Reasons to improve the insulation under your static caravan
- Save money on heating your static caravan
- Increase the comfort of your static caravan
- Reduces the risk of rodents nesting
- Helps protect your floor
- Insulate your caravan for around £200
You can greatly improve the comfort of your static caravan by improving the under floor insulation. There are a number of companies that will install additional insulation under your static caravan. However, it’s possible to do the work yourself as you can purchase either the solid insulation boards or the ‘bubble wrap’ style insulation from many online DIY stores.
Attaching the insulation is pretty straight forward as a heavy duty staple gun can be used to attach the insulation material to the underside of your static caravan.
Measuring up your static caravan to see how much insulation you will need.
The insulation can be purchased by the roll e.g. Thermawrap Loft Insulation can be purchased in a 7.5m and is a width of 60cm.
To work out roughly how much you need you can measure the length and depth of your caravan to calculate the area. Alternatively you can measure the length of the caravan to work out how many rolls it will take to do one run the length of the caravan.
You can then measure the width of the caravan. Assuming each roll width covers half a metre (including overlap) then you can take the width in metre and double it to see how many runs you need.
Here is an example based on a 28ft x 12ft caravan
- 24ft = (24 x 0.305) = 7.32 (round up to 7.5m)
- 12ft = (12x 0.305) = 3.66 (round up to 4)
Each roll cover is 7.5m so will do one run of the caravan and each roll is 0.6 (0.5 including overlap) meaning that it will take 8 runs. In this case it will take 8 rolls of the Thermawrap loft insulation. At £25 a roll it will cost £200 plus the staples etc.
Preparation
Make sure the underside of your static caravan is in good condition, free from rot and that there are no wires or pipes that could be damaged when you install the insulation.
A brush could be used to clean any dirt from the surface before insulation. Also make sure that the area is dry as you will potentially be sealing in any moisture.
Installing the insulation
Start in a corner and roll out some insulation. Use a heavy duty staple gun to attach the insulation to the under floor. Ensure that insulation is fitted well to prevent the wind from working it loose. Also make sure that you don’t cover up any vents or staple through any wires or pipes that are attached to the underside to your caravan.
Please note this is just a quick guide as to how to insulate the floor of your caravan. If you are unsure or have any doubts then please ask a professional to do the work for you.
We all know heating a static caravan is expensive and additional insulation will help you save money over time. It will improve the comfort of your caravan by keeping the floor warmer. If you rent out your caravan it will also increase your returns as holiday makers will run the heating less.
If you are planning to replace your carpet in your static caravan then investing in a thicker and more insulating underlay will also improve the comfort of your caravan.