Although we aren’t intending to take our van away to the snow covered Alps any time soon, this stage of the build is still crucial. Aside from keeping us warm when we go skiing up in Scotland, insulation also provides protection from condensation. I mean, who would want rusting in their van?! Or to be dripped on during the night as we experienced on our first trip in the van pre-conversion!
The first post of 2023 is the first part of our insulation project in the camper conversion. We still have some insulating left to do, particularly on the walls and roof, but this post covers the materials we’ve gone for and the concept of insulating a van. What’s below isn’t the gold-pated solution – far from it. We’re first time camper conversion people, so are learning as we go along. There are inevitably going to be mistakes and I imagine these will come to the forefront as we get out and about in the van.
Insulation Research
Before diving into insulating the bare bones of our van, we started off with a bit of research. We wanted to complete this conversion balancing cost with effectiveness, as well as maintaining an element of consideration to the environment. This meant we wanted to look at various insulation materials and determine what process we were going to use.
I’m not intending to insult anyone’s intelligence here, but the primary aim of insulating is to keep us warm in the van. Another reason is to help prevent condensation on the metalwork which could lead to rust. This meant our aim was, in a rudimentary sense, to cover all exposed metal and create a suitable vapour barrier. We researched different materials, their insulating properties and their environmental impact.
Wool Insulation
One of the primary insulating materials we went for was Eko Wool loft insulation from B&Q. It’s an environmentally friendly alternative to glass wool and much nicer to handle! We got no itchiness from it, unlike the classic loft insulation wool. The compressibility of the wool, as well as its vapour-resistance made it a great choice to stuff into crevices around the van. We went for this particular brand as we could pick it up easily from a local B&Q and Knauf Insulation re a well respected brand here in the UK. It also ticks our affordability box, so that’s what we went for! Sheep’s Wool also has a high r-value and is environmentally friendly, but it was quite expensive and harder to source, hence us not going for it in the end.
Polyisocyanurate (polyiso) Board
Next up is the bulk of the insulation. For covering large surface areas, there are quite a few option that could be used. Many people use foil-style sound deadening sheets as they are very thin, flexible and have quite a good r-value. Others go for polystyrene foam boards, however the process of making these is very environmentally unfriendly. I don’t have the figures/stats/sources to back that up, but that’s taken from many other van conversion guides we scoured while undertaking our research. Instead, we opted for polyiso boards. These are similar to polystyrene, but more environmentally friendly. They come in big boards which can easily be cut down to size. Due to accessibility, we went again to B&Q for a reputable brand – Recticel. There are probably loads of other options, but we picked a pack up alongside the Eko Wool.
Expanding Foam
The final insulation piece we’ve picked up at this stage is some expanding foam. Not great for the environment, not a first choice, however for those final little gaps between materials and the hard to reach areas, it’s ideal. Definitely have to use caution applying it, but once it’s dried it can be cut down. I found myself doing this a few times!
Stuffing the Wool
Now to the installation! From our beautifully stripped bare bones van, it was time to start applying the insulation. We started with the large cavities in the side wall. The wool was stuffed in large segments into here, and we used small amounts of expanding foam in parts for filling in gaps. Our little pooch even got involved, on a little break from her most recent adventure! This wasn’t a particularly onerous job and we actually found it quite therapeutic cutting large chunks out of the wool and stuffing it into the space!
Floor Insulation
Next we completed the floor insulation. I decided here to cut strips of the polyiso board to go in the groves in the bottom of the van, then stuff wool on the raised ridges to match the level. We then plan to cover the floor in boarding before laying vinyl. In hindsight, I wouldn’t do this again. The strips of polyiso were time-consuming to measure and cut out. Not only this, but since laying the flooring on top, where the strips are thin in places, it creaks and sounds like it’s going to crack. While this isn’t a structural issue yet (standby building furniture) it doesn’t feel the most stable.
We went for this method as the van is a low roof, we want to minimise the height lost through insulation. Next time I’d probably use something like this, to make life easier. Still, we used spray adhesive for the strips of polyiso and along the ridges for the wool. We then used a bit of expanding foam in some of the corners, then trimmed it down once dried.
That’s where we’re at with the first stage of insulating. Next up we’ll be putting in the flooring, before moving on to putting together the walls and insulating further. This is the first ‘installation’ element of the camper conversion and it took us a bit longer than we’d like. Nonetheless, we’re making movements in the right direction and can’t wait to move on to the rest!