What insulation should I use in my van ?
When it comes to van insulation its so important to get this stage of the build done correctly and use insulation specifically designed for vehicles . I have seen so many people using rock wool and stuffing it in every cavity they can .. This is the worst thing you can do as when it gets wet it will not dry and no matter what you do the inside of your van will condensate due to different temperatures between the outside and inside of your van . Imagine its 4 degrees outside and your sleeping inside your van , your body heat alone would cause condensation , now add in your heater , cooking , kettle and another person or two and suddenly the inside temperature could be up to 17 degrees . That is going to cause major problems to both your van and your health ! your van will rust from the inside out as it can’t dry out and the condensation will develop into mould that you will breath in . So below are three stages that we have used in every build we have ever done since 2006 and it works !
Stage one
Use dodo mat sound deaden and cover the inside of the van walls , floor , roof and wheel arches with 100% coverage . This reduces road noise and acts as a barrier between the cold bridge in temperature helping with condensation . Use a heavy roller to apply it and don’t press on too hard . It helps if its warmer in the van when you install this so put a little heater in whilst your doing it if its cold.
Stage two
Use dodo mat thermo liner and cover 100% of the walls and roof this time . This is self adhesive so its easy to use , just cut to size with a sharp Stanley knife and stick in place . We use silver aluminium tape to seal any joints as good practice .
Stage three
Use dodo mat thermo fleece and fill any voids using spray adhesive to stick in place. Try not to push any cables when doing this stage as its possible to unplug things so take care when pushing it into voids .
Vapour barrier or not ? This is down to personal preference . We never use one and we recently had a van that came to us from an insurance company that had been hit down the side by another car and our job was to remove the furniture and all of the panelling so that the body shop could repair it , We actually had converted the van six years prior to the accident and when we removed everything from the van it was as good as the day we installed it so we know that van didn’t need a vapour barrier . So no better test really !
We always remove the factory cab head liner and use all three stages to insulate behind it just to make sure condensation doesn’t build up there too .
We have reviewed these products for you in our product review page and are available in our shop . If you are unsure on how much you need then feel free to drop us a message and we will help you out. click the button below to view in our shop.
