With winter a long distance memory, the warmer Calgary weather means it’s camping season for many city residents. The sense of excitement of getting back to your campground for the first trip of the season is a feeling like no other. That is, until the insects start buzzing and the humidity starts to kick in. That’s when you know you need to upgrade your trailer with a sunroom, not just for this camping season but for every camping season to come.
What is a Trailer Sunroom?
You may have come across sunrooms as a residential upgrade around Calgary. They’re big windowed rooms that typically sit on a deck or patio to the rear of a house and provide the perfect space to enjoy the best of the summer months without worrying about bugs, heat or humidity. A sunroom for your trailer is exactly the same, just on a slightly smaller scale. It does require a hard surface, so if you’ve already got an existing deck outside your trailer, it can be quick and easy to build. A sunroom is characterized by large windows, sometimes going from floor to ceiling, and they fit the profile of your trailer so you can make them as long or as short as needed.
Design Factors For A Trailer Sunroom
There’s a lot of different ways that you can customize your trailer sunroom. Each of these will have an impact on your overall budget, so it’s a good idea to have an idea of what choices you’ll need to make and how they’ll affect the price.
Three Season vs All Season
The biggest overall choice you’ll need to make is between a three season and an all season sunroom. A three season sunroom is designed to allow you to use your trailer sunroom in spring, summer and fall, and uses the natural heating capacity of the glazed windows to keep your room warm into the cooler evenings. It’s a simple aluminum and vinyl structure so it’s a cheaper way to keep you camping in style. On the other hand, an all season sunroom is like a full room that can be used all year round. It comes with hollow walls that can be filled with insulation, as well as pipes that will allow you to connect your sunroom to your park model’s existing heating and cooling system. These tend to be more expensive, but you’ll notice the difference as autumn turns to winter.
Window Options
Another big factor in the overall design of your trailer sunroom is the windows. Having a large number of large windows is what makes your sunroom a sunroom, and you’ll likely want to get as many windows in your new space as possible. You can choose to have a normal sort of window design, where the windows are placed within the walls, giving you places to hang pictures and mirrors, or to get more natural light in, you can choose to have the windows be the walls, almost like a conservatory or greenhouse. Likewise, you can choose a solid roof if you want somewhere shaded during the warmer camping days, or add skylights to really make it feel like you’re sitting outside. Each skylight raises the cost of your trailer sunroom.
Ceiling Choices
Finally, you’ll need to think about the kind of ceiling that you want for your new space. Trailer sunrooms will almost always come with a studio (or flat) style roof to keep in line with the overall look and aesthetic of your park model. Most roof options result in a similar price range, so whether you choose v-pan, w-pan or flat pan, you’ll end up paying roughly the same amount. At that point, it becomes a question of what you want the overall look of your new sunroom to be. However, if you’ve got a little extra in your budget and you’re looking to make your trailer sunroom a little more energy efficient, you can choose a top of the line insulated roof. This helps trap heat in during the day, keeping your sunroom warm long into the evening. All of these ceiling models allow you to install as many skylights as you like without affecting the overall structural integrity of the ceiling.
Using Your Trailer Sunroom
Once you’ve made the decision to extend your camping footprint with a sunroom for your trailer, you’ll quickly brainstorm a lot of different ways that you could use your new space. Here are a few easy ones to get your camping season off to a great start.
Morning Zen
Evenings at the campground are for fires and socializing. Mornings are for coffee and quiet contemplation. You can set your new trailer sunroom up to make the most of the peaceful start to the day with a couple of comfy armchairs and somewhere to put your coffee. Make sure to add some soft blankets to keep you warm during the shoulder seasons and suddenly you’ll find yourself looking forward to mornings.
Storage Central
Camping comes with a whole bunch of gear that you want to have ready access to during the day, but that you don’t necessarily want to put outside your trailer in case of wind or rain damage. A sunroom becomes the ultimate indoor/outdoor storage base where everything you need for a day’s fun at the campground is easily accessible while keeping your main living space clear of camping detritus.
Room For a Friend
A more unusual way to use your sunroom for your trailer is to make it into a guest bedroom (or maybe just a place for you to sleep feeling like you’re truly outdoors!). Camping is always more fun with friends, and being able to offer them somewhere comfortable to sleep over that isn’t a cot on your trailer living room floor will make you very popular during the season. You can get creative with a simple futon or a pull out sofa bed so the space can double up as an extra living room during the day.
