Back doors

[BILLandSHEILA]

Bill and I are curious. We are researching the subject and finding very little. Who has their back doors insulated or covered? What materials did you use and why?

Thanks so much!

 

[highdesertranger]

I am assuming you are talking about a van and not a box truck or cargo trailer, right? highdesertranger

 

[BILLandSHEILA]

Yes. The back doors on a van.

 

[crofter]

How I insulated the back:
I cut a piece of 1 inch polyISO XPS to fit the window. Then covered it with old nylon reflective window covers, one side reflective and other side black out. Assembled with hot glue gun, added some magnets to hold it on the steel. They also have ties for extra hold. Flip depending on the season.

The nylon window covers are great heat reflectors, I have had mine for years. 

I did not insulate the garage area, no need to with the bed above it. If you wanted insulation, you could add a sheet of polyISO XPS under the mattress. 

 I have thought about removing the plastic covers on the lower doors and using the lower doors for storage for light items, especially the cargo door. Plastic shoe caddy for the top of the cargo door, attached to the ribs there.

-crofter

Spring covers
https://www.target.com/p/type-s-sta...1OdqnOI4SKNg1alQXdOTXGAbrPM2PjHxoCcQ8QAvD_BwE

Shade screen, to make screened barrier for doors-open lounging
https://ezsnapdirect.com/store/rv-s...8vCax_I9OhfOxjtKala0qrAW51ELaafRoCaJgQAvD_BwE

 

[user 423]

You caught me at the right time. I'm adding some electrical outlets to one of my rear doors and I have it apart.

The doors originally were upholstered with fabric over thin plywood and had 'accordion'-type blinds covering the windows. It's an old van and the blinds were trashed so I took them out. 1/2" polyiso foam insulation was used to block out the windows and I will be adding another layer of 1/2" foam. You can see that the door is stuffed with fiberglass insulation. The conversion companies probably used it mostly to dampen noise, not weather effects.

I used FRP (fiberglass reinforced plastic) to cover the rear doors and also the side doors. I'm covering the inside of a toilet/shower area with FRP now and if I have enough left over I will cover the rear windows with it,too.  A 4'x8' sheet is $30 at HD or Lowes. It's thin and easy to cut and work with. At first I used pop rivets to hold it on but now used 1/2" self-tapping screws.

 

[user 423]

Here's a shot of a side door. I didn't have enough to do it with one piece:

 

[BILLandSHEILA]

Thanks very much Crofter! We have also looked at the use of storage as well. Thanks again for the great tips!

 

[BILLandSHEILA]

Super helpful slow2day! Thanks so much for the detailed post with pics! You and Crofter have helped tremendously! Have a great weekend! ?

 

[Chiffed]

I did a similar thing as slow2day.
Polyiso over the place where the windows would be if it had windows.
Thinsulate batting in the cavities, because it still allows the locks and rods to move. I have just enough for the slider cavity too.
Spray foam for the crannies.
Covered the whole thing in reflectix for now, because I had lots. Gonna leave it til after the shakedown cruise so I know what I really need.
JUST before I covered it up I added pulls for the door catch and lock so I can lock-up or escape from the inside. I felt like an almost-idiot for almost-forgetting.

 

[rokguy]

I am assuming you are talking about a van and not a box truck or cargo trailer,  right?  highdesertranger

I know this isn't the case here but for anyone new ......On barn doors on a boxtruck, a simply second wall spaced inboard can be built using plywood sheets or an insulated wooden framework.
Advantages...just my 20 cents worth.... makes a good covered entry porch if moved further inboard. Allows a good thermal break between the 2 and by keeping the original doors in place allow a more secure locked vehicle + makes it more stealth like from the rear.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

The problem I found with just stuffing insulation inside the empty door cavities is there is no thermal break. The metal still transmits cold or heat so in order to create a thermal break I layered a thin piece of foam then the panelling and made sure no metal was exposed inside by trimming it with a wood moulding,

 

[Artsyguy]

My Chevy Express doors are stuffed with polyiso with as much as could be stuffed being careful to keep door mechanisms free to move. I have glass on the back doors, and polyiso was taped over the glass. All was covered inside by Luan to finish off. Outside of glass was Plasticoated to match exterior paint. No complaints and it is working great AND it looks great.

 

[66788]

The problem I found with just stuffing insulation inside the empty door cavities is there is no thermal break. The metal still transmits cold or heat so in order to create a thermal break I layered a thin piece of foam then the panelling and made sure no metal was exposed inside by trimming it with a wood moulding,

My experience with vans is you really can't insulate them well.  As FK says above the metal bodies and doors are the main problem.  My thoughts are the thermal bridges are a bigger problem than thermal breaks.

My step van has 2 inches of pink foamular on all 6 sides and the only thermal bridges are the 2 aluminum framed dual pane RV windows.  Temp outside this morning is 22 degrees, inside walls 65 degrees, ceiling 67.8 degrees, but the window frames are 39 degrees.  This poses little problem as the frames are less than 1% of the interior surface and they are covered by pull down blinds.

A van however is one giant thermal bridge.  Your biggest heat losses are the single pane windows.  Covering them with foam that is airtight will help considerably.  I put 1 inch of the cheap white foam on the inside of my Dodge van side windows, and even with the black felt used to simulate tinted windows, the summer temperature  difference  in direct sun was more than 70 degrees between inside  and outside of those windows.  

Pay as much attention to the thermal breaks and bridges as you can, and hang a thermal break between the front of the van and the cab area.  I have used a thick blanket and it helped.

In cold climates you will probably still have ice forming on the door and window frames, even with the heater on inside, especially if you use a non-vented heater.

 

[66788]

I dug up 2 photos taken of my Dodge high top van using my Flir thermal rifle sight that shows the heat loss by thermal bridging on a cold night with a wave 3 running inside the van.  You can see the heat loss as orange for the most loss, and white for the lesser loss.

 

[bullfrog]

I would think a heavily insulated curtain that runs in a track or is Velcroed at the perimeter might work if you expect to open the rear doors for access. It would at least cut down on drafts from leaking door gaskets.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

I have this idea in the back of my head to spend a winter in the Yukon, sometime in the future so quietly I have been preparing, I am on the process of building insulated panels for all my windows that will go over the frames, they are 1 inch foam sandwiched between 5mm ply. I have an insulated bulkhead but also thought once I got there and found a spot to park up I would buy more foam insulation cover the entire back door as well as the entire cab.

 

[Sofisintown]

Why would you torture yourself in -40 temperatures and constant darkness?

 

[bullfrog]

Some people’s kids! Lol!!!

 

[flying kurbmaster]

Why would you torture yourself in -40 temperatures and constant darkness?

That’s the thing I am  trying to make it as comfortable as possible, Why would someone hang out in the desert, in the Australian outback, in a large city, by a noisy ocean, on top a mountain, why would anyone give up their life’s to accumulate things, why would anyone worry about status, why would anyone have kids, become president, hang out on a tropical island, get married, buy a gun, eat meat, go sailing, live in a van, post on this site, why why why, good question, why not? Most of the time it hovers around -20 which seems pleasant in a dry cold environment as long as you are dressed, dry and have a good warm shelter to crawl into. It is duskish from 3pm till10am for 8 weeks or so but days get long fast. It may never happen because you are right there is an element of why would you. If it doesn’t happen I will still end up with a warm van for cold nights in the desert, or on top of mountains, black out options in the city, sound proofing in noisy areas, security in dangerous environments.

 

[66788]

I want some of those drugs that the Kurbmeister is on...  ;>)