@@SmartVan Yep. You are officially the van geek. 🤓 You are the first van dweller that I have ever seen on CZcams using thermal imaging to demonstrate heat loss. 👍up.
Wow - so excited to find your videos. I saw your tour of the cascade camper van months ago, and that is part of why I decided to go with them. I had no idea you did more videos. Watching these definitely helps me pass the time, and generate ideas while I wait for our build date for our van. In particular, I appreciate this vid and the speaker/audio update vid. Thanks so much!
Thankyou Mr Smart Van. Another really helpful video, particularly with the thermal imaging. My van is even smaller than yours, and is insulated in a fairly haphazard way, but I find every little helps, and I wouldn't be without it. I'my enjoying your videos, and am finding them really insightful :-)
After a winter of camping in my van with zero insulation, I decided the weather in southern CA isn't necessarily cold enough to require insulation (nights usually low 40s...mid 30s, max). However, insulation from road noise is necessary (for me), so I decided to just cover any areas that are only one sheet of metal separating me from the street. I did all the research and stressed over materials and price...but then found a bunch of styrofoam sheets behind a furniture store and decided to give that a try. For the window areas, I made stencils and cut & sanded (yuk) perfect shapes...but, for the hidden crevices, I just broke the foam into small blocks and wedged them in like Tetris. Styrofoam is a mess to work with, but it's cheap (free, if you look), ultra-light and reasonably effective.
Awesome that it's working for you, but it's annoying that the company claims it's r8 when it definitely isn't. The best foam I've found is r6 for an inch of closed cell foam (polyiso, xps foam, and spray foam) so If that foam is only 1/2 inch then an educated guess would be around r3 or r4 and that's being generous. It does look nice though. Glad you found something you like :)
I just laid laminate flooring ($2 at at garage sale) over 1/2" pink Styrofoam in my PMC The weird groove patterns in the truck bed were a pain to level but I chopped up interlocking rubber floor mats (also $2 at a garage sale) to support the dips. They are just the right thickness. Lots of work but it turned out great (looks like hardwood). I would also lay down a coat of smooth bed liner first if I did it again. I will likely do spray foam outside for wheel wells and exposed undercarriage. Contemplating polyester or thinsulate for the cavities and maybe even walls. Thinking smooth bed liner and 1" pink board for the ceiling if I can engineer the contour. Would be nice to have these removable if I can figure out how the leave some metal surface areas for magnets. I'm trying to economize since I blew a big chuck of my budget on lithium battery technology. I will definitely use thermal imaging to analyse the results. Thanks for the tip. Cheers.
Very nice, have you considered doing a yt channel? Would be fascinating to see! I've seen others stuff thinsulate on promasterforums, can be a little bit pricey but great stuff
I have been taking some footage and stills as I go but not prepared to spend time editing at this point. Would communicate with you privately if you wished. My "burner" addy is jokersmith2003 at (rhymes with woo hoo).ca.
The thermal image really helps with insulation weak points. IT was wise to purchase a camera or at least find someone who can do the image for you. I bet it's a fairly cheap service some shops may provide.
Great job on the insulation. I wonder if you could use spray foam to fill some of those void areas for better insulation...and make sure the floor is well insulated too.
Thanks for watching, yea I bet that would do a good job, I'm not quite ready to seal the gaps though, I still have projects where I may want to run wiring through the walls! When the bed is down, the bed itself provides great insulation (being foam and all), but there's still a gap, I can shove something there to complete that. Ideally it reduces the area I have to worry about to bed to ceiling instead of floor to ceiling.
Hi there. Enjoying your videos. Have a question. I like the little "pillowed covers" you used for the back 2 sides....did you make them? Did Wayfarer make them? Piano Girl
Have you ever tried to run a small Crock-Pot slow cooker that's around 200 plus Watts off of the inverter I'm wondering how long it would be able to be used for Also do you have or does the van include a hook up to the alternator so you can recharge the house battery with that if it's ever really cloudy
I'm wondering how practical it would be to have a van sprayed with insulation before having cascade install their kit. either something intended for insulation or if thats to fragile/thick, something like rhino liner.
What kind of magnets are they using? I would like to make my own insulated coverings to go around the windows of my Nissan nv1500. Kinda look like they go through all the fabric and insulation. Very nice product.
No. Zack's philosophy regarding insulation is not a good philosophy. It's a philosophy of somebody who doesn't want to do the proper (any?) insulation work. Which is which is generally labor-intensive because it's fairly meticulous. And, insulation ONLY slows down the loss of heat or cold from inside the van? Well DUH. That's the whole point of having anything insulated like a house or a van insulated. The problem with the ProMaster City in the Ford Transit Connect type Vans is that they are very small to begin. If you insulate them PROPERLY you're going to be losing another 1-2 inches off EACH wall and floor and ceiling...depending on how well one needs it insulated. But yeah, insulation is ONLY there to reduce the amount of time it takes the interior of your van/house to reach equilibrium with the outside environment. So who the heck needs needs it when you can just constantly drive hundreds or thousands of miles to a more ideal environment. SMH And BTW, for those that don't know, Reflectix glued against metal is crappy insulation. It falls under the category, but only just barely, of "better than nothing". Just wrap some tin foil around scrap cardboard if you're going to do that and call it insulation. But for a $8,000 build out "kit" for a van that size, it should come very well-insulated.
what about insulating on the floor underneath the floor panels of the wayfarer vans. I am going to add hushpads of somesort before I take the van to Wayfarer, and have pretty much figured out what I want to do to walls and ceiling of my totally empty ford promaster. However, I am not sure what to do about the floor. Some friends experienced with fulltiming across country in their vans have told me how much they regret not doing insulation to their floors, and are about to tear out their van build to redo the floors. I do not want to start over. Buying my van a year ahead of time to work on it on my days off. I want the wayfarer 159 chassis length kit. But am worried if I insulate the floor then the modular floor they insert will not fit.
I am considering ordering the van with the floormat in, removing the floormat, applying hushmats to floor between the ribs, then getting the 1" poly-foam insulation into strips of the right size to fit snug between the ribs, but not rise above it. Then putting the mat back on. He should then be able to drill the floor into the ribs right through the mat. As I understand that is the attachment point for the floor.
@@jackiehorn3724 When fully set out my bed is like 3 inches of stiff foam and 1.5 more inches of mattress topper, the insulation is actually quite good beneath me, all that remains is to "plug up" some extra sources where heat can leak where the mattress isn't.
Hey Smart Van...so I just came to this exact conclusion yesterday and then today I saw your video thumbnail and realized you did the exact same thing! Lol! The Cascade kit with the Wayfarer insulation. I am in a colder climate but I think this will be sufficient with our heater. How cold does it get where you are?
@@SmartVan I'm thinking of using the Mr Heater Golf cart heater. Its smaller than the Little Buddy and comes with a cup holder attachment for a golf cart but I can use it in the van. It also takes a 1lb propane tank. I really dont want to use one of those large cylinders...I dont mess with propane like that...lol!
Nice, I saw that. I was a little bit concerned though because that one isn't rated for indoor use (though I'm not sure exactly what difference it makes). Either way you gotta have enough ventilation + carbon monoxide detector. Be careful out there!
@@SmartVan yep..saw that too and asked the same question..lol. I dont see what's the difference between the two...but I will always have all detectors on-board 👍🏾
@Whit Coburn Hi! Well, sort of. I bought a Class B RV, a 2003 Dodge Xplorer and it has more than I need and is a bit longer than i need as well for Urban vandwelling. So, I am in the process of selling it and then I will probably purchase the PM City and get the Wayfarer insulation and floor to start.
Thanks for the info... NOT- rather, a NO longer a Wayfarer conversion van fan... ...That INSTEAD of providing livable insulation, "just go south" is not appropriate to myself.... A Technical Standards Licensed, Operating Engineer Operating in Thermo-dynamics, and Thermo-insulations!!!
Loved the thermal imaging! Very interesting. Keep warm. 😁😄👍🏼😎🐾
Good to hear from you. Pricy but really beautiful van build and insulation. You are the van geek extrodinare!
I'd be a geek in some way or another, can't wait to start doing some more electronics work & live up to my channel name :)
@@SmartVan
Yep. You are officially the van geek. 🤓 You are the first van dweller that I have ever seen on CZcams using thermal imaging to demonstrate heat loss. 👍up.
Wow - so excited to find your videos. I saw your tour of the cascade camper van months ago, and that is part of why I decided to go with them. I had no idea you did more videos. Watching these definitely helps me pass the time, and generate ideas while I wait for our build date for our van. In particular, I appreciate this vid and the speaker/audio update vid. Thanks so much!
Totally getting this prom master city
Thankyou Mr Smart Van. Another really helpful video, particularly with the thermal imaging. My van is even smaller than yours, and is insulated in a fairly haphazard way, but I find every little helps, and I wouldn't be without it.
I'my enjoying your videos, and am finding them really insightful :-)
Thanks very much for an excellent update. Very helpful!!!
After a winter of camping in my van with zero insulation, I decided the weather in southern CA isn't necessarily cold enough to require insulation (nights usually low 40s...mid 30s, max). However, insulation from road noise is necessary (for me), so I decided to just cover any areas that are only one sheet of metal separating me from the street.
I did all the research and stressed over materials and price...but then found a bunch of styrofoam sheets behind a furniture store and decided to give that a try. For the window areas, I made stencils and cut & sanded (yuk) perfect shapes...but, for the hidden crevices, I just broke the foam into small blocks and wedged them in like Tetris.
Styrofoam is a mess to work with, but it's cheap (free, if you look), ultra-light and reasonably effective.
Awesome that it's working for you, but it's annoying that the company claims it's r8 when it definitely isn't. The best foam I've found is r6 for an inch of closed cell foam (polyiso, xps foam, and spray foam) so If that foam is only 1/2 inch then an educated guess would be around r3 or r4 and that's being generous. It does look nice though. Glad you found something you like :)
I just laid laminate flooring ($2 at at garage sale) over 1/2" pink Styrofoam in my PMC The weird groove patterns in the truck bed were a pain to level but I chopped up interlocking rubber floor mats (also $2 at a garage sale) to support the dips. They are just the right thickness. Lots of work but it turned out great (looks like hardwood). I would also lay down a coat of smooth bed liner first if I did it again. I will likely do spray foam outside for wheel wells and exposed undercarriage. Contemplating polyester or thinsulate for the cavities and maybe even walls. Thinking smooth bed liner and 1" pink board for the ceiling if I can engineer the contour. Would be nice to have these removable if I can figure out how the leave some metal surface areas for magnets. I'm trying to economize since I blew a big chuck of my budget on lithium battery technology. I will definitely use thermal imaging to analyse the results. Thanks for the tip. Cheers.
Very nice, have you considered doing a yt channel? Would be fascinating to see! I've seen others stuff thinsulate on promasterforums, can be a little bit pricey but great stuff
I have been taking some footage and stills as I go but not prepared to spend time editing at this point. Would communicate with you privately if you wished. My "burner" addy is jokersmith2003 at (rhymes with woo hoo).ca.
The thermal image really helps with insulation weak points. IT was wise to purchase a camera or at least find someone who can do the image for you. I bet it's a fairly cheap service some shops may provide.
Awesome
Great job on the insulation. I wonder if you could use spray foam to fill some of those void areas for better insulation...and make sure the floor is well insulated too.
Thanks for watching, yea I bet that would do a good job, I'm not quite ready to seal the gaps though, I still have projects where I may want to run wiring through the walls! When the bed is down, the bed itself provides great insulation (being foam and all), but there's still a gap, I can shove something there to complete that. Ideally it reduces the area I have to worry about to bed to ceiling instead of floor to ceiling.
check out NOMAD
Hi there. Enjoying your videos. Have a question. I like the little "pillowed covers" you used for the back 2 sides....did you make them? Did Wayfarer make them? Piano Girl
Keeping the heat and is important and keeping the van cool when it's hot out is important to you could also have tried spray foam
The foam has two layers of fabric enclosing it, so that ups the R-value.
Have you ever tried to run a small Crock-Pot slow cooker that's around 200 plus Watts off of the inverter I'm wondering how long it would be able to be used for
Also do you have or does the van include a hook up to the alternator so you can recharge the house battery with that if it's ever really cloudy
Ask Foresty Forest for that plus seé his vids for van cooking tips ....hes great at it ...been following him for a while now.
I'm wondering how practical it would be to have a van sprayed with insulation before having cascade install their kit. either something intended for insulation or if thats to fragile/thick, something like rhino liner.
Please make more videos or update video!
What kind of magnets are they using? I would like to make my own insulated coverings to go around the windows of my Nissan nv1500. Kinda look like they go through all the fabric and insulation. Very nice product.
They're neodymium magnets with a hole in the middle, a rivet looking thing attaches through it.
No. Zack's philosophy regarding insulation is not a good philosophy. It's a philosophy of somebody who doesn't want to do the proper (any?) insulation work. Which is which is generally labor-intensive because it's fairly meticulous.
And, insulation ONLY slows down the loss of heat or cold from inside the van?
Well DUH.
That's the whole point of having anything insulated like a house or a van insulated.
The problem with the ProMaster City in the Ford Transit Connect type Vans is that they are very small to begin. If you insulate them PROPERLY you're going to be losing another 1-2 inches off EACH wall and floor and ceiling...depending on how well one needs it insulated.
But yeah, insulation is ONLY there to reduce the amount of time it takes the interior of your van/house to reach equilibrium with the outside environment.
So who the heck needs needs it when you can just constantly drive hundreds or thousands of miles to a more ideal environment. SMH
And BTW, for those that don't know, Reflectix glued against metal is crappy insulation. It falls under the category, but only just barely, of "better than nothing".
Just wrap some tin foil around scrap cardboard if you're going to do that and call it insulation.
But for a $8,000 build out "kit" for a van that size, it should come very well-insulated.
what about insulating on the floor underneath the floor panels of the wayfarer vans. I am going to add hushpads of somesort before I take the van to Wayfarer, and have pretty much figured out what I want to do to walls and ceiling of my totally empty ford promaster. However, I am not sure what to do about the floor. Some friends experienced with fulltiming across country in their vans have told me how much they regret not doing insulation to their floors, and are about to tear out their van build to redo the floors. I do not want to start over. Buying my van a year ahead of time to work on it on my days off. I want the wayfarer 159 chassis length kit. But am worried if I insulate the floor then the modular floor they insert will not fit.
I am considering ordering the van with the floormat in, removing the floormat, applying hushmats to floor between the ribs, then getting the 1" poly-foam insulation into strips of the right size to fit snug between the ribs, but not rise above it. Then putting the mat back on. He should then be able to drill the floor into the ribs right through the mat. As I understand that is the attachment point for the floor.
@@jackiehorn3724 When fully set out my bed is like 3 inches of stiff foam and 1.5 more inches of mattress topper, the insulation is actually quite good beneath me, all that remains is to "plug up" some extra sources where heat can leak where the mattress isn't.
Hey Smart Van...so I just came to this exact conclusion yesterday and then today I saw your video thumbnail and realized you did the exact same thing! Lol! The Cascade kit with the Wayfarer insulation. I am in a colder climate but I think this will be sufficient with our heater. How cold does it get where you are?
Hi Kimberly, that's awesome! It usually goes down to 46-50F at night so far, and in dec/jan it can go down to 30F. What are you using as your heater?
@@SmartVan I'm thinking of using the Mr Heater Golf cart heater. Its smaller than the Little Buddy and comes with a cup holder attachment for a golf cart but I can use it in the van. It also takes a 1lb propane tank. I really dont want to use one of those large cylinders...I dont mess with propane like that...lol!
Nice, I saw that. I was a little bit concerned though because that one isn't rated for indoor use (though I'm not sure exactly what difference it makes). Either way you gotta have enough ventilation + carbon monoxide detector. Be careful out there!
@@SmartVan yep..saw that too and asked the same question..lol.
I dont see what's the difference between the two...but I will always have all detectors on-board 👍🏾
@Whit Coburn Hi! Well, sort of. I bought a Class B RV, a 2003 Dodge Xplorer and it has more than I need and is a bit longer than i need as well for Urban vandwelling. So, I am in the process of selling it and then I will probably purchase the PM City and get the Wayfarer insulation and floor to start.
look link of cheap . proubly wasnt
Thanks for the info... NOT- rather, a NO longer a Wayfarer conversion van fan...
...That INSTEAD of providing livable insulation, "just go south" is not appropriate to myself.... A Technical Standards Licensed, Operating Engineer Operating in Thermo-dynamics, and Thermo-insulations!!!
Wayfarer Van's did not provide that go south comment! Some other van conversion company did. Go back and rewatch if you dont believe me.
Hey smart van. Thanks for sharing. Check out my video. I use wayfarer too.