LOW-COST VAN INSULATION

Choosing the right materials

Here we go, one of the most difficult steps: choosing the right materials to insulate your van. There is a wide choice out there. The choice depends on your budget, whether you want to live full-time in your van or just use it for holiday breaks, and what countries you will visit with your tiny home.

Let’s start by saying that we had a very low budget for our van conversion.

We decided to use a vapour insulation membrane (like reflectix), to prevent damp and mould growth. It also works as thermal foil insulation, and it is very easy to install. Moreover, it’s cheap! You can buy big rolls of this at an affordable price.

Right after installing it, we noticed the difference straight away: the walls were not freezing like they used to be before, nor super hot when the sun was hitting. However, we needed to live full-time in our van, so we wanted to make it as more comfortable as possible!

So, we installed expanded polystyrene foam sheets on the walls, attaching them on top of the foil. Polystyrene is an excellent insulation product as it has a high R-value, and it is one of the cheapest insulating materials. One of the cons of polystyrene is that it can retain water, however, this wasn’t going to be a problem for us: we installed it between the vapour foil and the cork walls!

Yes, that’s right! As I said, we wanted to be really sure our van was appropriately insulated. So, instead of going for the classic wood panels on the walls/ceiling/floor, we installed cork panels instead. This is way cheaper than plywood, and it’s very lightweight and soundproofing, and water-resistant. Well, that’s all we needed! And, being cork another insulation material, we were happy enough with our reflective foil and expanded polystyrene.

(More on creating walls/ceiling/floor with cork on the following article!)

So, the materials used for this insulation will help to create:

– A vapour barrier (to reduce condensation and avoid mould and/or rust)

– A thermal insulation (to make you super comfortable despite the season!)

– Sound deadening (essential to reduce road noises and vibrations)

Now, let’s jump to the materials list!

Shopping list

→ Vapor Thermal Insulation Foil 

→ Expanding Foam (We had to use 5 of this!)

→ Cutter

→ Sikaflex

→ 3M90 High Strength Glue (Very difficult to find, but essential to attach the EPS boards)

→ Polystyrene EPS Foam Sheets

→ High Strength Glue

STEP BY STEP

We decided to work from up going down, and that was a wise choice: the floor will get super messy, so it makes no sense to insulate the floor first. So, the first essential thing to do is to remove any panel and lining and van parts not useful for your conversion. Then, clean the van! You don’t want any dust, as the glue will not stick to it.

We also had to fill some small holes in the walls and floor before starting the insulation.

Once you’re ready to start your insulation, be prepared to get messy! All the gaps between the walls and ceiling need to be filled. We used expanded foam, as it’s cheap and easy to use. CAREFUL! Avoid putting foam near wires.

Once you’ve filled up all the gaps (it took us a few days), you’re ready to install the vapour barrier foil.

We covered ALL the walls, the wheel arches, the ceiling and the roof, but we left some parts where the wires needed to be accessible in case something breaks (ex. near the doors). You don’t want to break all the insulation to fix something later on!

The next step is to attach the EPS sheets to the foil. We used these only on the walls, leaving the ceiling only with the foil. We chose to do this because we will install a cork ceiling, useful for insulation and sound deadening anyways, and we didn’t want to lose too much van height.

Let’s see out to insulate your van step by step!

Steps:

→ Remove panels, lining, existing floors etc.

→ Make sure everything is clean before attaching the material to it

→ Make sure there are no holes on the walls/ceiling/floor. If you find any, fill it with sikaflex!

→ Fill all the gaps with expanded foam (avoid gaps with wires) and wait for it to dry

→ Attach the reflective vapour barrier foil (leave the gaps with wires)

→ Attach the polystyrene sheets (we put this only on the walls)

YOUR INSULATION IS COMPLETED!

Tutorial video

We are curious about YOUR van conversion! Leave a comment below and let us know about your project!

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