Armatherm

[montaillou]

This is gonna sound a little silly.

I'm planning on using a steel frame that would be bolted to the bed of my M35A2. My plan is to not remove the bed, build the steel frame inside the bed, install honeycomb panels for the outer skin. I'll have approximately a 3 inch gap from the outside lip of the bed to the inner walls. After I run electrical wire and plumbing and anything else that needs to go in the walls, I plan on using closed cell spray foam to both create a seal and get about R10 insulation. On the bed floor, the plan is to put down a 1" sheet of rigid insulation and build an 9" high box with the top open that acts as a sub-floor that will contain the water tanks, tankless hot water heater, battery bank, etc. Then a floor over this and the main living cabin. There will be some vents down to the sub-floor as I don't want the water tanks to freeze in the winter.

Now, for the silly part. I've found this product called Aramtherm. It is an insulating material that would go between the steel supports and the bed floor. It's pretty cheap and would add a negligible cost to the project. I'm just wondering if it's even worth doing. I mean, it's a non-zero improvement in heat efficiency. Would the steel supports (1" x 1" and 1" x 2", maybe 1/8" thick) carry that much cold into the walls if they were just bolted directly to the bed? Am I overthinking such a small improvement in insulation? It also occurs to me that whatever bolts I use could only use a teflon washer to isolate themselves so there's going to be some heat loss there anyways.

1" of Armatherm has an R value of 3.8 - it can be drilled and cut to size.

 

[hike]

This is gonna sound a little silly.

I'm planning on using a steel frame that would be bolted to the bed of my M35A2. My plan is to not remove the bed, build the steel frame inside the bed, install honeycomb panels for the outer skin. I'll have approximately a 3 inch gap from the outside lip of the bed to the inner walls. After I run electrical wire and plumbing and anything else that needs to go in the walls, I plan on using closed cell spray foam to both create a seal and get about R10 insulation. On the bed floor, the plan is to put down a 1" sheet of rigid insulation and build an 9" high box with the top open that acts as a sub-floor that will contain the water tanks, tankless hot water heater, battery bank, etc. Then a floor over this and the main living cabin. There will be some vents down to the sub-floor as I don't want the water tanks to freeze in the winter.

Now, for the silly part. I've found this product called Aramtherm. It is an insulating material that would go between the steel supports and the bed floor. It's pretty cheap and would add a negligible cost to the project. I'm just wondering if it's even worth doing. I mean, it's a non-zero improvement in heat efficiency. Would the steel supports (1" x 1" and 1" x 2", maybe 1/8" thick) carry that much cold into the walls if they were just bolted directly to the bed? Am I overthinking such a small improvement in insulation? It also occurs to me that whatever bolts I use could only use a teflon washer to isolate themselves so there's going to be some heat loss there anyways.

1" of Armatherm has an R value of 3.8 - it can be drilled and cut to size.

Difficult to assess without knowing how much surface area the contact between frame and bed occupies and the material's ability to handle dynamic loads during travel. Though reducing thermal bridging is always a good idea, not silly at all—