A Van Update
Well we have been living in our van now for a number of months and it's been fantastic to have more inside living space compared to our previous van. Before we left Scotland, last October, we managed to fit the gas heater -important addition heading into the winter -and also a water tank - we had planned to fit two water tanks but time ran away with us, so it's just the one for the moment - we will install the second later this coming summer.
We spent a while deciding on how to heat the van and finally settled on a gas fired Truma combi, we chose to purchased from Jackson leisure and we are really pleased with our choice. It heats the van up really quickly - very important on a cold night! It's quiet and it's clean - no smell whatsoever when it's running - a big improvement on our previous diesel heat (the fumes from that one were not good at all!) We fitted the truma ourselves having watched numerous videos on YouTube - Greg Virgoe was the best (as are all of his video's - well worth watching) The only downside with the heater so far - it's very thirsty on gas during cold wet days but that maybe due to my turning up of the heater and keeping it on all the time !! However, that's a small price to pay for a warm cosy van.
The additional fitting out occurred on my parents driveway whilst were back down south. There we added the galley kitchen, fitted a fridge and sorted out the bed.
The kitchen is all Ikea - as usual for us - they make a cabinet 37cm deep which is perfect for fitting to a van - we went for a 60cm and an 80cm wide cabinets with a bamboo finish. The draws are deep enough to store loads of stuff so we are very happy. We have fitted some button catches to the draws to stop them flying open when we zoom around corners. We have fitted a deep, narrow sink (also Ikea) - the tap (from Amazon) has a pull down hose from the spray head so it can be used to wash hair or stretch out of the van door to clean boots etc. A bi-product from the trump heater is hot water, perfect for a quick wash! A double gas burner was fitted to the opposite end and our kitchen is now serviceable for this winter - the plan is to finish fitting out around the galley during the summer with additional storage and backsplash etc. We also have a fridge/freezer installed which will eventually live to the side of the desk but at present it's fixed just next to the kitchen.
So here's a montage of where we are with the van, we still need to finish the desk/table area; we need to cover the ceiling and finish off covering around the doors (we are putting adhesive rubber and then fabric over the remaining exposed metal work) and as perviously mentioned we need to finish the kitchen area. We have a load of other things we would like to do - window blinds, over head cupboards, storage under the bed and maybe some warmer flooring - possibly cork - so plenty left for us to do.
Bye for now
Liz
