Insulation

[Angela]

I am going to, in the not too distant future, start planning to replace the headliner. Mine is the original perforated headliner and I want to put in new panels that are easily removable, with batton strips, and a solid material. This will also afford me the opportunity to update the ceiling lighting fixture. Plus, I have to stay ahead of Pascal. LOL LOL

Is there any reason why I cannot put ordinary insulation in the ceiling of the salon - between the FB floor and the underside of the headliner? Hatteras didn't insulate the boat, not one bit. Was there a reason for that? During the summer, as soon as the AC kicks off or I turn it off to transition to genny power, it gets hot as hell in just minutes. I'm thinking some insulation can't be bad, but since Hatteras never did it, was there a good reason for it, or did they just think that no one would live on the boat? In Miami during the summer, none of the AC units hardly ever shut off - ever! They run non-stop for months. If I can help them live longer and work a little less, I'd like to do that.

[Walter P]

Ang,

Seem's like a great idea. I lived in Fla full time and I can attest to the blazing heat inside a boat when you shut down the AC even for a short time. There are a couple of considerations that I would have... One is how you would mount the insulation. I assume it would be glued to the underside of the fiberglass. What kind of adhesive would be necessary to assure that the heat would not cause it to release. Of course you could probably have some mechanical fasteners through the insulation into the underside of the roof. The second consideration would be with the solid headliner material, would this dead space be a source of mold? I don't know the answers but these are just two things that I would need to know in order to proceed with the project. I recently installed new headliners in my fwd stateroom and over the galley and dinette. I used material that I bought from Steve (Sam's) that was solid (no holes). It seems logical that if it's OK to use material without holes at all, it should be OK to use it over insulation. BTW, what kind of insulation are you planning to use? Please keep us posted on progress....

Walt

[Pascal]

I wonder if it would really make a difference. Sure every little bit helps but most of the heat comes from the windows. Keep in mind a good chunk of the FB deck is shaded by your hard top, seats, structure etc.... And you also have the balsa core acting as insulation.

Better hurry up if you want to catch up, . I finished plumbing up and tested the mater whirlpool last night!

[rsmith]

Shoot the interior with the famous MikeP ir gun.that should tell you where the hot spots are but as the old ad said,every litter bit helps. As long as it's open I'd stick something in there. Wonder about those rolls of foil covered bubble wrap they use on water heaters?

[tonytrakovich]

Ang. Are you talking about removeable headliner panels like on the newer boats? I would like to know how that is done. I would like to change mine as well.

As for insulation, I would think the 1/2" foil lined foam that you can find in the home centers would make a big dent in the heat load. The foam would not do a lot but the foil should reflect some of the IR back up. You could cut the foam to size and hold up with aluminum angle brackets. Foam will not hold moisture so mold should not be a problem?.

At the boat show last year, I saw some clear window film that reflected a massive amount of heat. Add this to Windows and foam/foil and it should make a difference. No?

[Fanfare]

I did not want anything that could trap or absorb water. I glued slabs of Styrofoam to the overhead when I was putting new headliner in about 20 years ago. These fit right in between the slats the headliner fastens to. I don't know if this really helped, but it seemed a good idea "while I was in there."

The overhead in my 50MY seems a different construction than in the later boats in that it is a sort of disc shape of 1/2 in. fiberglass. Apparently its strength comes from the concave shape rather than any balsa coring. Mine has a smooth finish on the top and bottom rather than the rough finish beneath on later boats. So I think I had even less insulation than you!

[bigbill]

ang., i put styrofoam panels in my headliner when i had it down, i didnt notice a difference in the temps inside several years down the road i had to remove the headliner panels and i removed the styrofoam panels, once again i didnt see a difference. i think what pascal said about the shade and balsa is spot on.. the windows are the big problem in my opinion.

[SEVEN]

There are heat reflective paint coatings on the market that are used on the underside of your homes roof. They lower the temperature of the home some 20 degrees in the summer and keep the home warmer in the winter. The one we used in California has ceramic beads that do the reflecting. It really works well. I would research those type of products rather that possible having issues with glues that may not hold in the extreme heat of Florida. Just s thought. Happy Thanksgiving

[Angela]

Thanks for the responses. Good point about the windows being the biggest source of heat, and I agree. I have been eyeing a new film for the windows that reflects heat. Home Depot had a contractor demonstrating this film. They put a heat lamp on one side of the glass, and you put your hand on the other side of the glass. It was very impressive. Hardly any heat at all on the glass with the film, yet the plain piece of glass let a lot of heat through. My window film is shot and ready to be replaced anyway.

I was also thinking that insulation would help with sound. When it rains, it's really loud, especially in the two staterooms where the ceiling overhead is the deck above (the two forward staterooms). It's so loud up there that most people cannot sleep through it.

A styrofoam panel placed in between each row of "rafters" may do the trick. It's inexpensive, lightweight, easy to work with, and it does have some insulating value - it's used as insulation when making winter shelters for feral or outdoor cats up north. So, maybe I'll try that in one of the staterooms before going nuts with it all over the boat.

[Fanfare]

Fanfare came with a whitish nubbled plastic sort of carpet on her after deck. It's now long gone. The plain white deck is really noisy. Feet, chairs, stuff being dropped. I don't mind the rain, in fact that is good when it wakes me up in a blow. Nothing other than indoor-outdoor carpet will fix this. Keeping this clean, especially when fishing, is too daunting. I have given up.