Winter Van Life (Canadian)

vandmvanlife · April 3, 2019, 1:52pm

As Canadian vanlifers, my husband and I are finishing our second winter in our rig. Thought I’d share some of the thing we planned in build phase and others we added afterwards.

First thing first: we insulated, opted to add no windows for many reasons and have an ESPAR D2 installed and tapping the diesel tank of the vehicle (heater cannot drain tank below 1/4).

For insurance and personal reasons, we opted to add no fuel sources to our van build. We have a big electrical system and large battery bank as we do everything with electricity. Particularly in Canada (vs. US) winter solar gain is weak and days are short. We dramatically oversized our solar array to maximize production. We also fabricated a tilting rack to give an extra boost - we’ve this tilt literally double the amperage going into our batteries.

You can see in this photo a couple things worth explaining:

Black square below the bed is a 12V computer fan pulling warm air from our living space under the bed to keep water and batteries warm in cold and frigid weather.

Our ESPAR is installed in the most popular spot, under the passenger seat. This means with our platform bed, warm air doesn’t reach the “garage” on its own. We force airflow with fans. In more recent van builds we have participated in, we install the heater under platform beds and run two ducts so both areas can have heat

There’s a rope running diagonal across the ceiling. That’s our winter clothes line, which is positioned so we can turn our ESPAR heater vent towards the clothes hanging to dry them more quickly.

Dry heat sources are key for winter van/bus dwelling to fight condensation. Aside from dry heat, we also learned how beneficial it is to leave a roof vent opened to reduce/eliminate condensation/frost on the windshield.

Excellent tires make a big difference for poor road conditions. We towed a trailer this winter which housed the tools of my husband’s trade and our motorcycle for the weeks we took a break from Winter and went to Southern USA.

Winters are long. Days are short. It’s much more difficult to van dwell when you’re inside starting at 4pm when the sunsets. We’ve learned if you have the luxury to, taking a couple weeks break from winter’s intensity is very beneficial

Self Recovery/ Self Rescue: Carry snow chains, emergency shovel and max tracks so that you’re able to get yourself out of some sticky situations. It took us 12 months of travel but we got ourselves stuck. With the tools we had, it was 20 minutes to free ourselves.

Winter can be a blast. Keep snow and ice off your solar panels so you can stay charged.

**Any questions or other parts of winter vanlife you want to discuss? There’s so many great tips and tricks. We have been on the road for 13 months, 70,000km and have no plans to stop **

Happy adVANtures all!

TyTy · July 27, 2020, 7:40pm

@vandmvanlife

My wife and I are starting out the Vlife, and trying to get the materials we need. We’re opting for a chevy express cargo van. We live in Alberta and want to make some trips up north, anywhere from -20 to -50 temperatures. We need some serious insulation and heating to last. What do you recommend?

Van_Dweller · July 27, 2020, 11:25pm

Greetings!

I’ve done winters down to -60°f, and I can tell you that you want a window van, on a sunny day those windows can provide 40-50 degree rise in inside temps. Insulation really doesn’t help much because you need constant ventilation, and it prevents that free solar heating. What you want is a big heater, at least 20k BTU’s. Between my heater & stoves I have about 60k BTU’s which is really nice to warm the place up fast. My uninsulated window van takes very little heat to maintain the temperature once it’s comfortable, but raising the temperature can take a very long time if you don’t have enough heat.

When I had a heavily insulated cargo van, it cost me many times more to heat than a no added insulation window van, and the cargo van was always cold and damp no matter what I did. Windows, ventilation instead of insulation, and more heat is what solved the problem. I switched from propane to kerosene for both heating & cooking. Cheaper & better. The kerosene heat also requires no power. I put a heat powered fan on top of it to circulate the heat, and no house power is used at all.

Unlike the propane, I am able to safely run the kerosene heater all night, of course you should still have a carbon monoxide detector just be safe. I also have 12v heating/cooling blankets & seat cushions from a truck stop. Combined with my heated/cooled rechargeable coveralls, and self heated boots & gloves, I’m ready for anything.

Cargo vans make horrible campers, especially in extreme weather conditions. Opening windows add so many advantages, a $20 fan can provide better ventilation than 2x $250+ roof vents, and you don’t need to add holes in your roof. Free heat in the winter and free cooling in the summer, neither of which requires power. A view, and much lower insurance costs don’t hurt either, not to mention the higher safety standards for passenger vehicles. They’re also much cheaper to convert, just remove the rear seats and move your new furniture in because the floor, walls, & ceiling are already finished.

I still think factory RV’s and camper vans are a better choice for most people, especially newcomers, and older ones can be found pretty cheap. Only many years of actual experience will give you the knowledge to build your own. The learning curve is much easier if you start with a factory camper. Most newbies go through many builds and tons of money before they’re actually happy, because they didn’t start with a factory camper.

Cheers!

"Keep it cheap, and use the extra money for your adventures." ~ Van_Dweller

TyTy · August 5, 2020, 10:12pm

@Van_Dweller

Thank you a bunch, that is all very useful information.

Michael_Reynolds · October 12, 2020, 1:39pm

HI

I’m just inquiring about the fans you use.
I’m in the planning stage of my build and at present, I’m looking at the condensation issues I may or may not be facing

I plan to construct a hob extractor that uses a fan to direct cooking steam out the van via a flexible hose
Here is a fan i found on amazon that would do the job perfectly https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07PDLPTR8/?coliid=I2OPE72C2FYUIN&colid=VXURUYR6VLZ4&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it_im

That got me thinking about the air issues in the living space. Would it be possible to have two of these type of fans at either end of the van one for pulling air in and the other for extraction?

Ima bit confused when it comes to identifying fans, would an extraction fan turned around the other way become a blower type fan/

The plan is to have one fan bringing air in from outside situated at the rear of the van (above the “garage”) and then 1 or 2 fans in the bulkhead (divider between the cab and the living space) extracting air out into the cab (windows slightly cracked)

can you recommend any fans I was thinking of computer fans and I’m also looking at 12v shower extractor items?

like this one . . . Amazon.co.uk

ultimately I would like airflow in the living space

Thanks in advance

Van_Dweller · October 14, 2020, 12:22am

Greetings!

That cooking extractor fan looks great if you don’t have a nearby opening window.

Normally you don’t need both an input and an output fan. You just flip a single fan around to change the direction of airflow. The single fan will push or pull the air through the opposite end.

I have a couple of 10" O2 Cool 12v fans that are table top or can be hung. They came from Walmart, and were under $20 each. I have seen what I believe to be the same fan at truck stops being sold under the brand name of RoadPro.

They’re great, and they move a lot of air. Much, much more than the 6" clip on fans.

By choosing which window you put it in, and the direction of air flow, you have a lot of great options.

Cheers!

"For every complicated problem there is usually
a cheap, easy, simple, & safe solution." ~ Road Warrior