Beds Hot and Cold weather

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spam4us

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Hello everyone. 1st post. I used to own an Apache solid state back in the day.
I'd like some info please about the beds in the Trailmanors during hot & cold weather.

In the Apache, the bottom of the bed that the matress sat on was just a piece of plywood. No insulation. During the cold months, the matress was always cold to sleep on since there was only plywood. How are the trailmanors in this respect? Is there any insulation under the matress? If not, is it possible to insulate under the bed perhaps on the outside?

I had a 10,000 btu a/c installed for the summer months but no matter how long it ran, I would loose too much a/c again due to no insulation. The camper always felt hot during the day. Had to always look for a shaded site.

How good is the a/c in the trailmanor. Does it reach the bed past the bathroom and closet? Does it cool the rest of the trailer well on hot days or does it "just get by"?

Looking to purchase a 3124 in the future.

Thanks in advance for yoour help.
 
I can't speak to cold weather camping, but in the hot summer months of the midwest, the AC on the TM (Carrier V model) was more than enough to keep the interior nice and chilly. Max setting was too much, even in 95 degree heat and 95% humidity -- we kept the unit on normal cool, with the dial at 50-75% cool. The only time there was any (minor) issue was if I closed the privacy curtain to the rear of the TM, since that restricts airflow down the hallway. A clip on fan on the bathroom wall and leaving the curtain a little bit open solved that issue completely.

So, if you keep the curtain open, the back part gets sufficient airflow. At least in a 2720 ;)
 
Hello everyone. 1st post. I used to own an Apache solid state back in the day.
Click to expand...

We took out our A/C about a year after we bought it (we don't usually camp where it's hot), but it's nice to hear from a former Apache owner. I've always admired those trailers and it's amazing how many of them are still around. If we hadn't found out about the TM's before we bought ours, we would have tried to find an Apache. The only thing lacking, for us, is the bathroom!
 
We have a double sleeping bag that we use during cold weather. For us, that means down to the low 30's. We camp in electric sites and use a small electric space heater. We are comfortable, but when we get up in the morning, we will turn on the TM propane heater for a few minutes. Generally, the insulation is sufficient for us. In summer we can arrive at a campground with the temperature in the 90's and be cool minutes after setting up. The front of the TM will be cooler than the back due to the restricted air flow caused by the bathroom walls and the placement of the air conditioner. As already stated, we have found that a small fan can solve that problem. I don't think you will have a problem with temperature as long as you are in an electric site.
 
spam4us said:
Hello everyone. 1st post. I used to own an Apache solid state back in the day.
I'd like some info please about the beds in the Trailmanors during hot & cold weather.

In the Apache, the bottom of the bed that the matress sat on was just a piece of plywood. No insulation. During the cold months, the matress was always cold to sleep on since there was only plywood. How are the trailmanors in this respect? Is there any insulation under the matress? If not, is it possible to insulate under the bed perhaps on the outside?

I had a 10,000 btu a/c installed for the summer months but no matter how long it ran, I would loose too much a/c again due to no insulation. The camper always felt hot during the day. Had to always look for a shaded site.

How good is the a/c in the trailmanor. Does it reach the bed past the bathroom and closet? Does it cool the rest of the trailer well on hot days or does it "just get by"?

Looking to purchase a 3124 in the future.

Thanks in advance for yoour help.
Click to expand...

As far as insulation is concerned, I think that any trailer with a bed platform that is exposed to the cold underneath is going to have an issue.

We found some 1" thick, closed cell foam exercise pads at Walmart ($5 each). They are 20" wide and 72" long. We put three of them under our mattress and it seems to cut the heat loss substantially. We use an air mattress with a 3" memory foam topper. Heat loss was a real problem with the air mattress. Not any more. :D

You don't mention in your post what year you have. I am assuming that you have the earlier model with the A/C unit in the side. As you know, that A/C blows either one direction or the other. Our 10,000BTU A/C (on our '98 2720) does a great job of cooling, if one places a small fan behind the air flow to encourage the cold air to travel either fore or aft. It doesn't cool the entire camper well on very hot days like the roof mounted A/C.

Last summer, we camped in 117 degree weather. The camper was very comfortable in the forward part and we took a nap with a blanket on in the forward bunk (75 degrees inside). It was too hot to lay in the aft bunk during the day without allowing the living area to get hot.........it's either fore or aft, we can't have both.
 
We have not had a problem with cold coming through the mattress. But we rarely camp below the upper 30's.

I use the pool noodles and I modified the upper rear shell to lower shell latch on the curb side to block the cold air flowing in past the seal behind the wardrobe.

In cold weather I set the furnace at the lowest setting, about 55F.

If I have to, I would take along my Eddy Bauer sleeping bags, (back in the 70s when he was an Expedition Outfitter instead of a clothing store) that are rated for 20 below, but I have never used them below 10 above.
 
I camp a lot when it's in the 30's, I use a thermarest style (actually a REI Camp pad) on top of the TM mattress. Makes it very comfortable and warm. Stick your hand beteen the TM mattress and thermarest and you'll see how much cold really comes thru! It's very cold in there. The swim noodles help a lot...as stated above.
 
We have camped more than once in Full Sun with no problems keeping inside nice & cold but we have had to have the air on High at the coldest setting since we like it cold.

Winter we use:
1. Extra insulation that has been talked about here over & over.
2. We also have two Full Electric Blankets.
3. We find the built in LP heaters usage to be acceptable with the upgraded Digital Thermostat in place. also the thermostat is going on 2.5 yrs with same batteries.
4. We also have a rotating ceramic heater to conserve on LP.
5. We also have Travasaks which are very comfortable year around

We have camped like this with snow on trailer & it has actually gotten too hot for me.
 
Cooling has never been a problem. We have the 3326 with the air above the bed. I'm surprised at how well it works. I'm sure that varies from unit to unit. To keep warm when it's cold we have an electric mattress pad with dual controls. We turn it on about an hour before we go to bed and the bed is nice and warm.
 
wow. Some great info in such a short period of time. Thanks everyone.
Currently, I do not own an RV at all. Just in the looking stages right now. Don't want to haul around something too big with wind drag, weight, etc.

My Apache served me well from 1975 until 1995 when I sold it for $300 less than I paid for it. So for 20 years, it only cost me $300 to have it. What a deal.

I do not want a canvas trailer but I do want a pop-up and Trailmanor fits the bill quite nicely. You could feel the cold coming thru the bed matress on the apache in cold weather. Seems like the Trailmanor has the same problem. Just thought they might have insulated the underside but I guess not.

I will probably buy sometime early next year and believe it will be the 3124KB. For those who use a heating pad of some sort, do you place it under or on top of the matress?

Thanks everyone for all your help.
 
The platform that the mattress lies on is made of the same 1” thick insulated foam material that the walls and roof of the TM is made of. We use a 2” memory foam pad on top of our TM mattress. The coldest night we had was 27 below, not something I’d recommend for fun but, there was no problem with cold coming up through the mattress.

Ed
 
I read on here at one time that someone placed the silver bubble insulation under the mattrees for additional insulation. I do not remember how this worked out for them. I may look for the info though.


Before we bought the mattress warmer on really cold nights where we camped up north the flannel sheels were cool to the touch.
 
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We have not had an issue of the bed being uncomfortable due to cold coming up from the bed platform. You do however need to be aware that on cold nights moisture from your body will go through the mattress and condense on the bed platform. This will not impact your trip, however I recommend removing the mattress once you return home and allowing the bottom to dry thoroughly before reinstalling in your TM to prevent mildew..
 
What may not be obvious in this thread is that some of us never have access to shore power, meaning we can not use ceramic heaters and electric blankets, while others spend most if not all of the time in RV parks where they have access to shore power.

I have no other viable choice but to use the propane furnace.

We have no problem with just the TM mattress pad plus our TravaSaks.

If I were going somewhere even colder I think the bubble wrap under the mattres would be something I would consider. I'm certain it would help and be very easy to do. I don't like the idea of the backpacking pads on top of the mattress, as I roll around a lot. I have several because I also do some backpacking. I suppose they could be placed under the mattress, but I think that might make it lumpy.

I also have several Space Blankets. That might be helpful under the mattress, but I have also never tried that. By allowing the Space Blanket to wrap up the wall around the mattress on the three exterior sides that might also block a bit of minor draft.

The one thing that, clearly, helps the most is too make sure that there are no drafts. I fixed the one behind the wardrobe. The door has been a bit of a problem for me, especially at the bottom. But replacing all of the foam and adjusting the bottom seal has eliminated the need to place a towel on the floor to block the draft at the door bottom.


I think it would do rather well, but there would be some adjustments to make beyond the way the factory ships it.
 
We have a heated mattress pad which works very well with our AeroBed (assuming 110v availability). We also love the Travesak, which we always use 'Winter' side down. Since the winter side has a bit more insulation, it goes under us. We can always put more stuff on top. And maybe most important, wear socks to bed!
 
We camped last Feb. at the Sturgeon Bay state park. Warm as toast with sleeping bags and ceramic rotating heater. Furnace is too loud. Electric heaters are quiet whispers.
 
We have two interlocking 1/2" closed cell foam camping mats which lie under the mattress on our TM all year long - they do not interfere with closing the unit and provide insulation. Because I have a bad hip we also have two camp model (2") self inflating Therm-A-Rest pads to provide a little more cushion. They fit between the closed cell foam and the TM mattress. The unit won't close with them in place but when you open the valve they fold in half and make a safe nest for our LCD-DVD when traveling. For us this makes for very comfortable nights. - camp2canoe
 
Having upgraded from a pop-up to our TM we know exactly the issue you are referring to.
In the pop-up I ended up lining the plywood base under the mattress with a thin layer of insulating 'underlayment' left over from a hardwood flooring project, which helped. However, we have camped in colder weather with the TM and so far have felt no need to make any modifications to it.
While there is some cold working through as is inevitable when there is nothing but air underneath you, the platform under the bed in a TM is actually filled with a foam core insulator, unlike the plain plywood base in a pop-up. The difference in insulating properties is substantial.
 
As I mentioned before we have the electric mattress pad for when it is cold and it goes on top of the mattress. When in cold climate we have always stayed in a campground with electricity. I'm not sure that the mattress pad is entirely necessary except to keep the DW happy. She likes to get into a warm bed.
 
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