Crafter first built

[Raul]

looks good only thing i can never understand is insulating the van for warmth and then putting cold single glazed windows in

You are right, the biggest heat los are those two windows. I have made some very effective thermal blinds and they help allot. At the time these two costed 250 for both including boning kit and delivery. The seitz s4 would of been 700 each, so 1400 for two. The security is not great on the plastics so I tried to keep those as small as possible. These two factors made me go for the solid windows.

Nice job
Did you get agreed value from AF ? Without it if anything happens they will try and payout just for the van and if you are lucky a couple of k for parts

Yes agreed value For the hole van, and a fixed up to 10k I think for contents if broken in or stollen.

 

[DerryW]

So, here we are, two months with some longish days in between, and a lighter wallet after, that is our result. Main time consuming( 1/3) was the insulation and vapour barrier seal. The rest was just straight forward, with the odd detail work that required some extra care.
The most expensive, was energy storage (400ah LiFePo4) storing 5kwh, followed by appliances, solar system and inverter charger. The panels we chose are Panasonic hybrid, that are a smidge more efficient in dull weather and the size. They the only panel that fit across and not stick out over the gutter edge. Most others fairly priced, except moorland board at £139 a sheet. We went for the high pressure laminate, which is quite different to the normal furniture boar. Some things we might change in time, like cushion covers, curtains and I'm going to make my own thermal windscreen covers. At the moment we get by with a black out curtain to the cab area. I have insulated over the cab fairly well, but some condensation still needs looking in to. We use the max fan quite a lot, specially when cooking, washing etc. I'm looking at a possibility to incorporate a humidistat somehow to turn on the fan on exhaust during wet seasons.

Excellent job, you must have the patience of a saint. I expect the savings against what you would have to pay for anything half as nice on a forecourt makes it all worth while. Well done

 

[Terry]

You are right, the biggest heat los are those two windows. I have made some very effective thermal blinds and they help allot. At the time these two costed 250 for both including boning kit and delivery. The seitz s4 would of been 700 each, so 1400 for two. The security is not great on the plastics so I tried to keep those as small as possible. These two factors made me go for the solid windows.

Yes agreed value For the hole van, and a fixed up to 10k I think for contents if broken in or stollen.

None of my business, but that insurance does not sound like an agreed value. It sounds like yes we'll pay for the van and yes contents upto 10k. My friend had an agreed value of 10 k and 2k for contents for his self build .It was stolen and then the insurance said the vans worth 4k and we need a list of contents, promptly tried to knock 800 off his 2k
The insurance eventually had to pay him his full 12 k because they agreed that they had done a agreed insurance at 12k .If he had not got it properly agreed they would have only paid £5200 because they thought they could get away with it being a self build. As it was my mate was gutted because to him his van was worth more but thankful that he listened and got full agreed value.
I personally think his van was worth a lot more than 12 k but at least he got that amount.He should have agreed a higher amount

 

[Raul]

If anyone will steal the van, it will have to steal me to. Any attempts for contents to go missing I will be hanging by their throat, they will have to take me as well or kill me. I dare anyone touch my stuff without my consent.
So, insurance is there as a legal requirement rather than a cover. Of course if a unfortunate situation beyond my control should happen, then I would be great full for whatever the insurance will cover. I’m pretty sure I have a agreed Vehicle value and a up to agreed value for contents. And I’m comfortable with that.