2014 Chevy Express 2500 Van Build: Luisafernandes

[akrvbob]

Very, very good!
Bob

 

[Luisafernandes]

Very, very good!
Bob

Thank you Bob! And thank you and everybody else for having had patience with me. As you can see, it wasn't wasted. [emoji106][emoji1][emoji604]

 

[4GNomad]

More than two hours to finish two panels. Sheesh!

Hey there bud,

Question on your insulation install. How did you set the 3/4 poly? Is it against the vehicle wall or is it floating on the small lips on the siderails? I couldn't really tell from your pictures.

I am not planning on installing reflectix and going just with straight poly for insulation install before I panel. Thanks for your input.

Cheers!

 

[Luisafernandes]

Hi!
It's not polysio, just pink foam.
I used 3M spray glue and glued it right to the Reflectix. You may have to hold the foam in place for a bit to make it stick.
Whatever you do, take your time and try doing it right, you'll be glad later you did so.
Any other question let me know. [emoji1][emoji106][emoji604]

 

[sassypickins]

Nice work on the solar, Luis. How's it working for you?

Sassy

 

[Luisafernandes]

Nice work on the solar, Luis. How's it working for you?

Sassy

Thank you Sassy!
I love it! It's hard work setting it up and costs money, but now I have energy independence! [emoji1][emoji106]?[emoji604]

 

[4GNomad]

Hi!
It's not polysio, just pink foam.
I used 3M spray glue and glued it right to the Reflectix. You may have to hold the foam in place for a bit to make it stick.
Whatever you do, take your time and try doing it right, you'll be glad later you did so.
Any other question let me know. [emoji1][emoji106][emoji604]

Thanks Luis...

 

[Luisafernandes]

Added a few more things to the Earth-Ship.
I've had these two lights installed since I got my solar;

A few weeks ago I installed this one by the door;

And yesterday I installed the 4th and probably last one;

The last two lights are connected to this wall switch;

As of right now I only have 4 AA operated lights. One on each side of the bed under the cabinet and above my head, and two in the trunk/garage area. I'm going to leave them for now as I rarely use them. Everything else is now on solar power! Love it!
Also for the past couple weeks I've been working on three pullout drawers with soft close slides;

They are very convenient and stay close by themselves while I drive.
And finally but not least, Saturday I installed a money saver. This Dometic CF 35 is running great so far and keeps my food as cold as I want;

As you can see, my 12 slot fuse box is almost full;

 

[akrvbob]

Great work. As usual!
Bob

 

[Luisafernandes]

Great work. As usual!
Bob

Bob, thank you for the very kind words! [emoji1][emoji106][emoji604]

 

[Luisafernandes]

Free Range Chicken, you have your private messages disabled, I can't respond to you. I did get the message and will be posting something soon. [emoji1][emoji106][emoji604]

 

[Free Range Chicken]

I'm sorry I wasn't aware of that. I just enabled that setting. Thanks for reading my message and hope to read you soon! ! !!

 

[Luisafernandes]

I'm sorry I wasn't aware of that. I just enabled that setting. Thanks for reading my message and hope to read you soon! ! !!

Cool, thank you! [emoji106][emoji106][emoji1][emoji604]

 

[Luisafernandes]

Thoughts on living in the van the past year.

Before I go on about my thoughts on living full time in the van for the last year and a half, let me tell you that some of my plans have changed, and with that so have the van's configuration. But that's a comment for another time.

From the day I realized my parents were moving away and my marriage was all but dead, I knew I had to find a place to live.
The search brought me to van living and from that frightful day (yes, buying the van to live in it was new to me and unnerving if not a but frightening) I bought the van I never looked back.

After driving back and forth for a month, commuting to my old house, 150 miles a day, the rain guards for my front windows arrived, and with it my vandewlling life.

Now that I could have the front windows open enough to let air in, but concealed to other people, and protected from the elements, my life in the van began.

At first all I had was an air mattress that leaked air and was all but flat by morning. Slowly I began the build: insulation first, then the walls and ceiling, followed by floor and bed, followed by cabinets.

From day one sleeping in the van was a nonissue for me. Aside from the fact that by morning the air mattress was almost completely deflated, I would still sleep like a baby.
Having the front windows opened a few inches helped with the air circulation and I had more than enough to survive. Eventually I bough some fans to help circulate the air a little better.

With the installation of the Fantastic vent air circulation became a breeze (pun intended).

One thing that stuck with me while reading about vandewlling (before I bought my van) was the fact that when its hot you're going to be hot, and when it's cold you're going to be cold. Well, from a first hand account I can tell you that is one hundred percent accurate.
Sure, there's things we can do to alleviate the problem like; having some kind of heating in the colder months, and cooling in the warmer ones. But it's never going to be like living in a house. Maybe if you have some kind of RV and you're plugged into shore power, but most likely not if living in a van like myself.

Of course many vandewllers move with the seasons, thus avoiding the heat/cold issue almost all together. I'm not one of those that can do that, at least not yet.
My work and obligations keep me in the NY area, and will keep me here for the next few years.

I have to live with sometimes extreme cold and extreme heat. There's no escaping it. There's no running from it. I must face it head on with determination and understanding that I'm going to survive regardless, God willing.
I've survived minus 36 degree weather, and been in the van when it's 90 plus degrees, inside. When the only option is to survive, I'm going to do it without complaining. At least not too much.

 

[Free Range Chicken]

Thanks for your thoughts!!!!! I still doing my conversion but your thread has inspired me a lot. I know it is not easy to fight the weather but hope you stay warm this winter. Thanks!

 

[One Awesome Inch]

Everything was going great until Van Jones entered the scene! Nyuck, Nyuck, Nyuck!

 

[Luisafernandes]

I posted this before under the topic of heating, but I thought it should go here as well since it's a part of my van build.


A couple months ago a decided to invest in something different to heat my van. It wasn't cheap, and it's not for everyone, but after much research I decided to buy the Webasto Air Top 2000 ST B; the B stands for gasoline engines. 
I came across this very same unit in the early beginning of my van build, but decided not to buy it. The unit ran on diesel. Yes I thought of installing a small diesel tank under the van, but in the end decided against it. 
Now a couple years later I came to realize they also made those units for gas engines. I found a place 300 miles from where I stay that sells and installs them. 300 miles and $1600 dollars later I had my Webasto heating my van. 
$1600, I know, lots of money. That's why I said it's not for everyone. But I had the opportunity to get one and couldn't pass up the chance of having thermostatic controlled heat.

The unit brings fresh air for the combustion from the outside, and the exhaust is obviously also expelled to the outside. The air for the living area is recirculated inside only. I didn't want it to come from the outside as it's much more economic to reheat the air inside than to heat frigid air.
Here's a view of the unit from the underside of the van before it was sealed and after I sealed it tight.

And if you have good wifi here's the installation videos;




Here's the unit inside the van. Not much bigger than a loaf of bread;

And here's the unit covered. The hot air comes out on the right, and the intake is on the left.

All I have to do is to turn the dial and...I have heat. I can keep the heat at 68, 70, 72, 74, or anywhere in between. Basically I just set it and forget it. No more getting up in the middle of the night to turn the heat on if I'm too cold, or to turn the heat off if I'm too hot.
Here's the control dial;

I'm still working on some issues regarding having enough power to run the heater every night, especially living on the east coast with all the clouds, rain and snow.
I suppose living in less cloudy areas of the country would allow me to run the unit every night and still recharge the batteries during day. I'm working on it. Just need money and good weather.

 

[highdesertranger]

luis is this the unit that heats your engine coolant? that would be a plus, no more cold starts, instant heat from the vehicles heater/defroster. have you had it in long enough to give it a thumbs up? highdesertranger

 

[Luisafernandes]

luis is this the unit that heats your engine coolant? that would be a plus, no more cold starts, instant heat from the vehicles heater/defroster. have you had it in long enough to give it a thumbs up? highdesertranger

No it's not. This unit taps into the vehicle gas tank and uses about 1 gallon of fuel every 24 hours or so, depending on how hot one wants it to be.
I've had some power problems on the east coast due to cloudy days, but have no such issues here on the west coast. So far I'm loving it. [emoji1303][emoji1303][emoji1][emoji604]

 

[ascii_man]

Luis, how much noise does it make? I could never get a definitive answer from any manufacturer. The coolant heaters are quite loud. I know there is a muffler option, but I'm curious how much noise and therefore how unstealthy it would be. That's a huge reason I chose a vented catalytic propane heater.