Living in a caravan

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Living in a caravan
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cassy

Joined: 04 Feb 2008
Posts: 1047
Location: South West Scotland

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 09 6:29 pm Post subject:

Ixy wrote:

woodburner = NUMBER 1 Priority!

I think you're right

. And lots of logs!

Mrs R

Joined: 15 Aug 2008
Posts: 7202

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 09 6:30 pm Post subject:
well yeah, stuff to burn = always good. llama or camel droppings are quite good i hear?

RichardW

Joined: 24 Aug 2006
Posts: 8443
Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 09 8:35 pm Post subject:
You should get a fair bit to burn just from the scraps that the builders would normaly chuck. Richard

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46119
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 09 8:45 pm Post subject:
re mud a big doormat is good

Nik

Joined: 27 Jan 2009
Posts: 7
Location: Lancashire

Posted: Wed Jan 28, 09 2:21 pm Post subject:

We're still in ours, this is the second winter while we do the house. I would agree with everything said about the damp but would say the thing we find most annoying is the cold floor. Put straw bales or even build a skirt around the caravan to stop the cold air blowing underneath.
We had problems last year with the water freezing as the supply pipe was above ground while we sorted the house footings. This year despite it being colder we have had fewer problems as we buried the pipe but still found the insulated pipes under the floor froze until we put the straw bales in. No water is very annoying!

Bulgarianlily

Joined: 01 Jun 2008
Posts: 1667
Location: South West Mountains of Bulgaria

Posted: Wed Jan 28, 09 2:27 pm Post subject:
What did people rip out of their caravan to make room for a woodstove? And was it hard to get a pipe through the roof without problems?

cassy

Joined: 04 Feb 2008
Posts: 1047
Location: South West Scotland

Posted: Wed Jan 28, 09 2:31 pm Post subject:
Hi Nik, welcome to the site! Thanks for that advice - lots of insulation seems to be the way forward! What are you building and how are you getting on?

RichardW

Joined: 24 Aug 2006
Posts: 8443
Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales

Posted: Wed Jan 28, 09 3:03 pm Post subject:

Bulgarianlily wrote:

What did people rip out of their caravan to make room for a woodstove? And was it hard to get a pipe through the roof without problems?

The gas fire, wood surround, cupboard over & part of the seating.

The flue is easy IF you buy the rights parts. If not you could set fire to the roof.

We used 1.2m of single skin black pipe then an adapter to double skin stainless & the first 6" of the double wall is in the room so what goes through the roof space is double skin & much cooler (even running flat out you can still touch it). Removed wood to a safe distance & lined space with fire board. Supported the flue to the wood. Fitted a 2' square metal flashing with high temp sealer & self tappers, then a rain collar again with high temp sealer. We have 2m of flue above the van but realy could do with 2m more but as its a temp set up & the extra would need supporting we will live with it for now. We also fitted fire board to the wall behind the fire (20" from fire box & about 6" from flue) & to the side that has a cupboard near it (about 20" so dint realy need it but better safe than sorry).

Richard

Bulgarianlily

Joined: 01 Jun 2008
Posts: 1667
Location: South West Mountains of Bulgaria

Posted: Wed Jan 28, 09 3:16 pm Post subject:
I think I will replace the awning with a strawbale extension and put the woodstove in that, we can leave the windows open between caravan and hmmm, what can I call it? Strawning?

Gai

Joined: 31 Dec 2004
Posts: 408
Location: Ireland

Posted: Wed Jan 28, 09 5:33 pm Post subject:
Another good tip is to rip out any carpeting and replace with vinyl flooring. Carpet was horrific with mud, cement & plaster dust, damp plus an elderly slightly incontinent dog.

sueshells

Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 690
Location: North Bucks

Posted: Tue Feb 10, 09 12:52 am Post subject:
I did this with my (ex) husband many years ago. My tip is - don't buy two Irish Wolfhounds and a cat if you only have a very small caravan! Things weren't too bad until my husband and I had a row and one of the hounds tried to get out through the catflap. We very nearly lost the whole van!

Bulgarianlily

Joined: 01 Jun 2008
Posts: 1667
Location: South West Mountains of Bulgaria

Posted: Tue Feb 10, 09 6:54 am Post subject:
Crying over my keyboard here! And I thought three bearded collies and two cats were bad!

cassy

Joined: 04 Feb 2008
Posts: 1047
Location: South West Scotland

Posted: Tue Feb 10, 09 11:33 am Post subject:

sueshells wrote:

My tip is - don't buy two Irish Wolfhounds and a cat if you only have a very small caravan!

There goes the idea of having a big, hairy, mobile hot water bottle then!

chez

Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35935
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset

Posted: Tue Feb 10, 09 8:09 pm Post subject:

sueshells wrote:

I did this with my (ex) husband many years ago. My tip is - don't buy two Irish Wolfhounds and a cat if you only have a very small caravan! Things weren't too bad until my husband and I had a row and one of the hounds tried to get out through the catflap. We very nearly lost the whole van!

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46119
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Feb 11, 09 11:46 am Post subject:
unheated c'van last week goretex sleeping bag cover good try to stop ones boots freezing overnight heating is better than no heating

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