Warming up bunkends

[endless horizons]

Hi everyone, I remember reading sometime about putting reflectix under the mattress to keep the cold out. I did that and I ended up with mildew on the vinyl on the underside of the mattress. Are there any other suggestions?


Thanks
Maggie

[tlhdoc]

If you use a fan to blow warm air from the furnace or heater into the bunkends it helps.  I put 1 inch square  by 3 foot long foam air conditioner strips in between the tenting and the edge of the bunkends.  This blocks a lot of outside air from entering the bunkends.  You can also roll up towels or blankets to fill the gap.

[Old Goat]

I installed 3/4" thick blue insulation foam [Lowes] under the mattress on the bunk ends and it has  made big difference in keeping us warm on cold nights. Have never had a problem with condensation or mildew under the mattress I did not fasten the foam down so it can easily be removed to dry just in case the bunk does get wet......

[cjpoppin]

We use reflectix under our matress and in between the screen and the fabric in the bunk ends to help with the heat and cold......but we do not leave them in place we fold up and place on the floor when not in use.......It really works for us.......

[tlhdoc]

I forgot to post that we put the shinny car windshield sun reflectors, trimmed to fit, in our bunkend windows when it is cold. You can see pictures of our camper in my Webshots album from the 2006 Trips.  The trip was COTOC's Winter Madness Trip. My Pop Up Gizmo's solar bunkend covers are on the bunkends, shiny side down and the car sunshades/insulation panels are zippered in between the screens and the tenting on the bunkends. I remove the sun shades/insulation panels before popping down.

[flyfisherman]

I've been using reflectix to go OVER the bunk ends for some time now - back to the time before Popup Gizmos came out with their's (where I think the idea had come from). The reflectix is cut to size and held on by plastic clamps (which came from Lowe's Bldg Supply). Also at the time there were a lot of postings here on PUT at the time to use the blue insulation board under the mattress (which also came from Lowe's and what I think maybe The Old Goat is using). I never used the insulation board under the mattress of my Starcraft because at the time one of my neighbors had a mattress and box springs for their master bed room delivered to their house, and it came incased in this large piece of card board. I heard somewhere that cardboard by itself had an insulation value so I scrounged the cardboard from my neighbor and cut two pieces to size for each bunk end. Also had enough cardboard left over to cut to size for a section of the camper floor where I stow items for travel ... keeps the vinyl floor from getting scuffed.

But that orginal reflectix has held up remarkably well considering how long it's been used. Getting a little dog eared along some edges, but still in service! And what a difference it has made not only for warm weather but also for those chilly nights.


Fly

[Old Goat]

Good ideas Fly, us old geasers can always figure out ways to stay warm in the  chilly outdoors......

[AustinBoston]

We use reflectix on the roof and a SMALL fan to move the air into the bunk ends.  I have heard of people using heated mattress pads (a type of electric blanket that is safe to sleep on top of) as well...as long as you can plug in.

If you have an electric site, use an electric heater - you paid for the electricity whether you use it or not - instead of or in addition to the propane furnace.

Austin

[flyfisherman]

Ya know, just covering the bunk ends with one of those plastic tarps will make a difference in the condensation forming in colder weather. When the Starcraft was new, in the first year (2000), we made another one of our flyfishing treks up to norther Michigan in the fall to fish for steelhead coming in from the Great Lakes into the rivers (those steelies offer a real knock-down, drag-out, fish fight for a flyrod fisherman ... and they eat real good,too, steaked and charcoal grilled!). Anyway, the weather could not have been finer. Beautiful fall days, maybe in the upper 60's and one day reaching 70; with the nights dipping down into the 40's ... just perfect for a roaring campfire! By week's end, most everyone pulling out from our group to return from whence they came. Since I had a long way to go, I would be laying over until Monday and began my return trip. Besides, I had allowed extra travel time and who wanted to leave that beautiful campsite, right next to a beautiful river at such a beautiful time of the year. But one of the remaining camper/fisherman, began covering his bunk ends with these plastic tarps (I think he had a Dutchman popup) and then came over to my site and said there was a Canadian front coming our way and advised me to cover my bunk ends, too. Since he was a native Michigander, and I had to go to town for some supplies anyway, I stopped off at a local hardware store and bought two 5' X 7' brown plastic tarps. Got back to camp and covered the bunk ends much the same way my adviser had his. Always carry plenty of parachute cord and that was what I used to tie it off with.

Could not believe what happened late that afternoon and evening ... the temperature was to drop 40 degrees! Went from this very pleasant high 60's to below freezing and on the way down it started to rain, which later turned to sleet and snow! Inspite of some howling wind and the little Starcraft doing a little rocking, things inside were snug and comfortable. The next morning broke clear and cold, but you should have seen the icicles hanging down from the bottom of the bunk ends! Had to stay a couple more days until the sun warmed things out dry once again. But just having those plastic tarps over the bunk ends made a big difference. Now, of course, I'll have the reflectix over the bunkends and covered with the tarps, and this is much better yet!




Fly

[endless horizons]

Thanks for all the good advice.

Maggie

[pershingd]

Do what my DW does when it gets chilly - send me to bed first.  

Now here's some helpful information.

We put the bunk-end fans up and run them at a low speed while the furnace is running. It's not perfect, but it does help a lot.

David

[edwardr132]

I plan on doing the bunk-end reflectix mod this Friday morning before heading out for a camping weekend.  Is everyone taping the edges with duct tape?

Where do you store the reflectix parts when you are not using them? I only plan on using them at night before going to bed and then remove them during the day.  Do you roll them up when not using them?

I am also planning on using the 3/4 inch blue insulating foam board as well under the beds as well.  Does that just stay there all year round?

[AustinBoston]

We taped the edges with the aluminum reflectix tape.  The Reflectix tape has the same color and shine as the Reflectix, so it doesn't have that "duct tape" look.

It doesn't have a lot of strength (tears easily), so it won't work to add significant strength.


We store ours under the bunk mattresses when not in use.

Austin

[PattieAM]

I invested in the heated mattress pads (Sunbeam from Walmart) and love the cool weather sleeping now.  (So do the dogs)  I've bought pop up gizmos which help keep the camper cooler in summer, but haven't tried the winter reversal yet.  I did read where one could place them under the mattress and it would help retain heat in the bunk ends, but I think reflectix is cheaper than another set of gizmos.  I highly recommend the heated mattress pads, as I'm a tosser/turner when sleeping, and don't care for electric blankets.  We've experimented and using the furnace is good, but to get that heat to the bunk ends, we've been turning the 'fan only' portion of the AC on and it works very well (heat rises to the ceiling and that fan is pretty strong).

[dee106]

we have the foam topper pad on our mattress on our bunk ends so that helps, and we use the reflectix roll too, in the cold weather i have in inside going across my bunk end ceiling, and down the sides and under the matress, i use two thin metal rods the width of the bunkend to hold it across my ceiling, and a fitted piece for the back window.
 when we have electric we have the cermeric box heater/fan facing the bunk ends which keeps the air moving and its warm! on the floor we have a commerical grade runner, with the rubber backing, that helps too! on those rare occasion (old days) we used a 12 volt fan on the floor infront of the furance to push the heat to the bunkends and to move the air across the ceiling