Hi everyone, I'm new here. I'm vanlife curious, and currently at a crossroads which I feel like most people outside of this group wouldn't get..

So, to keep it short, I'm currently in a relationship with a wonderful human who wants me to live with them. They own a house in a place where the climate is a bit hotter than I'm comfortable with, but insist that me moving in is the first step to a happy life together..

However, my mind's been spinning, and I keep dreaming about the independent life I've built in my head. I love this person, but when I think about settling down in a hot climate, in a home that isn't mine, I feel like the urge to leave everything and hit the road becomes even stronger. Why is that? Has anyone else experienced this? Does anyone have a success story to inspire, or maybe even regrets that might help calm the thoughts I'm having?

I just went out to my SUV with measuring tape to see if I could convert it with the matress & frame I have in my house (the answer is no, they're too big lol). I guess I just wanna know if anyone else has been through this. I'm thinking maybe it's a common vandweller thing, and maybe I need to just take the leap. Thanks in advance.

I have an Olympian wave 3 heater that I bought for my low top van. My partner and I have used it a couple times and we’re happy with it! It’s much better and safer than our old buddy heater.

Here’s my question: We have a terrier, roughly 18lbs. Do you think she would be okay in the van with us if we vented our air fan & windows? We plan to run it mostly during the day when we’re all awake but occasionally we’d like to run it at night, which is my concern. She sleeps in her kennel at night and we would be devastated if something happened to her.

I would never dream of putting her at risk so I’ll find another option if it’s not safe at all, but I was wondering if anyone out here has had a propane heater with pets? I’d love to hear your experience with it. Thanks!

I need to know if this thing is good to get my van warm? What are the pros/cons of this unit over other heater methods? My space is around ~15m3. This is just an example brand "Climameister IR 20 T " as demonstration. I also saw the airrex but it quite a large unit. But seems that that's the same technology.

So, I recently got a 10ft box truck that I am slowly building before my lease goes up in June, and have a bit of a first world problem: How much power would I need? I am a content creator in the horror space (long story) and I have gotten the internet side of things figured out, my main hang up is I know during the day in full sun my solar should keep up (I am getting 800w panels, (friend of mine owns a solar panel company and is helping me with that part) but I work 6-430 and once i am off and the sun goes down, I kinda don't want my computer to die while editing a 1+ hour video. I am looking at the 500wh battery at costco but don't wanna strain the supply I would need.

For full details to add context. The only things I would need the power for is a small fridge (looking at the upstreman 1.7cu fridge) I am going with the Renogy 3000w inverter with the monitor/shunt and the solar charge controller from the same brand as I have seen a lot of people use those. The others things would be my tv and game system, internet hot spot, and computer. I plan to wire the alternator to send power back as well for cloudier days. Besides that I have everything else figured out. Thank you for your time and I am sorry about the word pasta, I figured I would give info along with the question.

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This is my first post, but this sub has become my absolute favorite source of information. Thank you! I'm building out my 2008 Ford E250. I really want a swivel on the passenger seat. Has anyone used this type of Swivel? It's the most affordable I've found.

Skoolie:
20 gallon Kumma Marine water heater, Diesel water heater, 2 underdash 12v heaters, 5 port manifold, 275ft of pex non permeable, expecting 6-9 gallons of extra Coolant to fill the flow path on top of the engine system coolant. (9gallons, 18gallons total) Cummins runs around 200 degrees on average. I want to be able to heat the block from the system on a cold day, and run the opposite direction while driving without over heating and melting the pex (180 degrees max tempfor pex listed by manufacturer). Suggestions please.

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We have a Class B campervan and want to use a space heater. We don’t want to drain our van’s power and we’ll be at a campsite, so would like to use the electric hookup and an extension cable.

I’ve been advised to use a 14 or #12 AWG extension cable with a RCCD residue current circuit beaker or earth leakage breaker (25 or 40 ma). This was off a friend who is familiar with electrics but not vanlife.

Do you have any experience with this kind of setup with a van?

For reference we have a diesel heater but it often cuts out. This is a backup option because we’ll be staying in a ski resort and it’s going to be -10celsius tonight.

I have a 100ah Chinese LifePo battery that is only about 6 months old. I’m currently on a snow trip in Mammoth and today the battery would not even turn on. I tested the voltage with a multimeter and I’m getting a reading of 8.0v. I tried charging it with Noco Genius10, but it keeps restarting as soon as it detects the battery. Any help would be appreciated, the snow is supposed to come in tonight and I would love some heat!

Edit: just to clarify, it’s my house battery. I’m running a lead acid starter battery and it is doing fine. Battery in question is an AOlithium 100 ah LifePo. https://aolithium.com/products/12v100ah-4s-lithium-lifepo4-battery

video surveillance is a must for me, but I don’t know what I’m doing. I do not have WiFi because I don’t understand what I need. A hotspot? I understand there are “cellular” cameras..

For example

There's gotta be something glaring that I'm completely overlooking. What is it?

Hey everyone,

I am super excited to say that I am finally going to buy my first van​ after dreaming of this lifestyle for more than 10 years!! :-) So now I need some advice from you guys as a complete newbie!

Questions for you guys<3
- What van do you recommend buying for living/driving in the cold and snowy part of northern Europe, that will last long and be somewhat cheap and easy to repair and maintain?
- What are some advice you wish you got before buying your first van?
- How did you go on about getting your first van, and how did you start converting it in to a home?
- Where should I splurge and where should I save? I am looking to gradually build and upgrade it, so what should I make sure I spend money on now and what can wait?

I have a few requirements:
- I want to be able to stand up (I am 163cm tall)
- Be able to park in most parking spaces and somehow easy to drive (but still be long enough to put in a bed for one person and a dog, a shower stall, a little fridge + gas cooker, and a toilet for emergency situations)
- Four wheel drive or front wheel drive.
- Will be possible to sleep in both -20 degrees and +30 degrees celcius, so it has to have space to add required heating and cooling systems for all seasons.

I do not want a sprinter van due to the fact that ive heard its very expensive to run and repair. I have been looking at the Fiat Ducato, VW Crafter, Ford Transit, and the Renault Master (easy to get here) but I am open to recommendations and tips - I know NOTHING about cars/vans. Im only used to living a kinda similar life on a sailboat. I am aware it's going to be a steep and extreme learning curve here with a lot of frustrations.

I have the next couple years to actually convert it, and will do most of the work myself (I will hire professional help for the important stuff as I don't want to fuck it up too much). I would be starting out slowly with weekend trips but wish to build it for maybe getting in to it full time in the future.

I don't really have a set budget, it all depends on what is out there and the recommendations I get. But it should be a van that I can have for years to come, without having the need to get a new one after just a few years.

Sorry for the extremely long post, and sorry if my english suck! Thank you so much :)

So the guy who fitted it is a mechanic, but I know him through a friend and that’s why I went to him. I didn’t realise he didn’t put a fuse on the wires connecting the heater to my battery until an electrician pointed it out when he was connecting my max air fan.

I’ve just started sleeping in my van with my dogs and it’s freezing. I’m worried of carbon monoxide poisoning since people keep saying “as long as you have an alarm and it’s been fitted correctly”. I have an alarm, but since this guy forgot to put a fuse on my heater how do I know if he actually fitted it correctly or not? Now I’m scared to use it. And I have anxiety so I worry the alarm will stop working when I need it to lol.

I skimped on adding wooden frames all over n pretty much just covered everything in xps, was rushing to get it done n kinda planned poorly.i have a couple of sections I could still secure mounting points to but I was trying to figure an easier option. Walls are covered in xps except for some cedar boards I got in the middle of the walls, length wise, that I'm gonna put e-tracks on. For walls I was thinking poss just using wallpaper or some thin vinyl materials. Ideas?

I’ve been staying in my Mazda MPV for about a month now. I’m mostly comfortable but still sleep without covered windows.

I got some reflective insulation to cut to size but then failed thinking I could hang it with gaffers tape.

What’s the best route to cover minivan windows and still be able to see out? I’d prefer curtains but also know insulation would help.

Hey so this is kinda a downbeat post but I may be getting kicked out of my home. How realistic is living in a van through college. I have 10k saved and can take out student loans. I can't afford rent where I live even working full time and my college program requires an especially high amount of time dedication. Looking at cheaper vans in the 20k range to make payments on and covert. Any recommendations to how this could be done

Hey everyone, so we're wanting to install the shore power inlet on our Ford Transit soon and we aren't too sure if we should install it from the side (cutting a hole) or installing from the bottom back drivers side where there's a plastic piece covering a rectangular hole that leads into the van. We're trying to avoid cutting holes in the van as much as possible so we'd like to do it from the bottom, but we've heard from others that dirt and water may get kicked up onto the inlet. It'll have a cap on it so I don't think much should get in if any at all - I mean, they're made to withstand the weather. Is it better to cut a hole in the side and do it or should we continue on with going from the bottom? TIA!

Hello everyone... so I'm most likely going to be homeless for a while starting probably, around March at the latest, and sleeping in my car, and I'm not really too worried about much besides the cold weather mainly...

So I'm not sure exactly 100% where yet, just in Michigan, probably if not towards what my research tells me is generally the warmest areas in Winter, then somewhere that current forecasts, and weather history, says is generally/predicted around the lows of ~20's to highs of 40's-50ish.

I've done a bit of research already, and from what I can tell a nice sleeping bag is said to help make all the difference. So I'm just wondering if (and how, honestly) sleeping bags really do/can make all the difference and make it doable, and also just looking for any other advice and things to help make it a bit more manageable in general (without having hundreds or thousands of dollars of course lol)... thank you so much in advance!

(I mean, if people can sleep and survive climbing Mt. Everest I should be able to fairly decently endure the tail-end of Winter in Michigan areas right?! Lol)

Thinking about buying a T6 Transporter

80 kW, 110k km, 15k

It has almost no extras, even no AC.

How important is the AC? Moisture wise it concerns me the most.

Heat wise during summer I guess it’s ok. Will travel within Central Europe, mostly the alpes

My dometic CFX325 works fine with AC power, but when I plug it in with DC it stays at 48 degrees and won't get cold. Keeps turning off.

Has anyone else experienced this issue/knows what to do?

I’m trying to decide what type of storage I should use for my van I’m undisive between a storage box with compartments or if I should have drawers instead. The van is my daily atm and am looking into taking it camping one day after I’m done building it, and I guess also have it as emergency vehicle just in case but nothing too extreme. Any ideas are welcome.

I'm looking for tips or suggestions on a drink organizer for the mini-fridge, preferably one with the drink return/spring glide type.

I currently have to keep the plastic around the water bottles for it stay and I think this affects the circulation, plus it's not convenient. All the bottle organizers I've found are a tad too deep. The width (15.5") is fine, but the depth availability (9.5") is limited because of the door's bottom tray.

I feel like I smell an extremely faint smell of diesel exhaust in the van with the heater and max air fan going. CO meter hasn't gone off so not concerned about carbon monoxide as much as the fumes of the exhaust itself.

I can't find a meter or gauge or anything that tests for diesel exhaust. No idea how to find where it may even be coming from, could be under the door as that's the area outside the smells the most, but that's just random guesses. Hard to pinpoint anything without a meter, my nose isn't reliable cus I won't smell anything then I'll think but maybe that does kinda smell

Does anyone use a compacting trash can to save space on waste? If so, which kind do you use?

Edit: For people saying to dispose more frequently or burn/bury it: I dispersed camp for 2 weeks at a time and am often in areas where burning out burying would harm the land.

Edit: For people saying to generate less waste: I'm not willing to give up eating fruit and vegetables, nor am I willing to eat banana peels and orange rinds

Soooo long story short Iv watched van life videos for years and have been doing research and watching videos more in depth for about 3 months. I’m about to start building a van to live in for 2 years to save for land or house and I have some questions

Question 1: Will the products above and 2 LiTime Lifepo4 200ah 12v batteries and a fuse box be a complete/compatible solar setup?

Question 2: should I do a 3000w inverter? The only thing that will constantly be running is my mini fridge/freezer. Other things I’ll will run occasionally will be -smart tv -dvd player or vcr -older gaming console (ps2, GameCube, n64 etc.) -gaming monitor and gaming laptop will be plugged in to charger when gaming

Question 3: recommendations on insulations and what size wood to use for framing?

Question 4: tips and tricks on saving money during my build