When it comes to van conversions everyone does it differently. Whether based on experience, an idea, a recommendation, or just because you've seen something you want to emulate.
For us, our conversion is a combination of experience and a need to fit into an established lifestyle. At 41 years of age, I've only ever lived in a house without a real fire (woodburner or open hearth) once, and that was in Uni accommodation when I first started living with Mike. I didn't like it. I felt vulnerable to outside influence. Powercuts, gas or other fuel shortage, things breaking down at inconvenient times. Those times when the boiler breaks on Christmas Eve and you know its going to be expensive to fix. Those are the things that really trigger my anxiety. I think I'm a bit of a prepper at heart 😂 I don't like being dependent on anyone. There's very little that goes wrong with fire. Its basic and efficient. I know how to deal with it, and it's reliable. It heats you, you can cook on it, and it will boil water... So, when it came to living in a van I was VERY happy to see having a woodstove wasn't out of the question!
There will be drawbacks though. They are a permanent, heavy features and it will require space left around it which could have otherwise been used for storage. They also are too efficient at some times of year. When you maybe just need to take the chill off, so we will undoubtedly have another form of heating for those in-between times. You also have to consider your park-ups. Stealthily parking up in town won't really mix well with puffs of woodsmoke emanating from our chimney 🤣 so it's certainly worth having options.
Again, every decision we've made comes down to how we will be using our van, and the area we will spend most of our time. Our business is based in Norfolk, East Anglia. It's usually mild and doesn't really get extremes in weather. Summers can get to 30⁰C, Winters can get to-5⁰C, but most of the time it's not below freezing and most of the time is teens to twenties in Celsius. That said, we will also take the van to Scotland. Its where we used to live and tends to be our 'go to' for time away. These are our considerations for what heating, insulation and build we will end up with. It's worth remembering all this when watching DIY conversion videos. It's easy to watch other people using certain products or techniques and just thinking 'well they did it and it worked ok'. Look at where they are based. Are they fitting a van out to travel around California, or the Cairngorms? Have they done any updates on how things worked after they tried living in it? Was it a viable option long term, or did they end up ripping it all out to start again?!
This is why we've appreciated, but not acted on all the advice we've been given (and there's been a lot). Everyone likes to think the way they 'vanlife' is best, but it's really only best for their situation - so if you're also first time van builder don't be afraid to come to your own conclusions! We've done SO MUCH independent research. Not just watching YouTube conversion videos (many of which seem to have been confidently made by people who did no research whatsoever), but talking to experienced builders and reading books like the extremely reader friendly Van Conversion Bible.
We are also lucky to have my Dad working on the project. He's been a mechanic for 50 years, has renovated houses he's lived in, and is a woodworker in his time off. A very useful skill set for any type of self build!
So after what already feels like a bit of a ramble on my part (sorry!) I'm going to tell you about our woodstove. There are a handful of popular makes of mini stove out there. They are certainly not a budget option. The cheapest I think I found was around £200 for one constructed with sheet metal, up to over £1000 for a super modern style one. Aesthetics are important to me. My day-job is creative and I'm an artist 🎨 with a studio at the back of my shop, so my living space was always going to be reflective of that. The interior of the van when it's done will include a mix of dark timbers and vintage fixtures. (Vintage as in victorian cabin, not white shabby chic!) I chose our little stove to fit this Aesthetic and also because its cast iron and not sheet metal. Bizarrely I find sheet metal 'cold' looking. I think it's the brutally smooth surfaces. We bought out little Pipsqueak stove from Savvy Surf online and chose the angled flue on the back with a door so we can clean it out easier.
I was very aware that I wanted an insulated flue though, as we will be in close proximity to it coming and going, and it will have to be in close proximity to various bit of our van! The flue that fits this stove is an unusual 80mm single wall flue, which isn't what I wanted for our circumstances. I also wanted to have a flue with a wind cowl, rather than a standard rain cap. So, in the end we bought a 3" insulated flue kit from Anevay Stoves which was close enough in diameter for us to adapt. If I didn't have my Dad on hand to help with this I probably would have gone with something straightforward, but if you have skills available you may as well use them!
So, that's where we are almost a month to the day we picked up Norma in a very drizzly Essex. It feels MUCH longer, but I'm excited to see where we will be in another month!
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