[orangjul]

I am looking for an easy solution that we can easily put up and take down for sleeping in the winter. We need a lightweight partition to insulate and separate the cargo area from the cab area. Right now we have some big pieces of Reflectix but it's not air tight and the guy building our van advised that velcro would not stick well to the Reflectix. We have the Espar heater and want to keep as much of the heat in the sleeping area as possible (the van is otherwise fully insulated).

Does anyone make a premade insulating partition that I can buy? Hopefully specific to the Promaster?

If not, what is the quickest (and hopefully cheapest) way I can create something on my own without much in the way of tools (we are on the road now).

 

[keeponvaning]

Just make up an insulated curtain and pull it across. IKEA has the perfect wire rod to do it. I have one in both the front and on the read doors! Don’t worry about air leakage. I don’t even have heat in my van and it works well.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/search/?query=+Curtain+wire

 

[JohnnyRambles]

Yep, a curtain is the way to go. On mine the side behind the drivers seat is permanently attached all the way up and down the wall. It slides across on a heavy length of bungee instead of a rod, so you can add a couple hooks along the top to seal it tight. It's also over sized at the top to cover over any gap. The passengers side attachment just has hooks, but I currently have it taken doing rebuild and will be modifying it to use strong magnets instead.

 

[ShaunB]

Yes a curtain is the easy and effective way to go. I used blackout curtains and had someone cut and sew them to size. I used buttons to snap them into place on the top (plastic facing of the shelf) and along the b pillars. I actually use this in place all winter, keeps the front nice a warm while driving.

See if this Instagram link works for details of what I did. https://www.instagram.com/p/BbXstFil4b6/?taken-by=sherpathevan

 

[RDinNHandAZ]

Hey, me too on the curtain! When I slide it open the cab is COLD and my Espar has my part nice and warm!

 

[trhoppe]

Careful with how cold it is outside and how non-heated you keep the garage if you're storing any water in there. I've got a super fancy blackout/thermal curtain under my bed separating the garage from the main area. It was 0 outside, and my water lines from my water tank froze since I had that curtains closed, even with 50+ degrees in the rest of the van. It was cooooooold under there

 

[RDinNHandAZ]

^^^ that may be the best support for a curtain as a thermal break yet!

 

[Chance]

Just make up an insulated curtain and pull it across. IKEA has the perfect wire rod to do it. I have one in both the front and on the read doors! Don’t worry about air leakage. I don’t even have heat in my van and it works well.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/search/?query=+Curtain+wire

This thread is of great interest since I'd like to heat with minimal electric power at night, so reducing overall heat transfer is important. Just how much warmer does your van stay compared to outside temperature without heat, other than what your body produces?

I've camped without heat down to around 28 F or so and the inside of my uninsulated window van gets within 1 or 2 degrees of ambient -- I could open windows and it wouldn't change temperature appreciably. In my case separating the cab area of my existing van won't help because of all the other windows, so I can't test it at all. Just curious how effective curtains can be when there is almost no heat if van is insulated.

 

[keeponvaning]

I have no heat in my van and have camped overnight in temps as low as 10f with no problems. I start the engine up when I wake up and after 10 or 15 mins it's warm enough to get out of bed and have breakfast, get dressed and hit the road.

 

[Chance]

Thanks. I've thought about an insulated bunk bed area within large van so that entire van doesn't have to be insulated as much. Granted, van would need to remain well above freezing regardless to protect water lines. Still, with humans putting out about 100 watts at rest, it'd be interesting to see if body heat alone could keep it warm enough without it feeling like a coffin.

 

[phil]

Make it the dimensions of a Navy rack, slept in one for years. If you're not to tall nor to wide it's good.

Or get yourself a 118" and put it in the corner of your van

 

[keeponvaning]

I’ve actually thought of doing just than my bunk beds are a perfect set up for this!

 

[RDinNHandAZ]

A 4-5” foam mattress below you and a good throw on top and you can sleep comfortably down to 20º or so. We have a Kelty double sleeping bag which we zipped apart and use one half over us. It’s a 10º bag so it seems good to about 20º. The foam below takes care of the bottom. We use the Espar in the evenings when we want to be up and read, compute, video or such and do use the heat sleeping when the night gets below freezing because...... well, because we have it! Like KOV we turn the heat up and get up in 15 minutes or so for morning rituals like coffee, clothes, food, shoes and out to enjoy the world. In the summer we sub. out the Kelty for a blanket. Even in AZ the desert gets down to freezing in January and it is way to cold to sit in the van without heat in the evening, and there is a lot of evening in December and January!

 

[Steve]

Moving Blanket(s) and Velcro - inexpensive and they do a great job.

 

[Charger7022]

we picked up a heavy fleece king sized blanket from the thrift store and made a double curtain out of it, it seems to work well. also whoever told you Velcro wont stick to reflectix is a liar. lowes and home depot sell an outdoor Velcro rated at 1 lb per inch. its made by scotch and has 3m tape backer that sticks great to my reflectixs we use it on the front windshield and have 2 pieces for the back window all held in with this Velcro. its held in 90+ degree weather and down below 0 no issues. heres a link to some. I got it in a roll at homedepot. this stuff is great and sticks fine to my reflectixs and glass. [ame]https://www.amazon.com/Scotch-All-Weather-Fasteners-Inches-RFD7090/dp/B00347A8EO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1514259205&sr=8-1&keywords=scotch+outdoor+velcro[/ame]

 

[orangjul]

Thanks everyone. I ended up cutting some reflectix to make homemade window coverings for the cab - it seems like I don't even need any velcro or suction cups or anything else to hold them in place!

I also got a blackout curtain set and shower curtain rod from Walmart to separate the cab from the cargo (sleeping) area.

We definitely noticed a difference in our warmth. It was in the teens that last couple of nights and we have only been running the heater for 10-15 minutes at night before we go to bed, and 10-15 minutes in the morning when we get up. We've got a big down blanket as well as a wool blanket, and it seems to be working out fine.

 

[pterodactylptro]

I also got a blackout curtain set and shower curtain rod from Walmart to separate the cab from the cargo (sleeping) area.

I did this as well and didn't see a noticeable difference, so it must be the reflectix on your windows.
I'm currently running a Big Buddy propane heater, though. It's no match for your Espar.

 

[proeddie]

I have no heat in my van and have camped overnight in temps as low as 10f with no problems. I start the engine up when I wake up and after 10 or 15 mins it's warm enough to get out of bed and have breakfast, get dressed and hit the road.

Me too. My van heater makes the inside comfy.... the air conditioner can't keep it very cool, but the heater is great!

 

[Josh Cissell]

We have reflectix on all the windows and use one of three sources of heat to get the inside temp to about 60 before going to bed. Warmer than that and we're hot while sleeping. I try to use the heater from the van but don't want to crank the van in a campground at 10pm. The heater from the van quickly heats the entire van. If we have shore power we run a small electric heater. Last option is to run my coleman propane stove for about 5 minutes to quickly get the temp up (while venting of course).

I would love a webasto but no more than we need heat, I can't justify a grand. Most of my winter camping will be on the rivers I fish in Arkansas and all those sites have power. If we lived in the west and skied a lot I'd have one for sure.

I think my next project is going to be making insulated window coverings using my reflectix coverings. Then we'll make curtains to cover the windows and a curtain to cover the back doors and possibly between the cab and back.

Sent from my SM-P900 using Tapatalk

 

[GaryBIS]

...
I think my next project is going to be making insulated window coverings using my reflectix coverings. Then we'll make curtains to cover the windows and a curtain to cover the back doors and possibly between the cab and back.

Sent from my SM-P900 using Tapatalk

Hi Josh,
Please put up some pictures of your curtains and insulating window panels when you get done with them. Thinking about doing the same thing.

Gary