Vivvivanne - Part 2: Ventilation & Insulation
The thing about rabbit holes is that you can get lost for hours and afterwards you think you’ve just wasted a portion of your day but the reality is you’ve just added a whole lot of information and knowledge to your tool belt.
It’s likely you’ve stumbled across this post on one of those rabbit holes and the aim is to lay out the information you need to get planning and started on insulating your van.
When I first made the decision that I was going to convert a van I suppose I thought ‘ach, I’m fairly hardy, I’m used to sleeping in a tent, no need to go all out on it’ and then as researched it started to become clear insulation is so much more than just keeping warm on the odd cold night.
First off, there’s the rust factor - if condensation builds in your van (which is will just by your bathing so to then cook inside too will be a condensation party!) you’re going to have a rust issue on your hands and probably a damp issue if you’re living in the van a lot. Then there’s the consideration of being in a metal box full of condensation - brrrrr! On the other end of the scale is a metal box in boiling temperatures without proper ventilation and insulation. Ouch.
Then, if we think about the sound of rain falling on a sheet of metal we know it’s going to be loud. So proper insulation and sound deadening isn’t a step to be brushed off - out of all your steps this is the one to out everything into.
So below are the steps I took to insulate my van. There are many debates out there on how you should insulate your van so I took various rabbit holes, weighted up all the information and went ahead with this plan. I’m by no means saying this is the right way for everyone but this is the way I did it.
Step 1: Ventilation
There are a few ways to get ventilation in to the back of your van. My van came with one fixed side window and one that opens behind my cooking area so that was window ventilation sorted. I know Nic Roams has the opposite so has a fan to push any cooking steam out to the window.
I decided to also go for a roof vent as I’m a fresh air fan and knew I’d want something to maximise airflow. Add to that I had wind deflectors fitted to the front windows so I can crack open the windows when cooking.
Some folk do have powered vents but I didn't want to add more to my electrics system with the lack of knowledge I had at that point. I’m yet to do a summer with the non powered vent so will report back!
Installing a vent will mean cutting a hole in your roof but call outs on local Facebook groups will find you someone skilled to do it if you don’t fancy doing that yourself.
I went for a solid white vent - you can get clear vents but I wanted to make sure I could block out the sunlight as the vent is directly above my bed.
Step 2: Prep
You can get the prep done in a day - I got it done within 5 hours on a very cold day over Christmas! I’m not recommending this - it’s a nightmare getting anything to set in the dead of winter.
First off, assuming your van is stripped clean all the surfaces down with soapy water and fill any holes in the floor with metal filler. Allow to dry fully and treat the entire back of the van with Kurust. I didn't think there was any way one small pot would do the lot but it did. Note the cushion in the images below, you’ll need something like this for your knees!
Once the Kurust had dried I painted the entire rear interior (walls and floor) with Hammerite Rust Paint. I used one pot but has to scrape the barrel at the end! This will give your metal the best chance to fight rust from condensation.
You will need:
Kurust - £10.80
Hammerite Rust Beater - £16
Total: £26.80
Step 3: sound deadening
I could not believe what a difference sound deadening made to the noise inside the van and also as I was driving. It is super quick and easy to fit and you won’t need to cover entire surfaces with it so it’s a case of ordering and sticking up as it’s self adhesive.
I ran out of the materials I had ordered beforehand while my van was in the workshop, luckily a car accessories shop was attached to it! I bought some mats from the brand Roadkill from Epic. They both do the job brilliantly but if I had to choose between the two I would go for Silentcoat.
You will need:
Silent Coat 2mm - £79.99
Application roller - £12.99
Total: £92.98
Step 4: plan and buy your insulation
The general rule of thumb of insulation is some insulation material covered by a vapour barrier. Then locked in with wood, cladding or carpet.
I weighed up my options with insulation and went back and forward, got mansplained at in Facebook groups (golden rule for women: search, don’t ask) and watched a whole bunch of YouTube videos. In the end I decided to not go with rigid board insulation in any part of my build - the main reason being that space was an issue, especially in the ceiling as my van is not high roofed. Also, the risk of it rotting was high as well as the environmental impact of the manufacturing of these materials unless you spent a load.
My materials:
spray adhesive - £6.50
1 x roll of eco roll - £16
aluminium tape - £6.50
Total: £88.99
Step 4: insulate
I went for stuffing in the thicker eco roll into all the cavities I could fit it into on in the walls and ceilings. Then, once the cavities were filled I set aim at the walls and used the spray to adhere patches of the thicker roll to the walls. The key here is to not make it too dense - the aim is to allow air to sit in the fleece - this is how it will warm up. I continued for the rest of the walls and then started on the roof with the thinner roll using the same method.
With the floor I tried adhering some fleece to the ruts but in the end gave up and just lay the vapour barrier straight onto the floor. I then worked the vapour barrier over the walls and ensured it was highly sealed with the aluminium tape everywhere using battens I had fitted as anchors. The foil barrier is actually really easy to work with using just a pair of scissors. I tended to rough cut a piece and then tape up the top edge and cut around where I needed to.
Your ideal is to have a little smidgen of space between your covering material (cladding or ply) and your vapour barrier so fitting them into the inside of battens is a good move.
Step 5: cover
So this comes more into build territory so I won’t detail on this but whatever you’re using for covering fix over insulation trying not to pierce the barrier at any point so fixing to battens will be a sound option!
I used ply on the walls and floor that came with the van so were already cut. For the ceiling I used cladding - this was a bitch to fit I won’t lie and again, another blog post in itself so I’ll leave it here! But before I do, just to flag up, if you have solar panel ables coming through from the roof experience has taught me to make a hatch in your cladding.
