Keeping your van temperate

Now that you have your electronics wired, it is time to start insulating your home. Here, we will talk about all the options there are to do this, as well as, mention our favorites. We have built and lived in quite a few vans and we have experimented with different types of insulation to find the best solution to keeping your van temperate.

There are endless options out there when insulating, but not all of them are good choices for insulating a van. Some house contractor might not understand vans require a specific type of insulation approach. Good van insulation needs to have the following:

• High R-value per inch what is R-Value? R-Values quantify the “Resistance to heat transfer by conduction.” The higher the R-Value, the greater the insulating power. In vans, this number usually tops out around 7.

• Resistance to moisture, mold, & mildew This is probably what makes insulation the most controversial topic. Because we are dealing with a metal box on wheels, you need to be very mindful of whether the material is resistant to moisture or has moisture control properties and natural mold resistance. Metal, wood, and water don’t mix. So if you have something that is holding on to moisture, you maybe creating a whole new ecosystem in there, and not the good kind.

• Non-toxic You don’t want harmful off-gassing or microscopic itchy fiberglass particles from your insulation filling your tiny living space. Make sure to take this into account so your home isn’t trying to kill you slowly, while you are out there trying to live your best life.

• Able to withstand good vibrations along the journey  There will be a lot of rattling and vibration inside your van as you adventure around in it. So, your van insulation needs to be able to take all the bumps, without falling out and converging together at the bottom of the inside of your wall.

Sound Deadeners

While we are talking about good vibrations, we ordered the FatMat Rattle Trap as a sound deadener. Because like I said, we’ve done this and skipped this step and what a difference this stuff makes! If there was a list of “things I would change about my van build,” sound Deadener is one of them. We wish we could have had this in our past vans and the ones we thought, “does this stuff really matter?” It reduces road noise by absorbing vibrations giving you a nice smooth ride. Some of these Cargo vans can have quite the road rattles. If you have an older van or dually, we would highly recommend not skipping this! It is an easy mindless task to get you going. We have a blog post on Sound deadeners here.

Spray Foam Insulation

If you are looking for the highest R-Value, this should be your go-to. It has about an R-7. Besides holding the title for highest R-value, this is a very messy install. Some send their van away to have professionals spray the van to avoid the mess. The Foam can get into hard to insulate areas, but beware of over spraying. We have seen some vans out there that look like they have pimples from the spray foam pushing through the sheet metal and deforming it. There is some controversy around spray foam in conjunction with condensation can cause the van to rust. It would be interesting to see 15 years later how each insulation install is holding up, rust wise, since people are so worried about it. If you want the most temperate van on the block, spray foam is the way to go. Here is a earth friendly product if you are looking to spray your van. Their company has directions specific to van conversions here as well.

Wool Insulation

There are Rock Wool batts (R-4.7)and there are Sheep Wool batts (R-3.7).

The Rock Wool Batts are hydrophobic, meaning it doesn’t retain moisture, so that is a great thing in vanlife. We’ve had some friends @expandingexplorers that installed Rock Wool. Their van was very temperate, but the insulation took up so much space away from their living and head room space. They have since remodeled, removing the insulation. This stuff can be itchy when exposed fibers are released.

Sheep’s wool is a renewable insulation material that’s non-toxic and very environmentally-friendly, for those of you wanting to make this a green build, with low VOCs. But, again, there is some controversy that because this insulation material has natural moisture absorbing properties that do not change it’s ability to insulate your space effectively, but it may come with some rusty properties in the long run. Again, some things we won’t find out until these van reach an age where we can dig in there and see if this rusty theory translates to practice.

Recycled Denim

Recycled denim is popular because a lot of people believe it is eco-friendly to recycle, reduce and re-use. While that is true, this may not be the best application for that motto. Recycled denim is hydrophilic, which means, it absorbs and retains moisture. We’ve seen and followed progress on some vanlifers attempting to enclose it in garbage bags to keep the moisture from getting in, only to find out later that the bags are soaked and the insulation is moldy. This means a full rebuild if you are trying to avoid breathing in mold all the time, which can make you very ill. So we don’t really recommend this option, although it is popular.

Foam Board

Polyiso Rigid Board, also known as Foam Board Insulation, has a pretty good R-Value, at 5.6, it is one of the top ones out there in van applications. They have a non-toxic install, easy, cut and paste install that any DIYr can pull off. You can get these at any major hardware store, which is a nice convenience if you are tight on a time and money budget. You can insulate a van for around $100-$400, depending on the size of the van and size panels you get. Some downsides are, they are hard to get into weird ribs in the van, which create air gaps and can lead to moisture traps. But nothing a couple cans of Spray Foam won’t fix. This would be our favorite alternative to Thinsulate.

Thinsulate

Thinsulate is our favorite insulation choice. We’ve done Foam Board and some spray foam, but we always come back to this product. It is literally cut and paste. You can be done with the project within the day and move on to the next project. We would use and recommend this product 10 out of 10 times and here’s why:

1. No Mess

2. Easy to Install

3. Sound Damping  

4. Two thumbs up after two years

5. Moisture Repellent

Thinsulate Insulation Video

We have a build series on our YouTube channel where we walk you thru why we chose Thinsulate and the little things that you need to insulate your Van when you choose this insulation. Fast, Easy, Mess Free Insulation for your van conversion.