My hubby is converting a toyota hiace to a camper/day van,please could someone give some advice on how much ventilation there should be and where vents should be.there is a skylight fitted and we just have a fridge and a two burner hob,many thanks Michila. A hopefully happy camper, if he ever gets it finished!!!!
When, not if......
Most camper fridges vent out the back through van wall. Means cutting the van side.
If using gas the locker should have vents in the floor to the outside which again means hacking the van. Have seen some posts that say don't bother but have no experience of that.
Most van skylights have built in vents.
The cab will have vents. They can be a pain in cold weather and most folk learn to shut the dash vents in winter.
Hope this helps until the self build experts turn up
Paul
We currently run a very *basic, self converted(insulated and lined out), Hiace "camping-van".
(*Just a pull out bed , no fridge or "installed" cooking facilities).
I've only fitted two "mushroom" vents and on the few occasions that we have slept with the sliding door *fully closed, we have had A LOT of condensation on any metal surfaces!
(*Overnight,we usually have the door tethered slightly open, into an awning/shelter)
So if you plan on cooking on board, then I would STRONGLY recommend fitting a decent sized(or two smaller?) "skylights"..and maybe even an opening window or two?...
I only opted for small "mushroom" vents because I didn't want to restrict the future fitting of a roof rack/ bars(which I have since fitted)..and on ours, the favoured positions for a "proper" roof vent, would've coincided with the middle pair of fixing points...
(well..that and because they were cheap and easy to fit..)..
Thanks for the replys guys but it looks like he's going to have to put vents in the floor as we can't get a gas fitter to fit the hob unless it has these.
is he a domestic gas fitter rather than someone who fits hobs to vehicles ...loads of places air can get into a van without filling it full of holes but you should fit a metal box for the gas bottle with a drop out and you only need a vent for the fridge if it runs on gas ...
Thanks jimmsimam but what do you mean by a drop out?and do you mean that the gas bottle has to be stored in a metal box.the man was a domestic fitter but also did caravans/ motorhomes but won't do this because he said not enough vents.hunbby has put a vent behind the elec fridge too,it's not as if there will be a lot of cooking,prob just the kettle and doors and windows would be open.hubby is not confident with gas so are still ringing round trying to get someone who will do it.
yes metal box... this type of thing...gas is heavier than air so you need a hole in the floor of the locker through to underneath the van where if gas escapes it will drop out of the hole and out of the van ...you don't need to spend that much though..
I have a compressor type fridge which does not require any vents other than to help cooling and mine are on the inside ..
We currently run a very *basic, self converted(insulated and lined out), Hiace "camping-van".
(*Just a pull out bed , no fridge or "installed" cooking facilities).
I've only fitted two "mushroom" vents and on the few occasions that we have slept with the sliding door *fully closed, we have had A LOT of condensation on any metal surfaces!
(*Overnight,we usually have the door tethered slightly open, into an awning/shelter)
So if you plan on cooking on board, then I would STRONGLY recommend fitting a decent sized(or two smaller?) "skylights"..and maybe even an opening window or two?...
I only opted for small "mushroom" vents because I didn't want to restrict the future fitting of a roof rack/ bars(which I have since fitted)..and on ours, the favoured positions for a "proper" roof vent, would've coincided with the middle pair of fixing points...
(well..that and because they were cheap and easy to fit..)..
Post last edited on 21/08/2014 15:23:36
I've only fitted two "mushroom" vents Try fitting computer case fans in them. The fans are cheap enough and there "silent" fans available
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Compressor fridge performance will be improve by having a vent, especially if you travel to the southern parts of Europe; again, fit a computer case fan as an extractor over the heat exchanger coil
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Gas lockers? When I've made them up in the past, I always seemed to end up with a bit of a gap at the bottom and that was more than sufficient to allow any leakages of gas to escape... sheet metal work is not my forté
Hi MedCass if you intend to use any form of gas in your conversion you must have drop out holes in the floor of the van. Most leisure gases are heavier than air
If you went to bed and had a gas leak from fridge gas rings or any other gas device you would be dead in the morning. the gas would drop to the flour and slowly fill the vehicle up to the roof pushing the air out through any means of escape.
But with drop holes in the floor the heavier gas will drop out to the ground and disperse.
They can be under cupboards or beds, seats so long as the gas can creep along the floor and out through the holes. you can put a three sided hollow cover over the top of hole about 4" square and 3/4" deep and secured to the floor to reduce draughts For condensesation while cooking or sleeping you can purchase a mushroom vent about 6" dia which is solar powered and battery powered mostly used on narrow boats and barges or one you see on delivery vans wind powered, But you will be governed by the wind.
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Topic: Ventilation
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