3 Steps to Insulate our School Bus Conversion
Why insulate?
Living in Minnesota can be rather cold in the winter and very hot in the summer.
The best way to stay warm in the winter and not fry up in the summer is
not let the cold or heat into our bus.
We therefore chose to focus on insulation with a high R value
yet we are dedicated to only use efficient and
healthy building materials from sustainable sources.
Here is what we did:
Walls and Ceiling
For the walls and ceilings we will use Denim insulation, those are mats that made from recycled jeans. The R- Value for the thickness we chose is R- 19. The Department of Energy's recommendation for exterior wall insulation is R- 13 to R- 21. This insulation is safe to install without an air mask or gloves.
Picture shows application in residential home.
Floor
On top of a a sustainably sourced, formaldehyde free choice of plywood as subfloor, we added 40mm of Made in Germany Steico Wood Fibre insulation to the floors in our bus. It is made from natural wood fibers pressed/ glued with a natural resin. Above that we installed
hot water radiant floor heat.
Windows
We chose to install European style tilt-turn double pane, residential windows with tempered glass units with a much better insulating value than most common American windows.
Tilt- and turn windows open to the inside which allows for easier cleaning and better sealing. The pictures show the different opening options. We are familiar with this style of window from years of living in Germany and are very happy to have found these in America.
These pictures show the windows mounted
in the rough opening.
Heating
Lastly and in addition to the hot water radiant floor heating (which will run of solar energy). We will install a Morsø brand cast iron wood burning stove.
Made in Denmark, Morsø wood burning stoves meet some of the strictest environmental standards and are amongst the most efficient wood burning stoves in the world making them a
responsible heat source.
It will keep the bus toasty warm
as well as create a beautiful natural ambiance.
Additional information
All of the things listed above are primarily made for residential buildings.
If you plan to improve your home,
why not choose a healthy, efficient and sustainable way.
Not only will it will improve the value of your home,
decrease the utility bill and not steal from our precious environment,
Your home will become a place of health and natural comfort.
After all there is no planet B.
We can help you find sustainable, healthy and efficient building materials
for your home, tiny home or school bus.