Cost estimate to turn van into camper w/stove, fridge, toilet, shower, lighting, etc?
- Thread starter 84FLH
- Start date
jonyjoe101
Adventurer
I bought a small astrovan for 700 dollars and had it for 3 years, I converted it into a small rv but without all the amenities. Astrovan is very small but has lot of space in the back, easy to park everywhere and doesnt attract too much attention, area I live even the small RVs are always getting ticketed to move them.
To live in it, the biggest drawback was heat, even in the winter as soon as the sun hits the van it gets hot inside. I covered all the rear windows with foam insulation, removed the original roof insulation and put foam insulation on it. Home depot sells the rtech foam insulation in 4'x8' foot (1/2" thick) for 8 dollars. I use a 20 dollar hot glue gun from harbor freight to install it, in 2 years insulation is still secured on the roof. Then I build a sliding door to seperate the front of the van from the back, I use thin wood from home depot and sandwiched some foam insulation in between the wood, maybe 40 dollars total for that. If you still feel heat coming into the van put another layer of foam insulation, I put 2 layers on the roof and it did the job. Use one of those IR thermometers that you can point to measure the heat (15 dollars on ebay) , anywhere you feel heat put more foam, foam is cheap.
I also built my own swamp cooler and placed it in the rear of the van, its what keeps me cool, uses about 2 amps of power (about 100 dollars in parts to build). And yes, you will need a swamp cooler, a regular fan or roof vent wont keep you cool and AC requires a generator. Parked in the sun with all the windows closed, the front of the van gets to 145 degrees, the back of the van is 98 degrees, the area near the swamp cooler is in the 70's.
I bought a 240 watt solar panel on craiglist for 200 dollars, its connected to a ecoworthy 20 amp mppt controller (100 dollar) it provides me with 13 amps of power to charge my 102 amp kinetick agm battery (i bought on craiglist for 100 dollars). To cook I use a roadpro lunch bucket size cooker(35 dollars), maxes out at 11 amps. It heats up most food in 30 minutes. I use to have a edgestar fp430 12 volt fridge(400 dollars) which ran 24/7 from solar power. I got rid of it because it took up too much space. With a large enough panel, you wont have to ever run your engine to charge your house battery, I dont even have my house battery connected to the alternator.
For lighting just get some supernight leds, a roll costs 15 dollars and will light up the entire rear of your van. All the foam insulation and sliding door, keeps the light inside.
If you want something nice and neat, its going to cost alot of money and effort to build, but if you want something to live out and build quickly it dont need to cost too much.
First take care of the heat problem, and work around that. There's nothing worst than being in the back of your van sweating. Foam insulation and swamp cooler is your best friend. Picture of my swamp cooler.
To live in it, the biggest drawback was heat, even in the winter as soon as the sun hits the van it gets hot inside. I covered all the rear windows with foam insulation, removed the original roof insulation and put foam insulation on it. Home depot sells the rtech foam insulation in 4'x8' foot (1/2" thick) for 8 dollars. I use a 20 dollar hot glue gun from harbor freight to install it, in 2 years insulation is still secured on the roof. Then I build a sliding door to seperate the front of the van from the back, I use thin wood from home depot and sandwiched some foam insulation in between the wood, maybe 40 dollars total for that. If you still feel heat coming into the van put another layer of foam insulation, I put 2 layers on the roof and it did the job. Use one of those IR thermometers that you can point to measure the heat (15 dollars on ebay) , anywhere you feel heat put more foam, foam is cheap.
I also built my own swamp cooler and placed it in the rear of the van, its what keeps me cool, uses about 2 amps of power (about 100 dollars in parts to build). And yes, you will need a swamp cooler, a regular fan or roof vent wont keep you cool and AC requires a generator. Parked in the sun with all the windows closed, the front of the van gets to 145 degrees, the back of the van is 98 degrees, the area near the swamp cooler is in the 70's.
I bought a 240 watt solar panel on craiglist for 200 dollars, its connected to a ecoworthy 20 amp mppt controller (100 dollar) it provides me with 13 amps of power to charge my 102 amp kinetick agm battery (i bought on craiglist for 100 dollars). To cook I use a roadpro lunch bucket size cooker(35 dollars), maxes out at 11 amps. It heats up most food in 30 minutes. I use to have a edgestar fp430 12 volt fridge(400 dollars) which ran 24/7 from solar power. I got rid of it because it took up too much space. With a large enough panel, you wont have to ever run your engine to charge your house battery, I dont even have my house battery connected to the alternator.
For lighting just get some supernight leds, a roll costs 15 dollars and will light up the entire rear of your van. All the foam insulation and sliding door, keeps the light inside.
If you want something nice and neat, its going to cost alot of money and effort to build, but if you want something to live out and build quickly it dont need to cost too much.
First take care of the heat problem, and work around that. There's nothing worst than being in the back of your van sweating. Foam insulation and swamp cooler is your best friend. Picture of my swamp cooler.
jonyjoe101;
Thank you. I just read through once and halfway through I thought "McGiver"! You covered all the basics and that's a real good place for a noob like me to start. I'll be reading through it again and taking notes on the insulation, solar power, and the cooler.
Thanks again.
Thank you. I just read through once and halfway through I thought "McGiver"! You covered all the basics and that's a real good place for a noob like me to start. I'll be reading through it again and taking notes on the insulation, solar power, and the cooler.
Thanks again.
Mwilliamshs
Explorer
Not really a concern on vans as their wheelbase and forward engine placement make the rear driveshaft long enough to keep angles very manageable. Front driveshafts can be a bit tricky, but the established kits like U-Joint's take all the guesswork out of it.
luthj
Engineer In Residence
Based on your replies, it sounds like you have experience in fabrication and design. That will make any custom work much easier. However a good build will usually run into and over 1000 hours. The plumbing and tanks for a shower and toilet can be a design and fabrication headache. If you do a custom conversion, an exterior or temp interior shower can be much simpler. Just shower into a tub, and dump into your sink. Using a cassette toilet is another way to reduce complexity.
Honestly, if all you need is a bed, toilet, shower, stove, and fridge, you can get by with a very minimal build. Not counting research it is possible to get a minimal build put together in 500hrs (not going to be very pretty though).
Here is a rough layout of a basic build with your requirements.
Shower: Portable, exterior, or temp indoor shower. Portable propane hot water systems are available
Stove: Portable 2 burner propane unit. Use small bottles.
Cabinetry: Simple plywood with polyurethane finish/ 1/2-3/4", pocket screw and glue construction.
Bed: foam or camping pads. Folding/jackknife options available
Toilet: portable or Cassette unit
Heat: Espar D2 (or B4 for gasoline vehicles) uses fuel from vehicle tank
Water:20-30 gallon tank, cold only, sink and shower hookups
Water heating: Engine heat exchanger, On demand propane units, or RV style heater/tank.
Fridge; Compressor unit (truckfridge, isotherm, vitrifrigo etc)
Batteries: 200-400AH, AGM or GC2 flooded depending on your feelings on watering and hyrdogen production.
Solar system: 200W+ should keep a moderate sized compressor fridge running.
Inveter: 300-1000W unit for small appliances only.
Air conditioning: None, install a powered roof vent and follow the weather. A roof top unit can be installed, but will need a generator or shore power to function.
This type of build has trade offs. There is setup-takedown to use the shower, limited hot water (depending), and no generator or air conditioning.
Honestly, if all you need is a bed, toilet, shower, stove, and fridge, you can get by with a very minimal build. Not counting research it is possible to get a minimal build put together in 500hrs (not going to be very pretty though).
Here is a rough layout of a basic build with your requirements.
Shower: Portable, exterior, or temp indoor shower. Portable propane hot water systems are available
Stove: Portable 2 burner propane unit. Use small bottles.
Cabinetry: Simple plywood with polyurethane finish/ 1/2-3/4", pocket screw and glue construction.
Bed: foam or camping pads. Folding/jackknife options available
Toilet: portable or Cassette unit
Heat: Espar D2 (or B4 for gasoline vehicles) uses fuel from vehicle tank
Water:20-30 gallon tank, cold only, sink and shower hookups
Water heating: Engine heat exchanger, On demand propane units, or RV style heater/tank.
Fridge; Compressor unit (truckfridge, isotherm, vitrifrigo etc)
Batteries: 200-400AH, AGM or GC2 flooded depending on your feelings on watering and hyrdogen production.
Solar system: 200W+ should keep a moderate sized compressor fridge running.
Inveter: 300-1000W unit for small appliances only.
Air conditioning: None, install a powered roof vent and follow the weather. A roof top unit can be installed, but will need a generator or shore power to function.
This type of build has trade offs. There is setup-takedown to use the shower, limited hot water (depending), and no generator or air conditioning.
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Doc Foster
Adventurer
It sounds like you are considering living in your van for quite some time while touring and then searching for a job and eventually searching for a home. You also mentioned towing a small trailer. Don't worry it just takes practice towing a trailer. I had for years only towed a small utility trailer (10' long) for hauling stuff to the dump, etc. Now I tow a 30' trailer on while touring the country. You might want to tow a small trailer with all the amenities (something like http://casitatraveltrailers.com/) and then towing it with a capable 4WD truck for when you want or need to explore those trails. A small trailer like that can provide all that you need, now that difficult to tow and you don't even need a large truck to tow something like that. Set up properly and driven carefully some of these trailers can go far from pavement. Then park your trailer in a campsite or boondock it, while exploring or searching for that job. I always wanted a self contained van or truck like what you are describing, but the wife nixed that idea. Now that I am 60+, my wife wants the space and ALL the amenities, so I tow a 30' Airstream with a truck capable of going pretty anywhere I need to go offroad. So far we spend about 2 months a year on the road, the rest of the time looking after all our grandkids. Just my 2 cents worth.
Mwilliamshs
Explorer
Disclaimer: Prices listed below are rough estimates based on retail as though you were building your camper out of a catalog with the least expensive components. Buying used, wholesale, on sale, clearance, eBay, etc can lower prices considerably on most items. Buying deluxe, premium or specialty components can likewise raise prices from those listed below.
1)Toilet is either going to be:
a) porta-potty ~$50+
b) rv flush toilet (~$100+) with black tank (~$100+), water pump (~$60+), fresh tank ($varies widely depending on layout, volume, etc) and plumbing to connect it all (again, varies widely on layout)
c) composting toilet (~$1000+)
d) incinerating toilet (~$1500+) requires 20A 120v power (2400w generator, 2400w inverter, etc)
Hot water is either going to be:
a) solar shower bag heated by the sun ~$25+
b) rv propane tank-style water heater ~$450+ (with external door, not generally included but necessary unless you build a custom hatch) (models available that can also use 110v)
c) rv propane tankless water heater ~$120+
d) heat exchanger using engine coolant ~$125
e) hydronic water heater ~$2000 (requires diesel van or diesel tank added to gas van)
Shower enclosure is going to be:
a) curtain hung outside $10+
b) curtain and basin temporarily set inside $15+
c) permanent enclosure inside ~$400+ for basin and enclosure plus faucet ~$25+, plus shower head, hose, etc ~$25+
(also see plumbing requirements for rv flush toilet, 1b)
Stove is going to be:
a) portable 2-3 burner propane stove $25+ (requires propane, from 1lb cylinder typically, ~$3 per)
b) fixed 2-3 burner propane stove $75+ (requires propane, either from 1lb cylinders or 20 lb portable, 10 gallon frame mounted, etc, $3-500)
c) fixed diesel stove ~$1,400 (requires diesel van or diesel tank added to gas van)
3-way fridge is not something I'd recommend personally. Absorption fridges (ice from fire) are inefficient and temperamental whereas compressor fridges are as dependable as the one in your home (same principles at work) and fit more cooling than a 3-way in the same space and don't require external venting, unlike a 3-way.
a) 3-way fridge ~$650+
b) dc compressor fridge ~$650+
Microwave
They're all about the same. The less complicated the better. Just pick one you like. ~$100
Sound proofing
Varies widely depending on materials chosen and how thoroughly you cover the van. You can spend $5 to $5,000
Insulation
Varies widely depending on materials chosen and how thoroughly you cover the van. You can spend $5 to $5,000
Electrical outlets (how many do I need?)
Having as few as 1 110v outlet requires either an inverter or a generator or being connected to shore power. The cheapest way to do this a ~$20 inverter and the most expensive but practical way would be a small generator which range from $90-3,000. The expense of the outlet itself and the wiring for it alone would only be ~$20 for a hardmout outlet or a couple bucks for a simple power strip.
Generator and associated wiring
see above, $90-3,000 for 800-4000watts. Available in 2-stroke gas, 4-stroke gas, diesel, or propane
I do not see a generator as necessary or desirable and would use instead: solar panels and charge controller, $100-5,000
House batteries and associated wiring
Can be as cheap as $100 for 1 deep-cycle battery or as much as $2,000 for lithium ion cells.
Battery display
Can be a $3 VOM or as much as $1,000+ for smart algorithm enabled ah tracker.
I know this is probably a load of raw data that'll do you little good for now but I hope it gives you an idea of what specifics need to be nailed down before a stranger can build your budget. Keep in mind these retail prices I've posted are just a bit above what an aftermarket outfitter of vans would pay for most things and the same for others because they can't "shop for deals" they have to buy and install to meet deadlines. This is an advantage of the DIY approach.
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