insulation in teardrops

[Jim]

I’d be very reluctant to use a rockwool or glass fibre insulation in a teardrop or a van.
In fact I wouldn't.. but you do as you like.

Those products are ok in a building that doesn’t bump along the road now and then, but vibration could cause it to settle and cause small fibres to break off.

It seems glass fibre insulation may give a better ‘R’ rating for a given thickness than alternatives, but it’s itchy stuff and if any fibres happened to find their way out at some later time you could be in for a scratching good time.

Personally, I long ago got past being willing to even fit it in a ceiling.
Any problem in the walls or roof of a teardrop would be difficult to rectify after its all been put together.

Water resistant foil backed polystyrene panels are another choice or polyester insulation bats or blankets are another.
.
I’d guess polystyrene panels would insulate well but not give any acoustic advantage.
The cutting and fitting would be a fiddle and you would have to glue them in place.

Information here to find out about this product.
www.foilboard.com.au
(Click the Foil Board logo)

So that leaves polyester bats or blankets. These are probably the easiest to work with.
Tear them up, stuff them in, very stable and no itching.

The only downside seems to be that they melt at about 250°C.
They don’t add to the fuel load and if you were still inside at 250°C you’d be burnt toast anyway.

Information here..
www.solartex.com.au/view_article.asp?id=14&cat=4

Tontine make a 50mm blanket that would be ok, it will compress quite readily.
But where to buy it could be a problem as it’s more an industrial product
Info here..
www.tontinefibres.com.au/Data-Sheets/Insuloft-building-blanket.asp

Or you could simply buy 90mm polyester bats and split them down the centre. It wouldn’t be too big a job with a decent pair of scissors for the amount needed.

About $40.00 will buy enough polyester bats from Bunnings to do a couple of teardrops and still have some left over.

[61dodge]

Some good points there Jim, Polyester is good stuff. But the bats I have got info on won't settle to the bottom of the cavity like a normal fiber glass bat. They are quite stiff and rigid. Likewise the fibers in the current bats are no where as itchy as years gone by. I am a plasterer and use bats of various brands in timber frame walls and have lost count of how many hundred square meters of ceilings I have spread. Only a few years back it was indeed evil stuff and itched like blazes, it is far better now.
Dave.

[veedubnut]

Some interesting points there...

I was considering using a spray in expanding foam... I know they did or still do use it in modern caravans of the late 70's onwards.

This I thought would be very stable, lightweight and would add to the rigidity of the Teardrops frame. Most importantly (for me atleast) lightweight.

Do you think this would offer some insulation to the outside elements?

Cheers

Greg

[61dodge]

If you are meaning expanda foam or space invader type aerosol spray, I would not. I have seen that stuff grow WAY to big for the space it was put into and pop the gyprock clear off the wall. An owner tried to patch the hole left by removing a power point in a bathroom. It pushed the sheet out and quite a few tiles were broken and fell off. What should have been a 10 minute patch turned into a 3 day strip and replace job. Whoops
I used it once in the bottom of a rusty door in a Datsun. Carved off the excess and painted the whole thing flat black. Worked great. Then went on to do the sills and rear quarters also .
That stuff is to be used with extreme caution. Especially if the walls around it are not completely solid.
I have no idea if it has any insulation properties.

[Jim]

Like Lazarus and (the coulda been possible) Jeff Kennett I’ll raise this thread from the dead again to add some different possibilities about insulation in vans.

Here are some pictures of different insulation being used on rebuild vans and a new homebuilt teardrop.

The first and second pictures are rigid fibre insulation bats between foil, cut to fit openings in the frame.

The third is a blanket roll of what looks like polyester fibre between foil.

The forth is rigid polystyrene panels with kerfs cut into the outer surface so that it fits around the curve on the teardrop inner lining.

It would seem there’s no one particular answer as to what to use, it’s what you are comfortable using.

One thing I did glean from insulation people is that an air gap between the insulation and the outer panel works better than no gap at all, even if the gap is only 5mm.

By the way.. The aluminium panelling in the first picture is 0.9mm aluminium bonded to 5mm ply.