Woodstove and insulation ?'s

[opus]

Originally Posted by Smitty

stacking straw around the bus would help, but I would be concerned about a fire, not to mention rodents.

Smitty

I dare you to try to light a bale of straw on fire.
The rodent thing would surely be an issue though.

[opus]

Originally Posted by Smitty

Straw will most certainly burn, however when compressed into a bale it's like trying to burn a book. Bales come apart when exposed to the elements, and it's still not something I'd want against my bus (or house).

Smitty

I know, I was just getting technical.

[RevBill]

Originally Posted by blissdragon

If I'm having my hand in it, I'd like to use natural materials. If its possible to use natural materials, in integrity, I'm gonna try.
And of course, all kinds of plastic, chemicals and other synthetic materials go into making a bus function.
The way I see it, there's no need to go "whole hog" on the environmental exploitation. Just doing my best to feel joyful in this life! There's no "right" or "wrong" in it.

Thank You!

.. since your bus is already build it would be tough to re-insulate anyway .. unless you are willing to rip her open and re-build .. BUT .. using cellulose insulation (Johns Manville manuf. a recycled "Green" cellulose brand) you might be able to swing a way to use "Blown" insulation by drilling some access holes .. it's messy .. but done right you will only have to add to it every couple of years as the cellulose "settles", especially as it will be vibrated as you travel .. but it is do-able .. fair warning though, it's a "bit" (understatement) more costly to go that route ..

.. also .. I like the wind-shield idea about using hay bales, however, being in the "shadow footprint" will probably cause you some grief with trying to stay warm, especially since you will be dealing with a lot of condensation issues from those wet bails (wet bails are a bad thing .. heat generated comes from composting and could be a fire hazard, and the evaporating moisture I already mentioned .. "dry bales insulate, wet bales evaporate" .. what would be kewl (not cool - pun intended) would be to build a rather inexpensive hay-bale "barn" for your bus that would actually help hold in the radiant heat off you bus and keep a warmer "envelope" of air around you .. now that might be pretty slick and you could document the build/process and get published .. or get some free labor/materials to let someone else do so ..

.. just some thoughts .. but I do like you thinking ..

[Seeria]

Can't help you much with the blanket insulation and what not but do want to say

Buy de-icer sprays. The ice storms we got caught in while in MO left inches of ice over doors. Got trapped in there for 24 hours once. Haven't tried using the de-icer sprays from inside but that's what they used outside to get us out. weee fun

[lornaschinske]

Originally Posted by RevBill

If I were going to drill holes in my bus skin, I would drill them (from the inside of course) and use spray foam. Sorry but, for a mobile situation, a synthetic insulation is far more practical since most, not all, "natural" insulators tend to rely on the mass of the item for a great deal of it's insulating value. Basically it's measuring R-value by the inch compared to R-Value by the foot. The loose fill insulation will settle down and be almost worthless as soon as you start traveling (look at box of cereal... it started out full). By using a good synthetic insulation you can decrease the amount of the "natural" material you will be using for heat. Using one of those tarp type "carports" could help keep you warmer. you would need to vent the wood smoke & other fumes outside but it would break the wind and you could stack the hay bales against that... They do make them large enough for big buses. BTW, yes bales of hay will catch on fire... we saw a whole hay pile of them on fire not to long ago when we were heading up to Albuquerque. I guess they didn't stack their bales right and the bales overheated... I'm from a farming community but that was the first one I had ever seen actually catch fire... usually a "hot stack" was caught before it went up in flames.

[Seeria]

About the hay bales--Could always buy a few of those treated straw bales they use for building strawbale houses.

[Lady Chicory]

I live in Lucan Ontario, (the place in the news right now for setting snow records). Temperatures here can reach as low as -40 c. It is common locally for people to have issues with frozen pipes. Water pipes that get frozen usually split open and need replacing. If you have access to hydro, grab pipe warmers. They wrap around your pipes and plug in to hydro keeping a low warmth on your pipes to prevent freezing. They will not be enough alone you will definitely need some insulation, and some form of vented in heat once the area is closed off. Do you plan to do this regularly? If so consider building some forms backed with insulation that can be stored when you are not on site, this might save time and money in the long run.
Please let us know how things work out. I plan eventually to live full time in my bus on the west coast of Vancouver Island so I will be facing your same issues in the future.

[Stuff]

best bales are flax bales. hard as hell to burn!

and yes the gap is the worst! I framed my TT with 2x2's and 2" of foam insulation. WORLD of difference. I would love a wood stove but once again, GF says no... so I use radiant heaters. Works very well! Also use self regulating heat tapes and insulation over that on any outside exposed plumbing. fresh, grey and black lines!