Hi all, we are using a static caravan as an all-year-round residence for a live-in carer for my elderly dad who needs 24/7 care. I want to make the caravan as nice as possible for the carer, and obviously it gets quite chilly in the winter. I presume we require insulating the roof, walls and the floor - there are plenty of advice on how to insulate the floor and add on skirting, but couldn't find anything about insulating the walls & roof. I presume we can use cladding, but how do we add this on? What sort of company should we look for who would do something like this?
when it was built surely it had any insulation put in the walls/roof then? even if only the bare minimum
where is the static going to be sited? on your own land? you would need planning permission but if that was gained then you could help matters by putting some sort of high fence around the area to protect it from the worst of the weather, but one thing i would be making sure i did was to make sure thee underneath was boxed in and stop the drafts from being underneath making sure any gas vents are able to vent to the outside.
I take it that you now have the water/sewerage connections sorted out?
As far as insulation goes, there are two levels at the manufacturing stage.
EN1467 is the standard for holiday statics (some will have an enhanced winterisation level)
BS3632 is the standard for residential park homes, and many holiday statics are now insulated to this level.
EN1467 assumes that the van will be used for holidays, probably only in the warmer months.
BS3632 assumes that the van will be used for long periods all year, so it has much higher levels of insulation as well as central heating and double glazing.
What you can do to insulate it will very much depend on what type of build it is, and whether the exterior cladding is metal, vinyl, or rendered plywood/MGO board.
The quickest method for external insulation on the walls is exterior cladding over the top of the external walls.
Many companies offer this, but not sure if it is possible on a van with metal exterior.
Your best bet is to start googling "insulation static caravan walls and roof" as there is quite a lot of information already out there, but you will need to know what your van is made of in order to know which articles or companies will be of help.
If you have/are purchasing a static built to EN1467 (especially if it is an older static) then keeping warm in winter/cool in summer is always going to be a problem, although if the carer will be spending most of the time in the main house, an electric blanket of a night is another option.
Do bear in mind that you MUST keep ventilation grids clear, and if there is any gas (mains or LPG) do NOT, repeat NOT, block the drop-vents under the van.
check previous posts - i have installed a pitched roof on a curved roof van - and a friend of mine reclad his entire van, added additional wall insulation as he went along and then installed new roof, again with a massive amount of insulation. it was on an 11 month of the year site and actually increased the value of it by quite a bit - even installed new glazing - cost him to do it himself around 4k i believe - but he increased the value by more then that
One thing that has puzzled me.. the static is to be used for a live-in carer.
I thought that the whole idea of a live-in carer was that they would have a bedroom in the home of their patient.
Here we have had several people needing carers, the carer on duty stays in the home of their patient, and when the next carer comes on duty, they leave and go to their own home.
Surely, if somebody needs a live-in carer, then having the carer in a separate static defeats the purpose of the object?
If the intention is to employ carers directly AND provide full-time accommodation (i.e, the on-duty carer is with the patient, the off-duty carer is living in the static) then the comments by several people about getting permission from the local council is very pertinent.
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Topic: Insulating a static for winter use
