Insulating cold floor in mobile home.

Ufoxed · 17 Oct 2021

Hello
I have a cold floor problem that seems to be giving me a headache. I live in a mobile home in Cambridgeshire and I have done a lot of work on it but I cannot get the floors warm the problem is insulation and I may have made a big mistake with it.
I have used 130mm PIR xtratherm in between and over the floor bearers and the floors aren't any better!!!!The problem was I think is that I have used pitch roof PIR (couldn't get hold of the floor stuff] rather than underfloor PIR all xtratherm ...My question is-Are all PIR boards the same and if not what are the differences? I have read on lots of occasion on the net that these companies use the same boards but just call them by different name?
Does any one have a suggestions as to what Insulation I should use? I have 90mm deep bearers

duplicate has been removed

catlad · 17 Oct 2021

Your caravan floor will not feel any warmer for fitting insulation as heat rises.

Ufoxed · 17 Oct 2021

Thanks for replying ...but the cold is rising through the floor-not a great feeling as it actually feels like the insulation has made it worse...

freddiemercurystwin · 17 Oct 2021

What's above and below the insulation, what is holding the insulation in place, have you used any expanding foam in the gaps, how is the floor sealed around the edges, got any photos? Presumably as a mobile home there is just the atmosphere circulating beneath the floor?

Ufoxed · 17 Oct 2021

hi I have fit tightly 90mm insulation level to the bottom of the bearers then an extra 40mm covering every thing all are sealed with expanding foam on all the edges and this week end I have covered the entire bottom with visqueen not much room left underneath...is the xtratherm not usable in an other place than on roofs? It is very well sealed but still cold... I am now thinking of ripping it all out and fitting Rockwall...Thanks for your time

JohnD · 17 Oct 2021

photos might be useful

not much heat is lost through floors except by draughts, so floor insulation has to be packed tightly, which is easier with mineral wool than with foam board.

but I don't see that you will be able to do anything to add heat to the floor, so it will be about the same temperature as outside air. All insulation does is slows heat loss, it does not add heat.

Maybe rugs would help

or socks and slippers.

Harry Bloomfield · 17 Oct 2021

No reason why the floor itself should be the problem, with that amount of insulation - might the cold be from some other source?

Ufoxed · 17 Oct 2021

Above the insulation is the old fiber membrane that I patched in places before fitting insulation, the old floor 25mm chip board and a further newly laid 25mm chipboard flooring ,underlay and carpet.... yes John d but surly there must be an insulation that stops cold coming through it

Ufoxed · 17 Oct 2021

The walls and ceiling are well insulated this started when I added the new insulation

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Mr Chibs · 18 Oct 2021

What thickness And what is the insulation on the walls and roof?

Bouy · 18 Oct 2021

Ufoxed said:
Hello
My question is-Are all PIR boards the same and if not what are the differences?

Floor or roof xtratherm has the same R (thermal resistance) value but different products can have different values

Harry Bloomfield · 18 Oct 2021

Mr Chibs said:
What thickness And what is the insulation on the walls and roof?

Good point - tourer caravans up to around 30 years ago would just have an outside alloy sheet, timber frame, then a thin ply lining and just a bare ply floor. Now they have polystyrene insulation between the alloy and ply, plus a insulated ply sandwich for the floor and they are much warmer, even in winter use. I suspect mobile homes might be similar, with the older ones lacking any insulation and only intended for summer use.

Harry Bloomfield · 18 Oct 2021

Ufoxed said:
The walls and ceiling are well insulated this started when I added the new insulation

Even with some insulation, heat loss will be massive - how many Kw of heating do you have?
Are the windows single glass or double glazed?

My tourers blown air system can manage 2Kw of electric heating and I think 4Kw of gas, in the same heater, which can both be run simultaneously so 6kw available when necessary. When away in the spring and autumn, we usually have the heating on the stat, but on it's 500w output setting, once the place is thawed out.

Dereekoo · 18 Oct 2021

Harry Bloomfield said:
Even with some insulation, heat loss will be massive - how many Kw of heating do you have?
Are the windows single glass or double glazed?

My tourers blown air system can manage 2Kw of electric heating and I think 4Kw of gas, in the same heater, which can both be run simultaneously so 6kw available when necessary. When away in the spring and autumn, we usually have the heating on the stat, but on it's 500w output setting, once the place is thawed out.

Op doesn't seem to be worried about overall heating problem just a cold floor? Maybe a pair of slippers would sort.

Mr Chibs · 18 Oct 2021

Slippers would be a good start, also a pipe to go with them

Joking aside, the caravan will need to have some heat for the insulation to radiate it back, and bring the overall temperature up, but if it’s escaping from walls, windows and roof, it might never feel toasty.

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Insulating cold floor in mobile home.

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