Winter festivals and wassailing weekends are great ways to occupy the colder months but how do you stay warm in your van? The adventure shouldn’t stop just because the mercury drops. The lure of hibernation must be resisted if you are not going to miss out!
But as soon as you turn off the van’s engine, the aircon stops working and the temperature falls. Unless you have already kitted out your vehicle with a heating system, which is a great and recommended option, you do have several heat options that you can run with immediately.
Here are our hacks for short-term sustainable heating solutions, longer-term options and what to look out for in terms of van maintenance.
Hacks for short term sustainable solutions
The Gas Burner
The simplest, and quickest way to warm up the small volume of a converted van is to use the gas burner on your hob. You can’t leave it running all night but as a way to take the edge off it works, and you can use it to heat water for a hot water bottle simultaneously.
A Classic Four-Season Sleeping Bag
A four-season down-filled sleeping bag is a brilliant choice for winter travelling as it will have excellent heat retention properties and will pack down small too. Couples should use sleeping bags with two-way zips so the bags can be zipped together to create a double-sized sleeping bag.
If you are worried about feeling the cold, there are thermal sleeping bag liners that you can buy to add another layer, stay cosy, and prolong the life of your sleeping bag.
Hot Water Bottles
Hot water bottles are designed to keep you cosy, and you can tuck one in under a quilt or in a sleeping bag before you climb into bed to make sure you have a good night’s sleep.
If you have an electric hook-up, then there is a range of rechargeable electric pad heaters that will stay warm for up to six hours. These battery-powered bottles and cushions from Stoov are awesome. They usually take just a couple of hours to charge 100%, and there’s no risk of scalding.
12 Volt Electric Blanket
Any electric heating in your van will drain your leisure batteries extremely quickly, and solar charging, especially in the shorter, greyer days of winter, will never keep up with demand. You can use a 12V electric heated blanket to warm your bed, just don’t leave it on too long!
I’d put it under the sleeping bags or quilt for maximum effect. Most blankets come in 150 x 110 cm, so one each if there are two of you! Used alongside a longer-lasting bed warmer, such as a hot water bottle, it should get your night off to a good start. For safety’s sake, always turn off the electric blanket before you put the hot water bottle in position!
Hot Drinks
Never underestimate the power of a hot drink to maintain a good core temperature! A decent hot chocolate on a winter’s evening needs no justification.
Permanent Van Heating Hacks
For short breaks when you are out and about and not spending a great deal of time in your van when it’s parked up, independent heating is not really an issue, but when you need to spend time working on a project, you need to shift things up a gear.
Gas Power
A blown-air gas-powered heater with automatic shut-off and thermostatic heat control is one of the best heating systems for vans, motorhomes and caravans. A Propex HS2000 Heater can be set to a certain temperature ti keep the van space warm for thirty hours on a 4.5kg cylinder.
The unit fits neatly under the front bench seats of most vans and gets the space heated quickly. All you need is a couple of hours to fit one, a twelve-volt connection, and somewhere to stow the gas cylinder, and you’re away!
You will need to crack open a window a little bit to balance the moisture created by the gas heater to maintain oxygen levels and minimise condensation.
Diesel Heating
Diesel heaters from companies like Webasto are a major investment in van living, but the super-low long-term running costs will eventually balance the outlay of time and money involved.
Linked directly to the van’s diesel tank and exhausted to the exterior there is little danger of issues with carbon monoxide or condensation. Regular maintenance includes checking fuel lines for contamination. Many modern diesel tanks will have an outlet that you can use to feed your diesel heater.
Webasto issues an extensive, and extremely helpful 24-page instruction manual to help you install their heater. However, if you are not confident working with fuel lines and setting up air intakes and exhausts, there are installers you can use rather than DIY.
Emission Free Electrics
If you are only ever likely to visit campsites that have 12-volt hook-ups, then electric heaters are probably an ideal choice. They deliver a nice, dry heat, and there are no naked flames or emissions to worry about.
The simplest thing you can do is to take a regular domestic electric convection heater, with a blower setting, and plug it in. Propex also makes a heater that can be configured to run on 230v electricity, which requires an on-site hook-up, but it also means no fossil fuel emissions.
It’s definitely the cleanest way to heat your van space.
Maintenance: Check Before You Go!
Airtightness is key to maintaining a reasonable, liveable temperature in your van, so before you go there are a few areas to check for wear and tear. Don’t forget to check things like lights and wipers, either as they will probably be getting more use than usual.
Sort Out Your Seals
Door seals get the heaviest use so it’s the place to start. Door seals can shrink over time, leaving a gap between the ends of the rubber strips. The good news is that replacements are easy to come by, cheap and straightforward to replace.
Don’t miss out the rear doors on your seal survey!
Next up are the van’s window seals. If you fitted these recently yourself I bet you’re pretty confident that they’re good to go. You are probably right, but it’s always good to check. If you have roof lights or roof vents, make sure that they clip down nice and tight and that the seals sit down with proper contact.
Don’t Forget Quick & Last Checks
Is your windscreen cover in good condition? Do your curtains meet in the middle? Can you divide up the space, i.e. curtain off the cab so you heat a smaller volume of space?
Don’t forget to top up the radiator with anti-freeze and inspect your tyres for wear. Tyres need to be at their best all year round, especially when there’s the likelihood of frost on the tarmac!
Why Not a Wood Burner?
Wood burners are cosy in a cottage, and romantic on a narrowboat, however, they take a lot of heavy and bulky fuel to keep them going. In a crofter’s cottage, there will be an outhouse. In a van, no such luxury exists.
Wood burners are perhaps the least convenient, dirtiest, and least safe way to heat a van. Add to that the fact that they are also very heavy, you are better off without one!
Simon has plenty of experience with converting campers and vanlife. In a former life he used to be ‘on the tools’ as a carpenter in the UK and has a strong interest in woodwork, interior designing and cabinet making. He loves the methodology of DIY campervan conversion, the setup and getting the ship on the road. Read more on Simon’s van bandits profile.
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