UKC

I have bought a van and it looks like I could be spending a lot of time in the back, so will need to insulate the back to make it comfortable to sleep in.
I've read about the conventional means, but wondered what the pro's and cons of expanding foam would be? The installation wouldn't be a problem, just lots of 10mm holes in the ply lining.
Has anyone done this? if so, how well did it work?
Thanks in advance.

In reply to mwr72:
Can't comment on the expanding foam. But I had some of this insulation -
http://m.screwfix.com/pr-gallery.htm?id=68120#imggal1
left over from work so I doubled it up and stapled it behind all the ply lining. Then stuck some battens to the roof and insulated and plyd that with the same stuff. The back of the van retains heat extremely well now and I have had very little condensation. (You will always get some no matter what you do). I'm going to buy a roll of adhesive backed campervan carpet and stick over the metalwork that isn't covered by ply to add a little more U value and to tart it up a bit.

As I said can't compare it with other methods as this one is my first conversion (still in progress). But I'm happy with it so far

In reply to elliott92:

i just put standard loft insulation in mine, the panels arent difficult to take out and put back in again. What i would reccomend is wind deflectors for the front windows, you can leave the widows opn two inch and not get any rain in. with that we had no condensation with two in the back, and comfortably cosy.

In reply to mwr72:

Personally I wouldn't use expanding foam, pretty sure it's open cell so would hold water, most converters use a combination of the silver bubble foil and the recycled plastic fibre type insulation, dont use fibreglass it horrible stuff

You could while away an hour or too over at vwt4forum.co.uk there's loads of threads on it.

In reply to mwr72:

Expanding foam would be a complete mess and crap. Panels on and off and use some of that bubble foil stuff and standard insulation. Plus bubble foil under the floor too and make some for the windows

In reply to mwr72:

I used thermoliner from Harrison's trim supplies to insulate my van last year. It's like a roll mat, with one sticky side and one shiny side. Really easy to use and incredibly warm.

I know a camper converter who swears by expanding foam for insulation and uses it on all his vans. It's not the standard stuff from the DIY sheds though and is pretty pricey.

I've used a mixture of thermoliner, foil roll & recycled bottle insulation in mine. Don't use fibreglass, not only is it horrible to work with, it apparently holds moisture and causes rust.

In reply to mwr72:

When I looked at options for doing mine, it said the expanding foam was a no no. In a void it can expand more than you think and end up pushing the panel out. I used self adhesive foam/foil sheet. Easy to apply and sound proofing as well. Then for extra I added some cheap synthetic insulation before replacing the plywood panels and covering them with fabric.