I’d like to create some context.  So let's go back in time to last March when we Molly and I were both living in the coastal village of York, Maine.  We had just gutted "Lucy", that's our AS’s name, and after purchasing our tow vehicle (2004 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Turbo Diesel), we hauled her from Molly's parents' place in Cornville, Maine to York where we were both living during our second to last semesters in school.  

     One of the first things we realized we had to do after gutting was to install all new insulation in the old lady.  After all, for this to be a financially viable adventure, we knew we had to live in it approximately 90% rent free for two years and both of us being avid skiers, we knew we had to live close to a ski mountain, which undoubtedly would mean that we'd be experiencing temperatures below freezing or colder.  

The insulation was hard to use and would cut you if not careful.

     Before choosing which insulation to replace the old, pink, mouse feces and urine infested, fiberglass insulation with, we spent much time deliberating our options: polyiso (aka foam board), Reflex (basically foiled faced and backed bubble wrap), spray-in close cell foam, or back to some form of soft fiberglass or mineral wool. We decided that since polyisocyanurate or, as it's commonly called, polyiso, PIR, or simply ISO, had the best R-value, that it would be our best bet. The stuff we picked was 1" thick and foil faced and backed. We felt that this would provide us with the external heat reflectivity we would be wanting in the summer and the internal heat retention we'd be wanting throughout the winters.  

     After arriving in Utah, we spent several weeks boondocking on some public land at the Grantsville Reservoir, which, as you guessed it, is just a stones throw away from the tiny town of Grantsville, Utah.  When we arrived, it was nearing the end of spring.  While at the reservoir we were parked in a spot that left us completely exposed and soon the temperatures outside reached 90+ degrees during the day.  However, we were soon happy to realize that, indeed, the polyiso provided the thermal protection against the direct sunlight that we were hoping.  Some people claim that polished airstreams can reflect even more heat, but that is last on our list of priorities at the moment.  By the end of the summer, we had learned that Lucy was always approximately 5 or more degrees cooler inside than the ambient temperature outside.  In full disclosure, these internal temps were with the majority of the windows open and our fore and aft fantastic vents open but NOT on.  

     We soon grew tired of boondocking full-time and after a few, long, difficult weeks parked at the reservoir, Molly was able to secure us some temporary accommodations after meeting a very friendly local at an endurance horseback riding workshop she attended on a whim.  The agreement was that we'd pay $75 and provide 10 hours of help around the farm every month.  In return, we'd have a shaded spot to park Lucy for the summer and access to their water supply.  At the end of the summer we were given permission to stay as long as we wanted, which has been an amazing experience (more to come on the subject of community later).  

     Let me get back to the insulation situation.  Once the cooler temperatures of fall returned we were able to stay very comfortable inside Lucy even on the cooler nights. Then, it got colder and this is where the climate control situation shifted.  After we could no longer bear the colder temps at night, our first notion was to go with a heating solution that utilized what resources we were already using in the AS, e.g. propane.  After looking around and doing a bit of research, we decided to give the Mr. Heater Big Buddy a try. After all, it was advertised to be completely safe to use in enclosed areas. 

     

     We knew that burning propane would produce some moisture, but felt that it might have actually been a relief after a dry summer and the fact that my skin tends to get extremely dry and itchy in the winter anyway.  So, we went with it, and until it got even colder, i.e. below freezing, the heater was able to keep us somewhat warm, but not comfortable.  After using disposable 1lb. bottles for a while we were able to figure out how to directly connect it to our low-pressure propane line that ran all of our other propane accessories, e.g. water heater and stove. (If you would like to know more about this procedure just message below and I'll be happy to do a detailed post on this since there was some problem solving involved).

Winter home parked in the sunny pasture.

     Needless to say, it wasn't long before the condensation, moisture, and cold got to be too much for the Big Buddy to keep up and although the Big Buddy claims to be pretty safe for enclosed use, on more than one occasion we were awoken by the chirping of our carbon monoxide detector (yes we had small openings for airflow), which was more than enough to motivate us to start looking for yet another way to stay warm.  First, a little side note, on sunny days, parked out in the open, and with most of the windows shut, it actually stays quite cozy even during cold days.  For example, if we leave for work in the morning and it is sunny that day and with external temps ranging from the teens to mid 30s, internally it's not unusual for it to be somewhere between 80 and 90+ degrees in the trailer, which our animals LOVE!

Great view of the Wasatch from Lucy's current resting spot.      

 
     So, after too many nights of being woke up by condensation dripping onto our faces, we decided that something must be done.  What was the answer to all of our wintertime climate control woes, a wood stove of course! 

     

     After looking around and deciding that we were sick and tired of being disappointed by our failed attempts at staying warm, Molly decided on the Summers Heat SVL17 wood stove, guaranteed to heat up to a 1,200 sqft. space.  Given that Lucy is approximately 240 sqft., we figured that we'd have no problem staying nice and toasty aaaaaaaaaand we've been happy ever since!  

Joey approves of the best addition to Lucy yet!

     Before we end, I want to give a bit more information about how we're staying warm and dry(ish).  Even after adding the stove, we were still getting some condensation inside the AS.  At this point we are seriously hoping that it is just residual moisture from running the Big Buddy for so long.  If you are attempting or want to attempt staying in an AS throughout the colder months, you may find yourself perplexed at some of the signs that moisture is getting into your trailer.  Some other things I’ve noticed since winter arrived have been that it is imperative to insulate in all areas where there may be some intense differences between the inside and outside temperatures.  The places where I have observed this being the biggest problem is in the front behind our bed where our 12v system is and the wheel wells.  In the front there is a vent that was incorporated into the original design to provide fresh air circulation to keep the electrical system cool.  To allow for some airflow but to provide a barrier between the two temperature extremes, I have inserted fiberglass insulation into the opening and gap behind it.  This has helped keep the condensation in this area down.  Around the wheel wells I installed more rigid insulation and covered them with plywood boxes (pictures to come) and again this seems to have helped decrease the condensation in these areas.

     There you have it.  After much trial and error, the Summers Heat SVL17 wood stove has been the only thing that has been able to keep us warm and mostly dry inside the trailer.  It's been a great addition and I can highly recommend this product (I will soon have another post on the installation and setup of the stove).  Now that everyone is up to speed on our current situation, I will begin doing detailed posts on some of the improvements that we've made to Lucy since arriving in Utah.  

Thanks for reading, -Lee