insulating van

[steve hawing]

do many of you insulate the van at all? or whats best way to keep the whole system freezing up? i dont really wanna leave a heater going all night for safety and cost

last thing i need to wake up to a frozen system in van with parts broke and that, i know it aint freezing yet but it aint far off

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol)

Very low freezing point and at correct dilutions it will still allow your water to read zero ppm.

 

[steve hawing]

Just run that through the whole system and ya wont have any issues with freezing at all?

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

I'm not offering any written guarantee /emoticons/tongue.png but it has worked just fine for me.

 

[spruce]

I have a Citroen Relay SWB and have never had a frozen van yet. I usually fill the van in the evening so we start with a tank of water that is at about 5 or 6 degrees. I have a large duvet which I have over the tank. As the pumps are mounted on the side of the tank they are covered as well. The duvet also covers the hose reels.

I put an 800 watt wall heater in the back which has a frostat set at about 2 degrees. I have no insulation in the roof (although I would like to do this), ply sides and bare metal floor. We have only had once time when we set out and the rear van ports froze up on the way to our first customer.

We drove straight home again.

My son in law doesn't heat his van. He switches the water off at the tank, unscrews the pump filter and switches the pump on. It sucks in air and pushes the water out at his van port. Any remaining droplets freeze but aren't an issue.

We have only once had to spent time thawing the iced up tap and pipe to the pump's filter. We got water flowing in about 1/2 an hour. When its very cold, he takes his hose reel and pole inside.

 

[steve hawing]

Id rather be prepared than face the issues of stuff alll frozen up plus im sure it can damage the pump and wreck hoses etc

dont know what kind of insulation to even consider or is a heat sure a better option

 

[Tuffers]

I whack an oil filled radiator in the back, I got caught out a couple of times last winter when I forgot to switch it on. I tend to have sleepless nights when the rad is turned on over night

 

[steve hawing]

does that not cost a small fortune to keep on all night?

 

[Tuffers]

does that not cost a small fortune to keep on all night?

Even if it cost a tenner (probably no where near as much, but you get my drift) in electric and you could work all day it would have paid off. An electric bill of a tenner compared to whatever you earn in a day. No brainer, you just have to ride the winters out.

 

[steve hawing]

Oh i get that but 60 quid extra cost a week sounds a bit much, i dunno maybe not, do you end up with condesation all over the van?

 

[Tuffers]

Oh i get that but 60 quid extra cost a week sounds a bit much, i dunno maybe not, do you end up with condesation all over the van?

I'm not saying it costs a tenner a night, but what I'm saying is if it DID cost you a tenner and you managed to earn £xxx amount the next day, then the tenner you spent on making yourself able to work would be worth it.

 

[peter rogers]

why not expand foam ur ceiling in the van then insulate the pipes with the padding u get in plumbin stores

or steve i know there is a guy up there to does the spray foam insulating get him to spray ur van job sorted

 

[steve hawing]

What do the rest of ya have or how do yas combact the icy weather id say its a pain in the arse

 

[albootyerbaws]

What do the rest of ya have or how do yas combact the icy weather id say its a pain in the arse

take backpack & poles out every night in the winter into the house. left backpack in van once overnight cracked pump when water froze still works but leaks at bottom. in scotland where winter is a real winter baltic :thumbsup:

 

[steve garwood]

Oil filled radiator on a timer so it only comes on for ten minutes every 2 hours. I also put an aquarium heater in the tank which gets the water warm and also slightly heats the tank

 

[steve hawing]

Do ya have the van insulated at all? I have a wee min oil rad could use it on a timer i suppose and i could use the fish tank aquaraium to lol

Do you drain the hose and the pump though overnight?

 

[steve garwood]

Do ya have the van insulated at all? I have a wee min oil rad could use it on a timer i suppose and i could use the fish tank aquaraium to lol
Do you drain the hose and the pump though overnight?

I don't drain anything. No need with the radiator in the van. I don't have the van insulated either

 

[steve garwood]

isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol)
Very low freezing point and at correct dilutions it will still allow your water to read zero ppm.

Where do you get your isopropyl from please green? And do you measure it per litre of water? Thanks

 

[Eclipse]

You need 10% by volume just to bring the freezing point to -4 it also needs to be the 99% pure stiff not the watered down stuff.

 

[steve garwood]

So if you use 300l of water a day and you need 10% isopropyl, that's 30l at £12 for 5l, which equals £72??? I've got to be missing something?

 

[Eclipse]

Not missing anything Steve. The only other thing to note is pure water doesn't freeze until well below zero degrees Celsius.