Insulation

The insulation for the truck is necessary for maintaining a comfortable and habitable temperature within the camper itself. Space and safety considerations are extremely necessary as certain insulation types are more suitable in this context than others. The already small volume of the camper does not allow the luxuries of thick insulation in order to maximize living space.

Ideas:

Remove the truck bed liner and spray foam the camper shell and truck
--Adhesion of the foam would be permanent.
--Delamination would not be an issue.
--To remove, the foam can be scraped off all surfaces. The camper shell is made of fiberglass and coated for    sharps hazard safety, which means the shell is not a smooth surface, rather rough and non-uniform in              texture.
--Permanent adhesion to the truck frame and shell is not desired.
--Spray foam is very porous and flaky, which can be damaged easily and would require paneling/sheathing      for protection.
--Spray foam's insulating value is approximated R-5 to R-6 per inch (Wikipedia) (note: look for other              sources)


Fiberglass Batt insulation
--Made of fiberglass = batt insulation would be difficult to work with in terms of safety. Proper PPE                (Personal Protective Equipment) such as long sleeves, gloves, eye protection, safety (face) mask, and a hat    should be worn to prevent improper/unhealthy exposure to fiberglass in an enclosed space.
--Batt insulation is required to be sealed against human contact to prevent health risk. In residential                  construction, this is most often accomplished with the drywall installation.
--A quick Home Depot search returns R values estimating 3-4
--Undesirable to work with on a personal level


Foam Board insulation
--Average R-5 to R-6 per inch for common foam board insulation
--Safe for human contact and exposure without PPE
--Easy to work with: shape, adhere, move, transport, etc
--Easily damaged - must be sheathed/paneled to protect boards
--Reflective coating reflects thermal energy back into the open space. In other words, the space will maintain heat a bit better.
--Could allow condensation build-up
--Not necessarily "waterproof", but surfaces are "wax coated" and mildew is unlikely to grow on these boards. Waterproofing might be necessary depending on design and further research.


Insulating the Bottom of the truck
Ideas:

Cut out the base of the liner to install rigid foam insulation
--requires sheathing/paneling to protect the boards from damage
--If including a reflective barrier, an air gap would be necessary for the sheathing/paneling. No current working ideas for ways to float the floor to maintain the required structural strength (to be a floor) while maintaining insulation integrity. NO gaps


Layers!
Cut out the base of the liner, leave the wheel wells attached. In the shape of the cutout, replace with the following layers from base of bed and up:
corrugated plastic sheet (provides easy removal without damaging the foam, provides slight air gap between truck and foam to increase insulation by trapping air and reducing conduction)
furring strips (or slats) spaced out across plastic
reflective rigid foam insulation filling in the gap between furring strips
(furring strips must be taller than insulation boards for necessary air gap and prevent compression of foam board upon applied load)
spray foam seam between filler boards and furring strips, trim [spray foam] as necessary.
1/4 inch plywood on top, or some sort of structural flooring

considerations:

• bathtub floor requires waterproof surface
• whole panel can be divided into 2-3 large sections for easy installation/remove if necessary. Depending on design, individual sections may need to be watertight.
• cover the whole panel (all layers together) in a plastic sheet to prevent water damage/penetration.
• (Sectioned shower only) A waterproof layer (plastic/shower curtain) or vapor barrier shields layered panel contacting shower section, running along underneath shower panels

Prototype so far
Rigid foam boards were chosen to insulate the camper. The space has been divided into the following panels:
-Camper shell (Completely insulated)
--Ceiling
--Front wall and window cutout
--Side walls and respective window cutouts
--Back window with cutouts for locking mechanism
-Truck bed (Not completely insulated)
--Sidewalls (between liner and truck frame)
--Front wall (between liner and truck frame, interfacing with passenger cab)
--Tailgate (mobile panel split in two, inside camper, against liner)

Un-insulated:
-Truck floor
-Wheel wells

Prototype Testimonies
-Sitting in the sun for weeks, the cab can be unbearable. However, open the tailgate and stick your head in immediately - the place might feel cozy. The temperature within the camper was actually very comfortable. As a metric, a car that had been parked for one hour with the sunshade up in the middle of the afternoon feels stifling upon entry.
-A quick test one afternoon with an ambient thermometer showed a ten degree decrease in temperature inside the camper compared to the outside reading.

For full entry, please reference Field Test Notes.
Upon testing the camper in cold weather as insulated above ("Prototype so far"), the camper insulated pretty well in the cold to a comfortable temperature. A draft seemed to pass through the camper, traveling out the floor of the truck, and similarly out holes within the insulation at the corners of the truck. Since thermal energy is transferred from hot to cold, heat was essentially leaving the camper through the uninsulated floor. The temporary blankets, carpet, and sleeping bags did not do well for insulating the space.