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Old 11-15-2012, 09:47 AM   #1
Mike L123
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Insulate the cupboards and cabinets?

Hello everyone!

Has anyone tried to insulate the cupboards and cabinets in their RV to reduce the cold air pouring out of these spaces? If so, what did you try and did it lead to condensation problems? We "winter" in Osoyoos, BC and although it doesn't get as cold here as it does back home in Northern Alberta it still gets pretty chilly. The air temp in the interior storage areas is much colder than the ambient temperature of the interior of our Cougar and I would like to explore reasonable theories and practices to warm up these storage spaces.

As always, thanks in advance and Cheers!

Mike
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Old 11-15-2012, 11:16 AM   #2
tanman32225
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Hmmm strange that air is coming out of them since they are flat mounted to the walls. If you want to equalize the temps just prop open a door here and there to allow air flow. That would be the easiest to me.
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Old 11-15-2012, 11:32 AM   #3
Mike L123
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I probably have badly worded my query. It just seems that when we go to the cupboards to retrieve a plate, glass, book or whatever it is substantially cold. We can't leave a butter dish in the kitchen cupboard because it is so cold you can't spread it without using the nuker for 20 seconds. I realize that we should keep a couple of door open just to equalize the air temps and whatnot. It just seems to us like the cabinets "trap" the cold air? I am not an HVAC kind of guy and have always struggled with some of these concepts.

Thanks for your interest and time!

Mike
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Old 11-15-2012, 11:44 AM   #4
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I think it's more of warm air not being able to get in to the cabinets than cold air being trapped.
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Old 11-15-2012, 11:52 AM   #5
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In the mornings, the cupboard interiors have always been colder than the room temperature - or so it seems. You are right - the dishes are colder and the butter harder. While the exterior walls are insulated, they still allow the cold to find its way inside and warmth to find its way outside - especially at night when you are sleeping.
As you mentioned, the cupboards do seem to "trap" cold air and I'm not sure whether or not having them insulated in some way would do much to avoid the problem.

Personally, I don't see this as an issue - more of a minor inconvenience or nuisance. First thing in the morning if we are not on hookups, we put our coffee cups over our propane heater or furnace vents to warm them up a bit. If we are perking coffee, we place plates and cups near the stove burner to warm them up.
If you have a portable heater, place cups and plates near it.

We just work around the inconvenience of having cold dishes and butter. They eventually warm up and all is well with the world.

If I start to fret about these minor problems, my wife hands me the "little book" --- "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff".

cheers
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Old 11-15-2012, 01:10 PM   #6
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HEY FESTUS! It's all small stuff ha ha ha.
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Old 11-15-2012, 02:40 PM   #7
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I'm afraid that even if you insulated the back wall of cabinets with 1" foam board cut to size. The only thing that you would accomplish is to loose 1" of cabinet space. The air space in the cabinet is already acting as insulation for the living space thus the temp differential in the cabinet.. It may help a little but not much.
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Old 11-15-2012, 02:47 PM   #8
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I am half timing it and haven't come across this problem with my cupboards with the exception of the bathroom cupboard. I am thinking that this cupboard gets cold due to to sink pipe hole. I am going to stuff the opening with some high density foam and see if this helps.
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Old 11-15-2012, 03:36 PM   #9
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Mike -

In particular, on the base cabinets, you are probably getting cold air from the underbelly. Look at my posts in the Mods section about insulating the underbelly and tank heaters. Also, you are probably seeing air infiltration in the upper cabinets from the side slide walls. You probably have only R-7 that is not attached and has "fallen" and settled in the side walls.

Ron
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Old 11-17-2012, 08:32 AM   #10
Mike L123
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Thanks all for your input and thoughtful suggestions. We have started to find a "balance" in the temperatures of the RV by leaving some of the cupboards and cabinets drawers open a bit to allow the warm air to circulate throughout our home. This has helped quite a bit. We also are using a 50 pint dehumidifier and a small fan to circulate and move the air around a bit. All of these things, combined with the relatively warm weather here in Osoyoos, given our Canadian winter climate, have resulted in a fairly comfortable environment for Carol, the mutt dog and myself!

Cheers!

Mike
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Old 11-17-2012, 08:58 AM   #11
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Mike -

Since you are in Canada's only desert, you may not need the dehumidifier all winter. And, as you are also at Canada's "Warmest Welcome" point of entry, an extra electric heater may be all you need!

Happy camping!

Ron
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Old 11-17-2012, 04:30 PM   #12
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My Alpine the propane tanks back up to the basement so I insulated the basement side of them with 1" foam
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