2014 Chevy Express 2500 Van Build: Luisafernandes

[Luisafernandes]

Finished two small compartments, one over the side door and one over the desk area. They'll serve two purposes: 1- the obvious, more storage! What will I put in there? No idea yet. But I know I'll use the space. 2- it covers up the metal, giving the interior a better finish.
Here's the one above the side door;

And the one above the desk;

I designed the door to close at an angle, and I was going to use magnets to keep the door close, but it turns out the hinges I used keep the door close all by themselves.
These are the type of hinge I got;

My pantry/storage cabinet is also getting organized with various containers from Walmart.

 

[Luisafernandes]

Took it a bit easy this windy and rainy weekend in northeast U.S.
I still managed to make a removable wood piece to keep things from sliding off my desk. I'll show pics next week.
I've had a leak in my van coming in through a gap in the sealant on the roof. I lost a days work to have it fixed at the dealer, but all they did was find the leak location. I would have to loose another one to two days of work to have them fix it. From what I was told they may have, or not have, removed the existing sealant.
So for a few dollars I bought some sealant and did it myself. Hope it solved my problem.

 

[Luisafernandes]

In a few months if things go as planned I'll be installing my solar.
First I'll buy a safari type roof rack. Then I'll buy the biggest solar panel I can fit on top. : )

 

[Luisafernandes]

Here's a tip for those using a roof vent in cold weather like myself.
A few nights ago I went to sleep in my -20 degrees sleeping bag, but the temperatures outside were still in the low fifties to upper forties. I thought of using my other sleeping bag rated for about 50 degrees or so but decided against it.
Sometime during the night it got colder, low forties, and by then I'd been sleeping half uncovered when the chill woke me up. I pulled the bag over me and went Bach to sleep.
The next morning I knew I'd made a mistake. The vent offers nice fresh air but when it gets colder, that fresh air becomes heavy and sinks right down on top of me.
I think I'll continue to leave the vent open to various degrees depending on the weather throughout the winter, but I'll make sure to cover myself properly and not let the chill get to me.
In 2009 I slept in a mini van for three months in weather sometimes below -15 F. Having the roof vent adds another dimension to the equation, one must adjust to or freeze by.

 

[AimlessWanderLust]

Having slept many, many nights in various rigs with little or no heat, we found the best thing is to open the roof vent a crack, maybe half to one inch and then have another vent as low down on the floor as possible open the same amount. This allows warm, moist air to escape up and draw fresh air in low down. Of course it will get colder inside as the temperature drops outside, but with proper insulation a 20 or so degree difference can be expected.

We don't have a low down vent in our van (yet?), so we crack both the front windows. This didn't work so well (since both vents were up high) until we sealed up the rear from the front with insulated curtains and left a small gap at the floor. That draws air from the front windows in, then down to the floor, under the curtains, then back up through the roof vent. Condensation is minimal.

 

[Luisafernandes]

Yes, I didn't mentioned it but I did have my front windows down a few inches and the door dividing the front from the living area closed. There's small gaps at the bottom of the door where air can flow through.
I've slept in the mini van with all windows closed and never run out of breathable air. In a bigger van like I have now running out of air in the winter (unlike summer when the air is hot and muggy) isn't going to be a problem I believe. The only problem is cold air management. Having enough come in, but not too much. I like sleeping in a cold room, but don't want to wake up in the morning like a popsicle : )

 

[AimlessWanderLust]

The worry is not "running out of air," but instead making sure the moisture can escape. Moisture leads to mold and mildew. Not exactly something you want in such a tiny place.

Not to mention that foggy and icy windows are the exact opposite of stealth!

 

[Luisafernandes]

Another yes!
Absolutely! By leaving a small opening on the front windows and roof vent, you not only get a bit of fresh air, you get the condensation created by your body heat to escape.
I've said it before and I say it again, installing my roof vent was one of the best things I did in the van! Only wish I had done it sooner : )

---

I get zero condensation on the front windows by doing what I said above. Zero. So far...

 

[Luisafernandes]

Here's some of the stuff I accomplished this weekend;
Drilled three holes at the bottom of the bug/rock deflector shield to allow water to drain out. Used 3/16 drill bitt, I believe.

Finished and set up a wood block at the desk to keep things from sliding off.

Applied another layer of Reflectix to the back windows and secured them with Velcro. Tried tape magnet but was just a wast of money.

Bought and installed two LED lights (one on either side) in the trunk/garage area for better visibility at night;

 

[itsnotliving]

A few posts back Bob wrote "I've never been able to keep the floor warm, I gave up trying. I no longer recommend insulating the floor, it's a waste of time-money."

Has anyone real world experience of applying insulation on the underside of the floor? Seems that to separate the floor from the cold would go a long way to keeping the inside floor warmer.

There was also a mention of having a vent lower down. I have been thinking that a floor fan would pull warmer air down rather than suck it out through a roof vent. Stealthier too.

Anyone tried to reverse the van/car heater blower motor to vent rather than blow in? Should be fairly easy with a switch if the ground side can be isolated. It would be really useful for a car where a Fan-tastic would be a little to obvious. Need to have it run without the key inserted too.

I also like the catalytic heaters having read they are 98% efficient or whatever. How much moisture do they introduce?

Maybe a little off-post here (not to mention rambling)...... but I'm trying to keep warm in an old drafty factory space with a 1.5 kilowatt oil-filled radiator to hug. Although cleaning up before 6am with my head under a cold tap in the morning at least wakes me up before everyone staggers in.

 

[Luisafernandes]

A few posts back Bob wrote "I've never been able to keep the floor warm, I gave up trying. I no longer recommend insulating the floor, it's a waste of time-money."

Has anyone real world experience of applying insulation on the underside of the floor? Seems that to separate the floor from the cold would go a long way to keeping the inside floor warmer.

There was also a mention of having a vent lower down. I have been thinking that a floor fan would pull warmer air down rather than suck it out through a roof vent. Stealthier too.

Anyone tried to reverse the van/car heater blower motor to vent rather than blow in? Should be fairly easy with a switch if the ground side can be isolated. It would be really useful for a car where a Fan-tastic would be a little to obvious. Need to have it run without the key inserted too.

I also like the catalytic heaters having read they are 98% efficient or whatever. How much moisture do they introduce?

Maybe a little off-post here (not to mention rambling)...... but I'm trying to keep warm in an old drafty factory space with a 1.5 kilowatt oil-filled radiator to hug. Although cleaning up before 6am with my head under a cold tap in the morning at least wakes me up before everyone staggers in.

Hi there!
You're right, it's a bit off-post. You'll get a lot more exposure and answers if you start a new thread with all these questions. [emoji106][emoji6]
But let me try to answer a few here.
First, are you living in a van or in a factory? That can change things. If you go a little farther back on my thread you'll read that I did insulate the floor on my van. I still have a cold floor, but less so than if I hadn't done it. If I had to do it all over again I'd still insulate. That's just my opinion. And if I had a high-top van like the new Ford Transit, I'd go much thicker.

I have a Mr Heater buddy but haven't used it enough to make a judgment on how much moisture it produces.
[emoji631]

 

[akrvbob]

It'snotaliving, this is a very, very good question. If you'd like I can copy the question and create it as it's own thread. Let me know if you want me to.
Bob

 

[Luisafernandes]

A few years ago when I first started thinking about van living I came across this;
http://www.go2marine.com/product/98...-propane-lpg-boat-heater-fireplace-p9000.html
Now I'm thinking about it again. I didn't think it was feasible at the time, but have since seen class Bs on YouTube with it.
Why would I want one if I've said before that I like to sleep when it's cold in a room? For one thing comfort. I wouldn't sleep with the thing at "68 degrees" (not sure if it can be controlled that way) but rather 50 or so would be just fine.
The other thing is condensation. Last night it got down to only low 40s and I'm using a bag rated for -20. During the night my body creates heat and that heat traveled down through 7 inches of foam to the bed platform, where it met up with cold air creating condensation. It wasn't too bad, just a little moist.
Will it be like this or worse when it gets very cold? I don't know yet. I'll have to see when the time comes. It should be going down to the twenties by the end of the week. I'll have a better idea then.
I do know that when I stayed in my minivan back in 2009 in weather ranging from 40s and 50s to minus 15, specially when it was colder, the air mattress under the sleeping bag was soaking wet every morning. Is this a sign of things to come? I hope not! I have a roof vent that I didn't have then, will that change the equation? I hope so[emoji779]️[emoji28]

 

[AimlessWanderLust]

I'm curious if you've also considered a thermostatically controlled heater, like the Propex? It's barely smaller than the marine fireplace heater you linked.

It looks like the fireplace will be burning constantly, like a catalytic heater does, as opposed to being cycled on and off automatically.

They're also about the same price.


We're in the same boat, debating whether we want to invest in a heater or not. Don't really want to deal with propane at all, but electric heat is hard to power on batteries.

Will be interested in what you decide to do.

 

[Luisafernandes]

I'm curious if you've also considered a thermostatically controlled heater, like the Propex? It's barely smaller than the marine fireplace heater you linked.

It looks like the fireplace will be burning constantly, like a catalytic heater does, as opposed to being cycled on and off automatically.

They're also about the same price.


We're in the same boat, debating whether we want to invest in a heater or not. Don't really want to deal with propane at all, but electric heat is hard to power on batteries.

Will be interested in what you decide to do.

Very nice! Thank you for bring it to my attention [emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]
It's definite worth considering.
The positives I see is that I don't have to cut a hole on the roof.
The negative is that it's under the van. If that's even a negative.

 

[AimlessWanderLust]

I believe there are a couple options. The cheaper version is for inside installation only, and you have to have a fresh air hole and an exhaust hole cut (only about 1" diameter each). I think there is an upgrade option for it to be enclosed and can be mounted externally, this might only apply to the 2800 and not the 2000.

Either way, they are very small heaters. Nearly all of the VW Westy fanatics use them with great success.

Only down side I see is that it still requires a bulk propane tank you have to deal with...

 

[Luisafernandes]

If I were to install something like it, either this unit or the one I mentioned previously, I would still have to deal with s bulk propane tank.
Something to mull over, this heating deal.

 

[highdesertranger]

that one that luis posted also comes in diesel and wood/charcoal models. highdesertranger

 

[Luisafernandes]

Yes, diesel and wood.
And here's another one I had found a couple years ago;

Yet another possibility. I like how he gets almost 8 hours of burning time per stoke.
Feasible in a cargo van? [emoji95]

 

[AimlessWanderLust]

Wood burning stove would be awesome, but I thought there was a thread on this forum a while ago about the feasibility of a wood stove in a van (as opposed to a larger rv/trailer) and the consensus was that it is too small of a space to get the proper clearances needed around the sides of it...causing a fire hazard.

Anybody remember this?

Also, smoke from a wood fire wouldn't be much stealth if you plan on urban camping...