If I was still looking for a way to cover or coat my teardrop, I would probably use liquid ceramic. The salesman was over at the house last night, and he said he can coat the teardrop for somewhere between $200 and $500.
The stuff is like a really thick paint, but it doesn't peel like paint. And the best part. It has an R value of 24. WOW. Do you know how many inches of polystyrene I need to get an R value of 24? Probably 4 or 5 inches!!! With a coating like this I wouldn't even need to insulate my tear. I guess they also use this stuff on the bottom of the space shuttle!!!
They have a website if anyone wants to investigate further...
http://www.liquidceramic.com/features-benefits.htm
Mike...
Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailersor t n ttt for short (tnttt.com) |
Liquid Ceramic
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• Page 1 of 1
Liquid Ceramic
by mikeschn » Thu Apr 15, 2004 10:04 am
The quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten, so build your teardrop with the best materials...
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by R Keller » Thu Apr 15, 2004 4:20 pm
Mike,
Where did you get the R-value from for the Liquid Ceramic paint? I didn't see anything on their website about that. Before you scrap the polystyrene insulation plans, make sure you check into that further! Sounds like that salesman might be feeding you a line. The paint looks very good in all other respects though.
You can't really get away from the need for material thickness (to entrap air or other gases) to produce R-value. I've read that some spacecraft use a special material that has hundreds of really thin layers of metal with really small air gaps in between to produce a large insulating value without a lot of thickness. But that stuff would be insanely expensive.
A simple coating (paint, etc.) won't produce any appreciable insulating value. It can, however, reduce the rate of heat buildup on the surface from solar gain (do a search on elastomeric roof coatings). And this will make the insulation more efficient in terms of slowing the transmission of heat from the surface through the wall. Generally the whiter and smoother the surface, the better. Although there are some new paints with ceramic particles (including this paint?) that work almost as well with dark colors.
Hope this helps!
Rik
Where did you get the R-value from for the Liquid Ceramic paint? I didn't see anything on their website about that. Before you scrap the polystyrene insulation plans, make sure you check into that further! Sounds like that salesman might be feeding you a line. The paint looks very good in all other respects though.
You can't really get away from the need for material thickness (to entrap air or other gases) to produce R-value. I've read that some spacecraft use a special material that has hundreds of really thin layers of metal with really small air gaps in between to produce a large insulating value without a lot of thickness. But that stuff would be insanely expensive.
A simple coating (paint, etc.) won't produce any appreciable insulating value. It can, however, reduce the rate of heat buildup on the surface from solar gain (do a search on elastomeric roof coatings). And this will make the insulation more efficient in terms of slowing the transmission of heat from the surface through the wall. Generally the whiter and smoother the surface, the better. Although there are some new paints with ceramic particles (including this paint?) that work almost as well with dark colors.
Hope this helps!
Rik
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