After two winters spent full time skiing from the van (faroutride.com/winter-vanlife), we can definitely say that using Thinsulate insulation was a GREAT decision. It has kept us warm (down to -25F!), and it is still in great condition after that time (no mold, no bugs, still holding in place). We think Thinsulate is the best van insulation option:
- VERY easy to install
- Doesn't absorb moisture
- Doesn't off-gas
- Excellent noise insulator (no need for extra sound barrier)
- Doesn't attract bugs
- Can be removed for body repair
The current page is about the installation process of the Thinsulate. To build your knowledge about vanlife insulation and what's best for you, we highly recommend reading this article first:
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click a product link and buy anything from the merchant (Amazon, eBay, etc.) we will receive a commission fee. The price you pay remains the same, affiliate link or not.
Material
| Item | Description | Quantity | Link |
| Thinsulate Insulation | SM600L | 40’x 60″ + 30’x60″ | TheSwivelShop |
| Spray Adhesive | 3M 90 | 4 cans | TheSwivelShop |
How Much Thinsulate Should You buy?
Thinsulate comes in 60 inches wide rolls. It's up to you to determine what length (feet) you need! So take a measuring tape and find out the surface area you need to cover. To make things easier, we came up with the "Thinsulate Calculator" just below; hope that helps!
Thinsulate Calculator
Cargo Surface
Don't own a van yet? We listed the dimensions for the Transit, Sprinter, Promaster, & Nissan here: Van Selection
| Dimension (in) | |
|---|---|
| Cargo Length | |
| Cargo Height | |
| Cargo Width | |
| Cargo Surface (sq.ft.)* |
*Cargo Surface = passenger wall (including the sliding door opening, which will be subtracted next in "Remove Surface"), driver wall, & ceiling.
Remove Surface
As required
| Height (in) | Width (in) | |
|---|---|---|
| Remove Surface (sq.ft.) | ||
Add Surface
As required
| Height (in) | Width (in) |
|---|
| Add Surface (sq.ft.) | ||
Result
Includes: passenger & driver walls, ceiling, and all your custom ADD/REMOVE.
| Surface (sq. ft.) | |
|---|---|
| Cargo | |
| Remove | |
| Add | |
| Waste 1 | 50 |
| TOTAL SURFACE | |
| LENGTH OF THINSULATE NEEDED (FEET) |
1: To account for waste (it's inevitable due to the multiple funky-shaped pieces needed), mistakes and estimation errors. 50 Sq.Ft. adds 10 linear feet of Thinsulate. We don't recommend skipping the "Waste", unless you don't mind interrupting your build to wait for your next order of Thinsulate...
(Free shipping to USA and Canada. USA orders are tax free and ship from USA warehouse. Canadian orders are subject to taxes and ship from Canadian warehouse.)
As a general rule of thumb:
| Small Vans | 40 feet |
| Medium Vans | 50 feet |
| Large Vans | 60 feet |
| Extended Vans | 70 feet |
Thinsulate Installation In A Nutshell:
1- Cut the Thinsulate using tailor scissors:
2- Apply 3M 90 spray adhesive to the van surface & on the white surface of the thinsulate, then wait 30-60 seconds for the adhesive to become tacky:
3- Press the Thinsulate against the surface and voilà!
Cabin Overhead Storage (Headliner)
There is about 1.5″ gap between the van ceiling & the headliner, that’s perfect to insert some insulation in there. We did not use adhesive since the gap between the ceiling and the headliner is about the same as the Thinsulate thickness.
1- We used a vise-grip and raw power to remove the pins (they were not damaged in the process, and we were able to reuse them):
2- Foam pieces removed:
3- Then, we removed the four screws (total) under the driver and passenger side handles:
4- Next, we unsnapped the three pins in the center of the headliner. To unsnap them, the overhead storage must be pushed forward. This is quite tricky, keep calm! Some people have damaged them in the process, but they can be glued back in place later…
5- BAM! (third one not shown in picture)
6- It is now possible to lower the headliner a few inches and install the Thinsulate. We used three pieces of insulation to fill the gap: one on the left-hand side, one on the right-hand side, and one in the center.
7- Sliding-in the insulation right-piece (left not shown…)
8- Reinstall the fasteners and voilà!
Ceiling
The challenge with the ceiling is to work against gravity. However, it proved to be fairly easy for 2 people. We won’t go in to details here because there is not much to say…
We left the Thinsulate as shown in the picture above for several months and we did not lose a piece. The 3M 90 spray adhesive is doing a great job!
Walls
Large cutouts were filled with insulation:
We also filled the cavities where possible:
It's in!
Sliding Door
The plastic panel is attached with several push pins. They are fairly easy to remove with a flat screwdriver, or you can do it with a push pin pliers.
Since the sliding door is exposed to exterior elements, there is a plastic sheet to protect the door mechanism. The plastic sheet can be removed simply by pulling it; the goo should remain glued to it for later re-assembly.
Here is how it looks without Thinsulate in:
Thinsulate was then placed in the cutouts:
Driver/Passenger Doors
We insulated the driver & passenger doors when we upgraded the speakers; therefore, it is documented here:
Windows
You can spend a lot of money and time on the best insulation, but remember that glass is an excellent heat conductor (in other words, a horrible insulator). You can make cheap & dirty Reflectix covers to reflect the sun in summer, but if you are skiers like us, you will want something that performs better… To minimize heat loss during winter, we made insulated window covers out of ez-cool + thinsulate + fabric. They make a HUGE difference in sub-freezing temperatures, and they’re just plain essential below 5F (-15°C). Here is how we made them:
On Second Thought...
We could go on forever about R values, thermal bridges, etc., but here are the real questions:
Q: How does our insulation solution (Thinsulate, EZ-Cool, and Insulated Window Covers) perform in real life?
A: It’s GREAT! It does what it’s supposed to: keep us warm in winter, keep us cool in summer.
Q: If we had to start over, would we go the same route again?
A: Yes!
Now, here is a more thorough discussion:
Summer:
1- On a very hot and sunny day, the Magnetic Grey sheet metal of our Ford Transit is burning hot. The Thinsulate is warm-hot, but the wood paneling is warm-cool. It shows that Thinsulate alone is fine, but the finished van (thinsulate+ez-cool+wood paneling) is even better! (It might be wise to choose a van with light color if you are living in a hot and sunny region).
2- If the van is left in the sun without the insulated window covers, the temperature will increase beyond our comfort level (ventilation or not); if the window covers are installed, we can keep the van within our comfort level (with the help of the Maxxair fan).
Winter:
On any cold day, it’s possible to keep the van to our comfort level (66-68F / 18-20°C) when running the Webasto heater. Below -18°C (0F), inside temperature starts to lower; for example at -30°C (-22F) the maximum inside temperature is 15°C (58F) which is actually not that bad considering how cold it is outside!
But what if we turn off the Webasto heater? Does our insulation solution maintain the ambient temperature for a while? The answer is YES, if the insulated window covers are installed (if the window covers are removed, the temperature drops much faster, AND it gets uncomfortable near the windows). In fact, we took the habit of turning the heater off when going to bed and back on when we wake up (or use the MultiControl timer to automatically turn it on 30 minutes before we wake up). The temperature drop during the night, of course, will vary a lot with the outside temperature:
-Outside temperature of 50F (10°C) in the evening dropping down to 28F (-2°C) in the morning: the temperature inside the van will go from about 68F (20°C) in the evening and will drop down to about 50-53F (10-12°C) in the morning. (remember, we turned off the Webasto heater when going to bed).
-Below what outside temperature do we need to leave the Webasto heater running all night? We still don’t know, wait for it! We spent a week at -10F/-15F (-20 to -27°C) last year in the Chic-Chocs (faroutride.com/chic-chocs-winter-wonderland-december-2016), but we didn’t have insulated window covers at that time and our insulation was about halfway done (no ez-cool), so we cannot draw real conclusions from that trip.
Conclusion
We can conclude that insulating a van is not only about Thinsulate, or spray foam; it’s about the combination of different items. In our case: Thinsulate, Ez-Cool, Wood Paneling and Insulated Window Covers.
About thermal bridge:
This photo was taken during the conversion without ez-cool installed; it means all the frames inside the van had no insulation on them:
It was a cold and damp morning (37F), and we were heating the van with the Webasto heater (55F). Note that there was condensation everywhere outside (on the van, on the ground, etc.).
We observed that condensation remains where Thinsulate is installed, but this condensation is “evaporated” at the frame locations where there is no Thinsulate. This is because the frames are forming a thermal bridge for the heat to be conducted from the inside to the outside of the vehicle, thus providing enough heat for the water to evaporate. In other words, there is heat loss where there is no condensation.
We also observed inside the van that the Thinsulate is warm to the touch, while the adjacent “bare” metal frames are cold to the touch. The Thinsulate is doing its job, the bare metal forms a thermal bridge.
To minimize the thermal bridges, we will apply Low-E EZ-Cool to the “bare” frames (the wood finish will helps as well). The EZ-Cool is a closed-cell foam sandwiched between two aluminum sheets.
Hey!
Love the guides, question tho? When you insulated I’m unclear on the thermal bridging?
Are you guys leaving the “frame” metal exposed because you want the thermal bridging? Or are you filling in the insides but just leaving that metal exposed?
Just a little confused haha, any help you have is appreciated!
We definitely don’t want the thermal bridging 😉
We later covered the frames with Low-E EZ-Cool: https://faroutride.com/ez-cool-installation/
Hope this helps, antoine 🙂
Hello guys, I really like what you’re doing and appreciate you wanting to share it with us. Question; I’ve already installed 3M Thinsulate on the ceiling of my 2022 Ford Transit with the Black side towards the metal skin of the roof. Did I make a mistake in doing that? Should I remove what I’ve done and re-install the Thinsulate with the Back side towards the living space? I installed with the 3M 90 spray adhesive.
Thank you kindly, Brian
I’d leave it like that. You’ll most likely damage it when trying to remove it.
The black side protects the Thinsulate against damage, it’s not like you’ll lose insulating properties.
Cheers 🙂
If you had a few extra linear feet of Thinsulate, where would you choose to put it? Could/should I double up on some of the bottom panels? Maybe near the bed?
Thanks for this awesome guide!!
Hi!
Personally we doubled-up with our extra Thinsulate in the wall near the ceiling. Heat rises and in winter heat loss would be greater in that spot. Also, it was easy to double-up up there 🙂
Y’all have provided a lot of useful information but I’m wondering how you were able to spray the 90 adhesives on the ceiling – it requires the spray bottle to be facing down, it will not spay adhesive when pointed up toward the ceiling. Thanks for your thoughts.
I don’t remember it to be a problem to be honest, but it’s been a few years now! They make 2 types of aerosol if I’m not mistaken: “normal” and “inverted”, maybe one of them would solve your issue?
Did you remove the Styrofoam headers at the front of the van that are above the driver and passenger side of the van? The driver side has electrical in it but is an awkward shape to work around. Also, what did you do with the long electrical wire that goes along the driver side to the back? We also have a Ford Transit 350 AWD EL High roof. Thanks!
We left the foam blobs mostly untouched: https://faroutride.com/foam-blobs/
The wiring harness is hidden behind the overhead cabinet and the bedroom storage.
Happy build! 🙂
Thanks! I saw you posted in the Ford Transit forum about Havelock Wool. We are debating between using Havelock and Thinsulate. What is your experience with the wool?
Hi!
I’m not sold on wool for the following reasons:
– Complicated to install (need to use strings and ropes).
– In the long term, the wool packs and falls down and that greatly reduce its insulating properties. I’ve seen photos of van years after and the wool was literally all packed down (the top of the van didn’t insulation anymore).
– Must be treated with chemicals to repel insects.
So, personally I still much prefer Thinsulate.
How do you feel about using gap filler foam for inside frame rails?
I’m wondering your thoughts on putting some EZ-Cool glued to the ceiling above the Thinsulate in headliner. Do you feel like it would be worth it, or detrimental in some way? Thanks!
Radiant barrier performs best when it’s not directly in contact with hot/cold surface. I’d add it after the Thinsulate. I bit like we did for the rest of the van: https://faroutride.com/ez-cool-installation/
cheers
Hi, I’m beginning my van conversation (promaster) that I bought from someone who had already started to convert it. As I search for tips and tricks, your blog and videos come up often and have become my go-to. The original owner installed the thinsualte and gave me the roll of reflectix when I bought the van. I’ve seen others use reflectix after installing thinsulate but I see you didn’t and didn’t mention it in this post. Is this something you don’t recommend? Or what are your thoughts on it? Thanks in advance
Hi! Actually we do have a Build Journal entry about that here: https://faroutride.com/ez-cool-installation/
Hope this helps 🙂
I&A–
Wow, been a long time since commenting on the insulation thread!!
Some comments on an insulation problem and our fix.
But first, I was wondering in your old build, if you had any problems with cold air coming down the C-pillar near the batteries on the driver’s side. I can’t really see how yours are exactly arranged, but our batteries are directly adjacent to the C-pillar, and, more importantly, that big hole at the bottom of the C-pillar.
Anyway, that cold air coming out of that hole. It turns out it’s the coldest place in the van, cooling batteries to outside temps when they shouldn’t be under -3C when you are charging!!! We use the C-pillar for about 7 or 8 circuits as an easy route to get to the ceiling (fan, solar, lights, circuits that go to the other side via the back, etc etc), so just boxing it off was not really an easy option like on the passenger side of the van.
So, my not very elegant solution: I finally got in there last month and worked on the problem by using tweezers to slowly jam about 40 little mouse sized pieces of Thinsulite, one at a time, into the hole in the C-pillar in between all the wiring, until I couldn’t push any more in. Solid Thinsulite. What a pain.
But, hey! Ugly as sin but works fine, normal floor temps now!! Success!
Merry Xmas!
-D
We have our “fridge floor vent” (for the fridge) near there, so yeah we got some cold air coming in, which runs along the fridge’s coil and get warmed up a little. But not cold enough to bother us!
The doors (which we didn’t finish yet) are a source of cool air as well. It’s been on the to-do list for years! It’s not so bad I guess otherwise we would get done with this 🙂
Hi, first, thanks for your website, nice, cool and very well done. The info are really useful. I’m currently isolating a Sprinter 2014, 144. I just finish isolating headliner and I wonder if I have to put back the big foam each side of it (same as in your picture no 2) . Since I don’t have airbags upthere, I don’t see why the’re useful. Thanks.
I think the picture showing condensation on the outside of the van is more likely dew that formed on the colder metal as opposed to the dry metal heating up and evaporating the condensation. Nevertheless, it does show the insulation doing its job and preventing the interior heat from reaching the exterior metal. Thanks for the wealth of information that you provide to DIY’ers.
Has anyone done this method for a passenger van with many windows? Curious how the process would differ. We have an 08 Dodge Sprinter that we recently acquired. Getting ready to purchase materials but havent quite decided on how to do the windows. Should we do EZ Cool First? Thoughts anyone?
Additionally – we are going to try “cut out” small sections where we would have insulation to essentially have “submarine windows.” Curious if you have any thoughts on how to do this? Maybe just frame up the sections?
Thanks for this incredible resource. My second build, first sprinter build and super excited.
In my research I am coming across people using a 3M thinsulate window film that claims to make a single pane as efficient as a double pane – Can anyone comment? Anyone done this?
Planing to start insulating my VW LT mk 1, i found your articles very helpful so as to get an idea on how to go about it, in fact i was thinking of using a combination of sheeps wool for hard to reach beams and thisulate for panels, my query is as im averse to glue anything to the metal i was thinking of sandwiching the thinsulate between the panels and a metal mesh 1″x1″ on the inside held in place with wooden battens, what do you think of the idea will it work
I accidently purchase the 400L which only expands to 1inch thickness, do you think that will make a huge difference when it comes to insulation properties?
I might be a bit of an idiot.
I installed my thinsulate “backwards” from what you all did, i.e., I glued the black side to the van and have the white side out. Do you see any issues with this? It’s still “fresh” so I could re-do it if necessary… 😐
Nah you’ll be fine, I would leave it as is! No worries.
Hello, thank you for all your information – I can’t find anything about any prep to the bare metal before the glue and Thinsulate – would it be a good idea to “rubberize” (or similar) the van walls first, to eliminate condensation and rust? Thank you, KCee
I don’t think that’s necessary to be honest; Thinsulate has been around for a while now and I’m confident about using it directly on the metal. THat’s what I’d personally do for my van…
Did you use any sound deadening like Dodo Dead Mats or did you just go on straight with Thinsulate?
We added CLD tiles from Sound Deadener Showdown on our walls/ceiling and don’t feel it changed anything. If we were to do another van, we aren’t going to use it again as we think Thinsulate is enough.
Do you have anything on your site that discusses what you did with your wheel wells?
I thought we did, but can’t find it 🙁 So, we simply cover the wheel wells with Thinsulate.
I over estimated and have quite a good bit left over. Do you see any issues sandwiching 2 or 3 layers of Thinsulate (especially in the deep cavities)? Not sure if its necessary to remove from the black backing from the under layers?
Thanks again for all the great advice.
We had some leftover as well and we doubled it like you mention. As long as you don’t have to compress it, it’ll be fine!
Love what you guys do! Thanks for all the helpful information!
In regards to insulating the cavities, did you guys open up the panels over the front seatbelt columns and insulate in that cavity? I’m trying to determine if it’s helpful/possible to insulate that area and, if so, how big of a hassle it is to take those panels off and put them back on.
Thanks!
We didn’t. I feel like it’s not worth it, but that’s me…
cheers