Automotive Leisure are advertising pop-top thermal insulation, expensive @ £199 and I wonder if anyone has experience of this as the condensation that forms on the metal roof rail and the heat lost has put us off using our troll in the cold. I know people use their Eribas in the winter and we're kind of wimpy but if anyone can assist I would be grateful.

Eriba542

Quote: ColinMorgan wrote in post #1

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Automotive Leisure are advertising pop-top thermal insulation, expensive @ £199 and I wonder if anyone has experience of this as the condensation that forms on the metal roof rail and the heat lost has put us off using our troll in the cold. I know people use their Eribas in the winter and we're kind of wimpy but if anyone can assist I would be grateful.
Eriba542

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We are in the van at the moment in Norfolk. Last few days and nights have been quite warm but it was a tad chilly over the weekend. Just before bed we gave a blast of the electric fan heater, dropped the top and opened the windows ajar to allow circulation and left the oil filled radiator on all night on low setting. Warm as toast and only a small wipe of condensation on the roof rail in the morning. First outing in the colder weather just to try. Looking forward to testing in snowy conditions

Hi Colin
As Randa says there has been a bit of interest in this lately in a number of threads (eg. see October 13th) and lots of interesting suggestions. I was interested in the Hymer product but thought it was too expensive.

We have experienced the dripping of the ice cold condensation on the head when sleeping in freezing weather it is certainly bracing to say the least! Of the various fixes suggested two simple ones have improved things for us:

1. Not using the gas heater in freezing conditions, as it apparently puts extra moisture in the air to condense. We now give a blast from our electric fan heater before bed and then leave a small oil filled radiator on low all night.

2. Just before we switch the light out I wipe the aluminium roof rail with kitchen roll to clear it of as much condensation as possible.

It is lovely being tucked up in bed on a frosty morning on a site! Enjoy your winter camping. MikeT

Quote: Soulbluesman wrote in post #5

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Not using the gas heater in freezing conditions, as it apparently puts extra moisture in the air to condense.

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Don't forget that the only condensation variable that you cannot control is water vapour in your exhaled breath.

The metal strip will have to be > 32 Celsius to keep the condensation at bay..


This website goes into great detail, it even has a calculator to work out if your breath will condense at a given temperature...

http://www.sciencebits.com/exhalecondense

I believe holding your breath for 15 minutes cures condensation as well...

I would assume that anything less than the normal body temperature will make the water condense

The normal human body temperature range is typically stated as 36.5–37.5 °C (97.7–99.5 °F).[7]

Quote: Pepé Le Pew wrote in post #10

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[quote="Poptop320"|p53485]

Cripes - it must be like living in a swamp. Your carpets must squelch when you walk on them. Have you got crocodiles and things? Does the sound of tree frogs drown out the telly? Do you spend your evenings picking leeches off each other? .

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Hi Any chance of a template and a list of materials needed please?

Quote: BerylFfrangcon wrote in post #12

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Hi Any chance of a template and a list of materials needed please?

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OK, haven't posted for a while but just back from 7 days on Hertford site when it has been COLD! We have a 2015 Triton 430. on a couple of days, temps dropped below zero. We arrived back at caravan early evening with internal temp at 1deg C. Fan heater on (1KW) and bit of help from gas heater to get things warmed up. Then fan heater on at low setting overnight. Result, warm overnight and despite cooking in evening, minimal condensation by next morning.
You need to heat and ventilate to keep condensation down. Contraintuitive maybe, but it works. the thing that worries me about the AL insulated inset is that it will block the top vents in the canvas and stop the saturated air from being vented, so will actually increase condensation.