We sat down with Simon Knight Founder & Director of SavvyVan, a UK based company, to discuss all things van tech touch screen control panels and more specifically, what SavvyVan’s offering is with their van control panels, features, price point and van control panel add-ons.
Focus: Van tech touchscreen control panels, controls for van functions – lights, fridge, hob, water, USB, greywater.
Interviewed by: Simon from Van Bandits
Interviewee: Simon Knight, Founder & Directory SavvyVan, UK
Read time: 8-10mins
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Van Bandits
It looks like an interesting panel that you can use to integrate all of the functions in your van so you can keep control. Especially I like the logic thing. I think the logic thing is pretty good, you know, if this happens, what happens next? You know, it’s kind of bringing what you do for home automation, trying to bring a little bit that into the van,
Simon at SavvyVan
When you have a motorhome you can find everything so disconnected from each other, because, it’s parts from various different suppliers, as some providers do something better than others, so we end up with all these different bits and bobs around, which, honestly frustrates me.
So, that was the point of the products, is it integrates absolutely everything within the van into one panel.
You can have, your Victron chargers and your batteries from whoever you choose. But then you don’t have to pick and choose between them, as we have built a screen that can communicate multiple providers. It takes a bit of everything and displays it on one screen.
Van Bandits
There was something you said in the interview with the V dub people about having to climb under the van to check your water tanks and that kind of thing. And if that eliminates grubbing around in the car park in January, then that’s fantastic, isn’t it?
Simon at SavvyVan
Yeah, exactly, exactly.
Van Bandits
Why did you start the business and how did you get into smart van control panels? Was this something that you thought…. I know what we need, we need a screen here to sort everything out. What was it that got you going with this?
Simon at SavvyVan
It was actually something that wasn’t ever designed to go public to anybody at all. I wanted something in my own van. I researched the internet, and I couldn’t find anything that kind of suited my needs. So, I built myself a very rudimentary, rough version of what you see today.
It was dedicated to my van. You couldn’t change anything on the screen at all. In all honesty, it was a little bit naff, but it worked for the purpose that I wanted.
I then started getting requests from other people who had seen it. Eventually, I went to a local converter and just asked, what do you think? Is there a market for this? He was really excited about the product and 100% saw my vision and the need.
After a brief discussion and a long think at home, it became obvious that a lot had to change as obviously, I can’t just build one for him and then build one for someone else.
We kind of started thinking about how to make it so that anybody could take away and use it. This is where the customisation came in. We then got talking to all the converters that said, actually, you know, we could do with water in it, and gas tanks and Propex and stuff.
We then went away and we started doing the water tanks. We had another company who wanted to look at the levels of the van. We started looking at that. So, everything that we’ve done has been led by a need from the market and what people are wanting.
Van Bandits
Excellent, excellent. Yeah, it looks like a pretty cool innovation. I mean, the touch screen panels that you use, is it just one type of screen that you use? Or do you have different screens for different vehicles or for different interfaces? I mean, what does the market tell you here? Do you need a certain size?
Simon at SavvyVan
Yeah, I think so, we do the 5” and the 7” screens, they have both the exact same interface, but we shrink down the images and the interface onto the screen. What we found is that the 5” is quite popular in the mass build market. However, the 7” is more popular elsewhere.
Van Bandits
On your panel screens. What are the main functions for the screens?
Simon at SavvyVan
The main functions on the main screen, you’ve got your switching. So, switching something that you use every day. You know we’re talking very simple switch, and we’re literally going to trigger a wire that disconnects and reconnects that circuit back together.
Obviously, the primary function is again, coming back to the customisation, so if you wanted one button smack in the middle of the screen and nothing else, it’s very expensive for what it is, but that’s an option. Then obviously, we’ve also got the other extreme with the battery management side, water tanks, gas tanks, leveling, 3rd party integrations etc.
So, I think battery management is key because when you’re in any kind of off-grid scenario, your battery rules.
That is what you’ve got to set. That’s what you’re always looking at to make sure you’ve got enough charge and if you need change your plans to ensure you have power.
What we try to do is make sure that it’s more intelligent. We know what the battery’s state of charge is. We know that say you’ve got your water heater or you’ve got lights on, and we know what draws come from this. So, if you get to a certain level on your battery that you know, say 20%, well actually I’m gonna start turning things off. And if I get to 95% and you’ve got charge going in, well, why wouldn’t I turn on your water heater? Because you’re fully charged, you’ve got more going into it. Let’s reuse that energy that would eventually be wasted. Then switch at 90% will turn it back off. And these are designated for any kind of heater, really. It’s just making sure that we get the most out of the energy that we’re producing. Whether you’re driving somewhere or powered off the solar.
Van Bandits
It’s really smart van technology, then really, isn’t it? It’s the hub that takes care of everything inside your van and makes sure it optimises how everything works together, I guess.
Simon at SavvyVan
Yeah, exactly that. Yeah, correct.
Van Bandits
Do the panels themselves use much energy?
Simon at SavvyVan
They’ve got two states – obviously, each of the switches pulls a little current. You’ve got the screen itself. Obviously, the bigger the screen, the more power you’re going to use. So, I think the most we can ever pull is about half an amp with everything turned on. When it’s in a standby mode, it’s less than 0.1a. So, there is still a pull there.
We’re moving towards an app and when you have the app and it’s connected to Wi-Fi, you’ll get a notification wherever you are, to say the battery is running low.
Van Bandits
What kind of price point are we talking about for these panels?
Simon at Savvy Vans
The 5” starts at £400
Van Bandits
£400 quid. That’s delivered for me to install?
Simon at SavvyVan
Yep, correct, yeah. And full instructions online. We do encourage self-help. You will get a box with absolutely everything you need in it. If you want the 7” screen, it’s another £30 extra on top. We keep the price as low as possible, just because we want people to enjoy it really.
Van Bandits
That seems a pretty good base-entry line price. I’m quite surprised. I thought it would be more than that.
Simon at SavvyVan
A lot a lot of people say that. I’m so happy for people to buy it and enjoy it. Rather than grumble about the price later. I mean, there’s a difference between having a premium product that nobody can afford and a premium product that available to all!
Van Bandits
If I didn’t want to fit it myself, if I wasn’t confident with these electrical connections, have you got a network of local people that I can ring up and go and see, or have them visit me?
Simon at SavvyVan
Yeah, so depending on your circumstances, if you’re buying a brand-new van, most installers will install it. I think we’ve probably got, I want to say, 80 to 90 different companies that install them at the moment. One called Sunny Side Up. They will jump in their van, they’ll come to your drive, and they’ll do a full day’s installation of not just the control panel but anything van electrical.
So, if you wanted to hook up the solar panels or anything else at the same time, then that’s obviously an option. If you want to take your van to someone instead there is Motor home Supplies in Wakefield or TCC in Scotland. You go to them and they will do the install for you there.
Van Bandits
I know you do guidance online. You’ve got a whole support page on your website, so if there are any issues that I come up against when I’m trying to install it myself, I can just go on there, have a look and find what I’m looking for. After I’ve bought it and I’ve installed it, what does the long-term association look like with SavvyVan? What kind of guarantee do you offer?
Simon at Savvy Vans
We give a 12-month warranty, and then if you register the device online, you get another 12 months, two years in total.
Van Bandits
Excellent. The one thing that I found quite interesting is your savvy stance. How does that work?
Simon at SavvyVan
It’s got a little gyro inside the device, so you only need to install it relatively level. And there’s a little arrow that points towards the front of the van. It only needs a 12-volt feed. We don’t need to give it anything else, it will then detect what the level of the van is. So, you manually level your van the first time, and you tell its level, and then it will always work out to that same pitch for your level. If you tell it the distance between the front, back, left and right wheels we can also tell you how many cm to raise which wheel.
Van Bandits
Well, that’s just incredible, just amazing.
Simon at SavvyVan
Yeah, we obviously put a nice little picture on the screen just to mimic what you’re doing as well.
Van Bandits
Excellent. So, you have somebody sitting in the back looking at the screen while somebody in the front is going backwards and forwards and just turning the wheel and getting it just right.
Simon at SavvyVan
Yeah, exactly.
Van Bandits
What’s the next thing on the horizon for Savvy Van?
Simon at SavvyVan
Themes, some people say they like our icons and others say they don’t. We like to think it’s a bit of fun but other people want a professional look, so we are going to give options. Remote Switches, if you want more than 8 switches, we’ve got an add-on which will give you another set of 8 coming this year. We can control pop-tops, beds, Propex-HS2000E gas.
We are working with Propex to bring their heaters directly into the screen. We don’t like to just mimic the existing setups, we like to think what more can we do. We have added schedules, timers, auto gas and auto heat mode. We’ve just launched water heater controls, so we can control the water temperature within the tank. Also, taking over control of diesel heaters as well and this should work for about 90% of heaters on the market today.
Van Bandits
That’s great. We’ll thanks so much for your time and expertise.
You can find Savvyvan’s control screen products here,
Savvyvan camper van control touch screens or take a look around their fb site to see where you can find them next at a trade show near you.
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