Oliver insulation

[Steph and Dud B]

Here's some data that I found interesting. Our Oliver is mostly stock, with only a little extra Reflectix insulation added to the external basement door. I have a remote thermometer in the Oliver belly, near the fresh and city water inlet lines, and another thermometer hanging inside the garage near the Oliver.

I collected data from a week from both thermometers. The was no heat running in the Oliver. You can see that the average temperatures were only different by 1.1 degrees. There was a difference of 38.1 degrees from the highest temperature to the lowest temperature recorded in the garage:

and only a 16.3 degree difference recorded in the belly of the trailer:

I couldn't tell you if that's any better or worse than any other RV would perform, but those are the numbers from an unheated Oliver sitting in an unheated garage.

[Snackchaser]

Interesting data!  I ran the numbers through AI trying to get an R value, but there's not enough information.  However, it determined the swing insulating value was 57%, which is about right for Olivers claimed R-18 value.  Most RV's are lower than R-10, 20 to 30%.  

Good stuff!  

[jd1923]

Regardless of the R-value of insulation, interior and exterior temps will become equal over time. Also, when temps are in the 50s it's not the same test as when ambient temps are in the 20s, the teens or worse.

What matters most is when we add furnace heat, will the temp rear of basement by the water lines be kept above freezing? Say it's consistently below freezing outside, what should interior temp be set at to keep the rear basement above freezing?

We also keep a Ruuvi sensor in the same rear basement location (and 5 other locations), including one outdoors. Rear basement temps will not drop below freezing while camping, with our thermostat set to 63F. The rear basement temps is always above freezing a good +10 over outdoor temps.

Generally we do not store and winterize, since we "winter" camp often (but no real winter down here). Winter overnights are often down to low-mid 20s by dawn, but then it will always warm up to 50F +/- in the sunny afternoons. If it's cold just a night or two, I do not worry. If we are to have multiple consecutive cold nights, I'll set the furnace to 50F if I had not blown the water lines clear.

The Oliver could have better insulation, but it is certainly sufficient for our use. I like how it's thin so that we have room in the basement for mods. I would add more if we lived north. I did the battery bay door already. Good reminder to add some to our basement access door. 😂

[Snackchaser]

30 minutes ago, jd1923 said:

Regardless of the R-value of insulation, interior and exterior temps will become equal over time. Also, when temps are in the 50s it's not the same test as when ambient temps are in the 20s, the teens or worse.

That’s exactly what I used to think!.  However, equalization requires a constant outdoor temperature, but that never occurs in a natural day/night cycle. The 57% swing shows that the insulation is effective enough that the interior can't track outdoor changes fast enough to equalize.  

You're right, it could be better, but it's way better than some drafty old trailers that I used to own.  

[jd1923]

Yep, that’s why I wrote “over time.” To me that interesting data is that outside the temp swing/range was 38 degrees, while indoor the temp range was only 16. This shows the difference in the insulated space. The averages should be close over daily cycles.

Thank you@Steph and Dud B, many of us love seeing some performance data of our Olivers!

Edited 4 hours ago by jd1923