HVAC

REMOVING THE A/C UNIT:

When I tell people we’re heading through Central America one of the most commons questions I get asked is “does it have A/C?” Not only does it not have air conditioning, one of the first things I did was to remove a huge A/C unit from the roof and throw it in the trash(I tried to give it away, but no one wanted it). That sounds crazy, but it was all part of the plan. The factory A/C takes up some serious real estate on the roof and for a decent amount of solar and Maxxair fans to fit we had to get it out of there. Also, that unit runs off a second compressor mounted on the engine and requires the van to be running while it cools the interior. As I’m not one for sitting there idling the engine for hours on end, that wouldn’t work. So off it came. Once everything was removed we had a large hole in our roof. Think like the size of a sunroof. Luckily there is a company that makes a precut panel to fit that area perfectly. You can buy one with a 14”x14” cut out for a 12v fan or a solid panel. We opted for the fan cut out. Installation wasn’t too bad and is water tight after I used a copious amount of Sikaflex. It’s not the best looking install, but it’ll do.

MAXX AIR FANS

Next we added two Maxx Air fans. I love these fans. Because of a unique design you can run these in the rain and everything will stay nice and dry on the inside. We opted for the ones that automatically open with a motor when turned on and I’m not sure if that was the right decision. It seems like an added expense for something more complex that might break. I’m probably just being a luddite, but they’ve worked flawlessly for the past 3 months being used all the time.

WINDOWS

We have no windows that can be opened to vent besides the two front windows. This is a little uncommon as a lot of people choose to CR Laurence windows in Sprinters. These windows are nice as they crank out and have screens. We put three of their windows in the last van and I like them. This time we decided against them for a few different reasons. One reason is that if you put one in the sliding door the crank out portion is right by the lock mechanism and it wouldn’t be all that hard to yank it open and unlock the door. Stealth camping isn’t so stealth when you have all the windows cranked open. Another reason is that because they are 3 different pieces of glass there is a metal bar that runs through the window from front to back and it happened to line up with our kids sight-lines. They’ll eventually grow, but we’re heading on the road now and I want them to see as much as they can. The final reason is that each window is about $600 and that money could buy a lot of tacos south of the border.

Because we have no venting windows we rely heavily on the fans. So far, having the front fan push the air out and the back fan sucking the outside air in has created a nice breeze. If that doesn’t totally cool us down, each person has a USB powered personal fan. We haven’t made it to the Amazon yet to put it all to the test, but hopefully soon.

ESPAR DIESEL HEATER

We don’t only plan to camp when it’s warm and nice outside. We love to venture out all times of the year. With with addition of the Espar S2 diesel heater we can now do it in relative comfort. The Sprinter and Espar sync up easily with the factory fuel tank having an extra tap for heaters. Our van came from the factory with two auxiliary heaters so that tap was feeding them, but it was pretty easy to install a tee into the factory heater fuel lines. The installation kit was the most extensive of anything I’ve purchased with plenty of extra hose clamps, nuts, bolts, and electrical connections. We chose to install it where most people do and that’s under the front passenger seat. I was worried that being as far from our bed as possible that it wouldn’t work all that great. Well ye of little faith, I learned quickly that this thing pumps out the heat and I’ve been woken up sweating. We opted for the Easy start Pro controller and it’s sweet. We can set the temperature we’d like and it’ll fire up when needed. As far a fuel consumption goes, it’s super efficient. We’ve been in a single spot for multiple nights and I notice no drop in our fuel gauge. I’m super stoked on this heater.

HVAC GALLERY:

We listed a few details of what we did at the bottom of each picture. If you have any questions about this build feel free to reach out to us.