# PVC & insulation



## Pard (May 1, 2005)

Just been reading Marco's great account of his Vantage Sol. Among the responses from fellow MHF-ers are mentions of insulation - or lack of it. The latest Which Motorcaravan? has a comparative review of a number of PVCs, but only a couple refer to insulation. For those of us who might think of downsizing, it's likely in many cases to be from a well-insulated coachbuilt, and so this is a very significant factor. 

Does anyone who owns a PVC and uses it throughout the year have any information about which converters make a serious and effective effort to insulate their vans? Or do they all assume that you'll open that huge side door anyway and let the cold in whatever they do?!


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## coppo (May 27, 2009)

Very good question Pard and one I,m interested in as we are eventually downsizing to a PVC.

Its not just the insulation though, its a number of things which contribute to a good winterised MH.

Paul.


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## MikeCo (Jan 26, 2008)

From what I have discovered over the last year from reading various posts it appears that most UK vans are a bit light on the insulation.
Only last week there was a post about retro fitting something and to use the internal ribs to run cabling through. There was another post about condensation on the ceiling where the ribs were.
From what I learnt before I started my own conversion was that it was important to insulate any bare metal to avoid condensation.
My van has all the internal ribs filled with expanding foam. The walls. Ceiling and floor are insulated with 25mm thick Kingspan insulation .
Some of the continental vans maybe better insulated but not sure how you would find out.

Mike


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## ardgour (Mar 22, 2008)

We have the Vantage Neo after downsizing from a Hymer A class and are very happy with it but a pvc is a completely different experience to a purpose built motorhome. Insulation was one of the things we looked at very carefully as we do use the van all year. One of the things we really liked about the Vantage vans was the way that they have taken care to insulate the bits round the back doors - most PVC have some bare metal showing but we have none and there is even a popper-fixed panel that covers the join in the back doors. The underslung tanks are insulated but it is a trade off for the space when you downsize, on-board tanks are obviously better protected from extreme cold but take up valuable storage space. Incidently we have discovered that we have plenty of storage space despite our fears about downsizing.
If you talk to Scott at Vantage he will be happy to go through all the bits about the insulation with you, we spent a couple of hours with him going through it all before deciding to buy. He has designed the vans based on his own long experience as a motorhome owner.
In the end you have to remember that pvc are a very different animal to a coachbuilt or A class so weigh up the pros and cons carefully and look at whether what you really want is a small coachbuilt rather than pvc.
There is no single van out there that suits everyone - horses for courses
Chris


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## Pard (May 1, 2005)

Ardgour, you make some good points, and I'd picked up from Which Motorcaravan that Vantage do take some pains to make their vans comfortable. As yet they haven't produced a layout that would suit us, and I think that, as you say, it's horses for courses, and we might well be a couple who would be better off with one of the newer narrower coachbuilts, like the Hymer 404. (Although the Germans do tend to place their transverse beds way too high for ease of access for a short-legged oldie like me.) 

PV converters rarely mention insulation in their own brochures - leaving one to assume that it's not something they'd wish to highlight for possible customers; and it's not always referred to in coachbuilt bumpf either.

Fortunately, I'm not in a rush, and who knows what might turn up in the next few years! I just hope that a few PV converters will latch on to the fact that they need to think about insulation more than they perhaps have before.


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## goldi (Feb 4, 2009)

Afternoon all,

Whilst we have not camped in dec jan or feb we have still woken up to some white allover mornings with frost minus 5 and 7 and so on.

Ours is an Adria twin and I have,nt aclue what is in the walls but there is about 20 mm under the plywood on the floor.
The biggest source of heat loss is the ventilation for the gas equipment which is mandatory and the shower vent ,the next is the windscreen and door windows being single glazed.
Being a panel van it quickly heats up again in the morning even with just the kettle on for the first brew of the day.
We rarely leave the heating on all night

norm


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## rowley (May 14, 2005)

The insulation on the Wildax seems to be better than what I had on the Adria Twin. I have a curtain that shuts off the dash and cab doors area at night, that does make the PVC warmer. I can still use the swivel seats.


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## rod_vw (May 10, 2005)

I've built three PVCs now, one VW T4 & two T5s. I have used 'Thinsulate' as the main insulation material in the sides, tailgate and roof with 'Celotex' under the floor. I'm non too keen on expanding foam, it sounds good and may well be where it adheres perfectly to the metal. But if it isn't stuck perfectly there can be a capillary action to encourage the damp to creep in and no ventilation to dry it out. I guess the eventual outcome will then be a rusted hole!
Not having double glazed windows necessitates insulating pads over them when necessary in cold weather, I have Reimo internal screens for the front and home made ones for the remainder.
We don't winter camp but have used the campers successfully in cold weather.

Rod


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