FLOOR HEATING IN A VAN?! - Installing Hydronic Heated Floor and Insulation - Sprinter Conversion

[@deborah_sage]

I would love to see part 2, or a list of the components that you used. 😀

[@spiroszaharakis2648]

Great job guys. You did two of my favorite things regarding van floors, no battens, and Hydronic underfloor heating. Perfect.

[@VanlifeWonder]

Thanks Spiros! We also love this method of installing van floor!

[@lhackinen3684]

Similar Hydronic floor , wished I had seen this first Removed factory floor , built Hydronic floor in heated Carport using 3/8 plywood as base , 2" 30lb Xps ( normal is 20 to 25 lb) routered to fit pex plan , with Spacer wood (yes battons) where furniture would be mounted , factory floor on top ,Sandwich anchored together with 1/4'' ( 3/4" diameter flat top ) furniture bolts and blind press anchors into plywood base. Then cradled the whole thing into van and mounted to Van Floor using factory mounts and some PLUS nut in van floor. It Squeeked . Removed floor, ( do Not want to do that again) removed pex , lined groove with Aluminum foil tape, secured Pex to groove with Hvac sealant, Alumium foil over top, ( to dissipate heat into top plywood ) a 24" wide sheet of aluminum flashing over main walking area. 1 year later .. No squeak . washboard roads , 30,000KM works great.

[@christoffer1973]

Great Video! But i would glue the pex tube to the insulation whit the insulatation glue. that tape can reflex the radiant heat down instead for up. Just a small tips.

[@ychefla]

To my understanding reflection would require air gap. When it is in contact with the PEX pipe there is anyway more conduction than reflection and thus it's actually conducting the heat to wider area... To places that would be insulated by the XPS. So I don't see problem there.

[@stevestadterman9270]

omg,,at least use the transfer plates..

[@immrnoidall]

The silence of hot water floor heating will be nice. I've seen a video of someone using just a small cheap electric hot water heater in a well insulated one bedroom home. completely silent. and warm. And they got a better rate on the electric for it. plus it works well on walls too. like in a tiny bathroom with a tiny floor.

[@charlesmcdaniel6244]

? About the 1” xps. With only 1” for insulation and then routed out 5/8” for tubing. Did you notice any lost in insulation during hot days. Live in AZ and it get out on the asphalt. Worried about the little lost of insulation. Converting T1n. So room is tight. Was thing about 1/2 blue foam board then 1” xps floor heating. With that I was just reading up on pex pipe specs. I read we’re 1/2” and 3/8 id pex had the same btu’s under 200ft and over 130ft. Why are your thoughts. Reason was less material routes out on the xps. Good video.

[@multiplysixbynine]

I considered XPS foam for my hydronic subfloor but it’s only rated for 165° F at which point it gets soft whereas the diesel water heater operates at up to 185° F. I think it should be fine once you add a thermostatic mixing valve but I decided to use Coosa board instead just in case. Have you had any issues with the floor overheating?

[@aidenhuntley]

Flooring shouldn't operate at more than about 100° F. But a simple thermostat mixer to blend in some cold is the normal way to fix that.

[@EdClarkePC]

Nice work! I'm in the middle of installing a similar system by Rixens. Closed cell foam + XPS w/ inlayed 1/2" PEX + 1/2" plywood. Vinyl on top eventually. Did you use a regular wood router bit? Happy with the results? Any words of wisdom before I start making XPS dust?

[@benschleuss]

Hey Ed, how's the 1/2" ply above the 1/2" pex? I was kinda worried about the transfer coming through sufficiently... have you seen others do it this way? Does Rixens recommend that?

[@ychefla]

I'm too wondering why ply on top of XPS. XPS should easily take all the load. Not sure about its properties when hot though.

[@ychefla]

I used wood router bit, bit low rpm. It's a little rougher but also doesn't fly around as much

[@sunflowerseeds8007]

Good video. Why do you need a heat exchanger for the garage? Why not just heat the floor there too? Or am I missing something? How thick is the plywood that you put on top of the foam?

[@VanlifeWonder]

Hello There, Thanks for the reply!, the reason we are adding an heat exchanger in the garages to promote more warm air when needed. We do have heated floor, but we do find out selves in very cold conditions (skiing) that we want to make sure we have the best chance at a equally heated van/ garage. The floor is the stock floor so 3/8 inch I believe. Floor heating is good to keep the van at a constant temp, but not ideal for brining the air temp up when it is cold, that is why we are adding a heat exchanger in the garage and a 2nd airtronic in the front of the van. We also beleive in some redundancy for heating!

[@DJ-jx9mg]

I would guess you don’t get good radiant heat with PEX tubes in insulation. Very inexpensive to use thermal board. I just installed 1/2 XPS, 5/8 thermal board and 1/2 sub floor. Heated floors are basically comfort only, will generate very little heat. I also have two air exchanges for heating the van, and a water exchange for on demand hot water.

[@adamgood2470]

I'm curious how your floor is doing. We are installing an almost identical floor setup. Have you noticed any movement or compression? Great stuff!

[@VanlifeWonder]

Hey Adam, We have installed this type of "floating" floor on a few vans and we have not noticed any compression or movement, once all the cabinets are installed. Like we said in the video we will be using the factory mounts on the sprinter to help bolt it down to be the strongest connection we can.

[@joshedcostanza]

Great video! Is your hot water on a separate pex loop? I'm starting my research for a hydronic system for hot water, radiant floor and air heaters. I'm not finding much info on how to separate the floor loop from the hot water so you don't heat your van when wanting hot water say for summer months. I'm guessing a T splitter with a pex solenoid wired to a thermostat but not finding that info on Espar's site. How do you regulate the floor temp so it doesn't get too hot? Thanks!

[@handlebullshit]

Just have some valves to turn off or regulate the flow to the loops and use a small plate heat exchanger on a separate circuit to heat the potable water.

[@robertlindberg815]

Hi. Good educational video. What is the floor heating called that you used? Is it the Espar hydronic? I am looking at the Van Life Tech’s floor heating. It is pricey of course. I have hired some van builders to do mine. But i live in Sweden and the shipping, VAT and customs fee is busts my budget. Despite this, I am still keen on the floor from van life tech. Maybe you know which alternatives are good?

[@VanlifeWonder]

Hey There, thanks for watching the video. We will be using the Espar Hydronic, we have been to busy building clients vans to finish our flooring heating but when we do we will be filming the video! Our system will be a bit more simple than Vanlife Tech but we believe it will be as functional for the uses we need it. - hope to finish this build segment soon and we can release the next set of videos!

[@robertlindberg815]

Thank you for the reply. So how come the VLT’s floor heating is so much more expensive? What sets it apart? I was checking out another floor heating from RIxens. It was around five grand. Still, half of VLT’s. What am I missing? Maybe VLT’s is more efficient or something?

[@amykim2432]

Hello! I’m wondering what is the source of the hot water energy for the floor of the van? I have a 600R battery bank, I understand the tubing but what is the source? Where can I buy it and what type?

[@VanlifeWonder]

Hello Amy, We are planning on using a Espar Hydronic heater, there are a few brands that make units like this. They are diesel (or gas) heaters the heat up antifreeze type fluid that will be pumped around the pipes to create that radiant heat. Depending on where you are located you can find these units in many van conversion websites or ecom channels.