Buying a camper van
Buying your first camper van is a daunting experience with many things to consider. Not only do we need to find a campervan we can live in fulltime but it also needs to be capable of withstanding the -15 degrees temperatures that we could be exposed to in the Alps!
So after hours of research here is the list of features we think the van needs to have in order to be our home from home in the alps and throughout Europe.
- Preferably doesn’t look too much like a touring motor home full of expensive equipment as we don’t want to draw too much attention to thief’s.
- Good diesel engine for reliability and long engine life.
- Less than 10 years old for the purpose of insurance and breakdown cover.
- Well insulated with no internal metal bodywork showing in living quarters and double glazed windows. We need the van to be as snug as possible.
- All water tanks and pipes need to be internal where possible otherwise they would just freeze.
- Diesel or gas powered blow heating to heat the van up.
- Must have a shower, toilet, sink and cooking facilities as we plan to freecamp where possible.
- Needs lots of storage separate from living area where we can store snowboards, kites and our other wet equipment.
- A permanent double bed so we don’t have to make up a bed each time we get back from a day up the mountain.
- A flat screen TV to play the playstation and watch DVD’s.
- Internal storage for our clothing and other personal belongings.
Heating and insulation
How the campervan will fair in the -15 degrees we are expecting in the Alps is one of our main considerations, if we had to spend the duration of our trip cold and damp then I’m sure it wouldn’t be any fun!
When looking at vans it’s very difficult to see exactly how well the van is insulated and the owner doesn’t usually know what type of insulation has been used or how warm the van is in the height of winter. I think all you can really do is check there isn’t any of the outer skin showing, all panels are covered and make sure windows are double glazed where possible.
As for the heating diesel or gas powered blow heating seems best. We have been told that gas powered blow heating has less components so has less chance of going wrong. Diesel powered heating (eberspacher) has the advantage of running off your vans diesel supply and warming up the cars engine at the same time as inside the van.
Here is some info on winterising a campervan and here is some other winterising info.
