Just got back from the first of many trips with the cargo trailer conversion. Over all it was very enjoyable. I would definitely call it a success with seven days and nights in the trailer.
Just a little back ground. My wife has been disabled for 18 years and on oxygen the last three years. My goal was to make any travel with her as comfortable as possible. When I started the conversion I hoped to match the hotel room that we normally stayed in. We needed a comfortable bed, a TV, DVD player, over the air TV, microwave, coffee pot and refrigerator. The trailer needed to be air conditioned or heated and there had to be a toilet that my wife was comfortable using.
With 1” of
Dow R5 Faced Polystyrene Foam Board Insulation in the ceiling we were comfortable most of the time. With the air conditioner running, in the afternoon a couple of days, it got up to 84 degrees F. inside the trailer. With a fan we were ok but for my wife, I would like to keep it below 75 degrees. First thing I will do is paint the roof with Kool White roof paint. I will be adding 1” foam insulation in the walls and either ½” or 1” foam insulation to the existing 1” in the ceiling. I will monitor inside and outside temperature before and after each modification and let you all know how effective the paint and insulation is.
My wife’s bed is a patio chaise lounge with 3 inches of memory foam. She loved it and said it was as comfortable and any bed she had ever slept on. The adjustable head was very much appreciated as she usually uses a sleep wedge. During the trip we added storage bins that fit under the chaise. Sheets and micro fiber blankets were just like home.
The TV and DVD player worked just like at home. I used a directional amplified antenna on two sections of antenna mast for over the air TV reception. We got 24 stations without rotating the antenna but to get some of the stations we normally watch I needed to repoint the antenna. Before the next trip I plan to get an omni-directional antenna.
The microwave worked like at home. Just had to remember not the run the air conditioner and microwave at the same time. The microwave draws 12 amps and the air conditioner draws 7 amps running.
For a coffee pot I got the same as in the house, a 12 cup Black & Decker. I filled it from jugs of water that I carried and refilled from the house and used our regular coffee. I did get new mugs for the trailer, My Mug and Your Mug.
I used this
Refrigerator a Haier 3.3 cu ft. Refrigerator and was very pleased. The freezer got down to -6 degrees F. and I saw 34 degrees on the bottom shelf. When I plugged in, the refrigerator ran so quiet that I had to feel the freezer to tell if it was running. The meter I was plunged into showed .47 amps running and I was never fast enough to see the surge amps.
The toilet was a commode chair with
Liners. I set it to 20 inch seat height, the same as at home. We used liners in the bucket that had a powder that adsorbed the liquid and a coating of cat litter over any solid. With two of us I changed out the bag twice a day. There was never an odor problem. The bucket looks new, nothing ever touched the bucket.
Changes I will make based on this first trip will be; Sheet Vinyl flooring, led strip lighting and more storage.
