Are Some Buses Already Insulated?

[brokedown-SKO]

I started my short bus in 8 degree weather once. The glow light was on for a LONG time. I actually made a video of it at 20 degrees.

Remember that in cold weather your batteries lose their strength, so you've got a vehicle that's harder to start combined with a battery that's not giving you its A game.

 

[Trail Fairy]

This is all REALLY great information!! You are all so helpful! TY!

 

[Skunky Bus]

Here you can see a piece of the cheap insulation typically found in a bus. Also see the first one of my babies to check out her new home away from home.

Aww, that cat's adorable! IMO "Home without animals" is a contradiction in terms.

 

[CDennis]

To answer your question about if busses are insulated. No, they are not insulated very well. It would pay to gut the bus and insulated it. When I gutted my bus, there were gaps where there was no insulation. When they build school busses they just throw a little bit of insulation in the area between the ribs and most of the time it doesn't even reach from rib to rib. But they can claim it's insulated if there is insulation in it. If you are in the northern area, you really need to insulate it.

 

[milkmania]

My bus is technically insulated in the ceiling from the factory ...
I’d say 1” of insulation has the same R-Value as a nest of spiders

2nd. picture, June 15th @ 5:30pm

 

[Hammerhead-SKO]

If you fill the gap between your roof and ceiling with spray foam and bolt the metal back to the ribs, you've wasted a lot of money. The ribs were how the ceiling was getting hot before and will be how they're getting hot after. You need a thermal break to separate the roof from the ceiling, just stuffing foam in between doesn't do much.[/QUOTE]

You sound like you may be a builder or in the construction trade. I, being a BUILDER, have read lots of info about thermal breaks in house construction. Makes sense to me.

 

[Twigg-SKO]

Yes, some buses are very well insulated from the factory.

Usually, they are special-purpose buses. Typically, Bloodmobiles, BookMobiles and Wanderlodges came with spray foam or an equivalent.

Many of them have spray foam that was applied to the underside of the body before it was attached to the frame.

 

[milkmania]

Mine was purpose built as an ambulance and is very poorly insulated...
but, that being said... it would not be for continued long term use and it was built with an additional Mitsubishi L3e Diesel engine running two separate R-12 a/c compressors and ported ductwork running length of bus on both sides.

I’m sure during its early years of operation, it had absolutely no problem circumventing any heat infiltration... Very beefy construction, which means deep pockets to restore! (Plus R-12 system)But hey, it was for the Air Force!

 

[ddcam]

Can you explain a walkin cooler or refridge then please??

 

[brokedown-SKO]

That pony setup is sexy.

 

[capnron-SKO]

Hi!
Got my school bus from a large school bus company in southeastern Wisconsin. When we tap on the walls and ceiling, they don't sound hollow? (Without ripping them apart to find out due to time restraints). Do buses in the northern states already come slightly insulated? (In our school district we still have outdoor recess at school unless temps drop below freezing. I believe school is cancelled at -20F with wind chill. So kids are standing at bus stops in really cold weather.)
Thanks!

I spent 3 years on the road in a touring rock band in Ontario Canada in temperatures from -30 F to +90 F. Our skoolie had bunks and only marginal insulation but we made out fine. The biggest heat loss factor in a skoolie is the windows. You can insulate everything else to the max, but if you don't have a way of insulating windows you are missing the biggest source of heat loss on a bus.

 

[Shawna-SKO]

Insulation

I've weathered THREE Montana winters with only 1" added insulation on the walls.

~~~What do you do in the hot summers to keep your self and 2 lap dogs cool?****I don't have A/C dang it!

 

[Brewerbob]

Many of them have spray foam that was applied to the underside of the body before it was attached to the frame.

That would have been an excellent find. Oh well.

I spent 3 years on the road in a touring rock band in Ontario Canada in temperatures from -30 F to +90 F.

90F isn't bad as long as it's also <40% humidity. The SE US is known for equal temps and humidity. I do NOT want to try that in a skoolie; insulated or otherwise. A motorcoach with the AC system would be fine but only until I leave the area. I'm too old for that any more (FL native).

~~~What do you do in the hot summers to keep your self and 2 lap dogs cool?****I don't have A/C dang it!

Go gator fishing. While swimming the dogs will entertain the alligators.


P.S. Dogs should be ground dwellers. They don't belong on couches or laps.
P.S.S. I'm not having much luck convincing my gf of that with her dogs either.

 

[siloguy]

I have seen a few different types of buses as I have driven a few years for a local public school. Most of them up here in MI seem to have the insulation looking stuff between a sheet steel top and a perforated steel ceiling. I think it is just there for sound deadening as those buses soak up most chatter as it seems to go through the perforated ceiling and get muffled, like the old glass pack mufflers. I have driven a couple buses that have a sheet steel ceiling without the perforations and they carry sound so well, you can hear what kids are saying in the back seat, which often is TMI. It is not needed to keep kids warm in the winter as the buses have massive overkill designed into the heater cores and even on -20F days, you can't run at max heat all the time if the heaters are clean and not plugged up from dust and hair and candy wrappers. Kids nowadays are likely to get on the bus wearing shorts and flip flops in the dead of winter, so I usually kept the bus in the 60s to 70s inside with no problems except everyone's glasses fogging up when they got on. And even with the white roofs, they get terribly hot inside those last few weeks of school before summer break.

 

[Skunky Bus]

I have seen a few different types of buses as I have buses have massive overkill designed into the heater cores and even on -20F days, you can't run at max heat all the time if the heaters are clean and not plugged up ...
... And even with the white roofs, they get terribly hot inside those last few weeks of school before summer break.

Much agreed! The company I work for has propane powered Blue Birds and diesel Internationals (all conventional). Even in the diesels, which take much longer to warm up, once at operating temperature, the heaters feel like they'll melt your shoes.

As for summer, the only relief is to open up all the windows; at best it's like being in the shade.

 

[Shawna-SKO]

That would have been an excellent find. Oh well.


90F isn't bad as long as it's also <40% humidity. The SE US is known for equal temps and humidity. I do NOT want to try that in a skoolie; insulated or otherwise. A motorcoach with the AC system would be fine but only until I leave the area. I'm too old for that any more (FL native).


Go gator fishing. While swimming the dogs will entertain the alligators.


P.S. Dogs should be ground dwellers. They don't belong on couches or laps.
P.S.S. I'm not having much luck convincing my gf of that with her dogs either.

Well I was kind of thinking that you had to be spiritually evolved to understand the concept of a lap dog and the purpose that they fulfill here on Earth. Apparently your girlfriend is evolved this website is not intended to say mean things to people about their dogs. my dogs are my family. They are not alligator bait.

 

[Brewerbob]

my dogs are my family. They are not alligator bait.

Some of my family would make good gator bait too. Tho that would be cruel to the gator. I like my fish; he's the least trouble of them all. Doesn't want to go for a walk, only peed on the carpet once and that's because the cat scared him, doesn't jump on my lap, doesn't shed on the couch, He's a good fish.

 

[Cheddarhead]

Insulating over the metal skin...Good Idea or Bad?

Back on-topic....

Other than the obvious consideration of losing precious space within the confines of the bus...is there any other factor(s) that would make it unacceptable to simply frame out new walls to insulate the sides of a typical bus?

Would it be advisable to have a vapor barrier up against the steel inner wall surfaces to retard moisture (condensation) from forming and thereby prevent mold etc? I'm thinking that a self-stick membrane could be installed up to the windows and down to where it overlaps the floor, providing a barrier film with few protrusions (Wiring, mostly) that could in turn be sealed.

Still figuring that I'll need / want to insulate the ceiling...

Also figuring that I'll be removing the factory flooring, filling (weld and / or foam) holes in the floor, repairing any surface rust, etc...then installing a similar barrier layer under rigid foam insulation and a plywood sub-floor.

Opinions on this?

 

[Whatthefak]

I found my bus has nice fluffy white stuff, not fiberglass more like poly pillow stuffing. It's all pretty clean and nice.

Any thoughts on laying one inch foam board over the top? It seems to work well the roof skin is hot the stuffing is not

 

[Davard]

Any thoughts on laying one inch foam board over the top? It seems to work well the roof skin is hot the stuffing is not

Foam board is meant to go inside a wall, not outside, and wouldn't be terribly durable. But you are on the right track.

While I don't have a bus... I have a Uhaul converted to a race car hauler that never quite made it to an RV/toyhauler (so it's kind of similar). But the aluminum roof would hit 140F+ on the inside on a 85F day. Foam blocks (or spray foam) and an inner roof just create a heat sandwich, but applying an elastomeric coating on the outside (I used Koolseal) reduced the inside skin temp to ~ambient air temp. It will scrape off on low hanging trees, but it is still there many years later (installed 2009) sitting in the sun and through many winters, as seen in the image from Google below.