Great video. A rare demonstration on non-toxic van building. We use sheeps wool insulation in our wooden shed - where we lived for one year - in Vermont. The winter was much more comfortable with the sheeps wool. We also felt the wool softened the harshness of sounds being made inside the shed as well as almost eliminating the sound from outside. Very cozy.
Just as an FYI for anyone else thinking of doing this: you can buy metal spikes that are specifically for insulation that have a very good adhesive backing. Usually used with foam, but I would think it would work with wool just fine.
Great video, thanks for all the information👍👍 I’m hoping to convert a van soon and insulation was something I was unsure about and this has helped massively. Thank you!
thanks benn & lu for this video! I'm planning a sheep wool insulation in my vw bus t5 during november. now I finally know that I'm not using a vapor barrier. so many different opinions on this topi as you said in your video. I'm not worried that its too loud in my van thats why I won't use an additional sound deadner as you did. just 5mm wool and 6mm plywood which I mount with the preexisting screws. kind regards from Switzerland!
Hi Marc! I'm originally from Germany, so hello 'neighbour' ;) Oh it's such a tough one, isn't it? We weren't sure for ages about whether to use it or not and then based our decision on what made more sense to us. Thanks for your comment and all the best with your build! Happy van living!
We are considering about making our van. But we were so confused with different types of insulation. I would like to use natural materials as much as we can. Sheep wool sounds amazing. I love the way you just use natural materials and smart tips like using those sticks. Hope you enjoy your van life!
Thank you! That sounds great Sahar! The conversion has been quite a long process for us so far and finding natural materials that work means putting in a bit of research (as you probably already know ;)), but it's so worth it in my eyes. Definitely no regrets re the sheep wool so far. All the best to you guys and have fun! xx
Thanks for the info. Planning a van build soon, insulation a must and this product sounds amazing. Looking foward to your input on hot or cold seasons with sheeps wool.n
Hey guys, great video. Very informative. It was what we needed to give it a go with sheep wool. Could you tell us how much did you used and more or less the cost of it?
Hey, this is very helpful and well articulated video. I just bought a van and totally convinced to use sheep wool. I want to use as much natural materials as possible. I have few questions: 1) Did you use any sound dampener material, I see some foil type sheets on the metal panels. 2) My van comes with a wood panel on the floor, did you remove the factory ones? If yes, why? 3) Why did you insulate it before doing the electrical wiring and plumbing, is there a pro and con to it?
Hi Daniel, thank you! The silver stuff is the sound deadening, which we've probably gone a bit overboard with, but we thought more might be better in this case ;) Are you or will you be working on your own van soon? If so, all the best!
You mentioned that you did not want to use the glue but there is an adhesive on those "sound deadening" panels. Was it worth it to use those - did they really minimize the sound and significantly contributed to making the van sound-proof?
Great video. Thanks! super interesting and informative. I'm new to all of this...So, when the humidity drops does the moisture held in the wool move back into the van compartment? Thanks. I'm just getting started on my van build and believe I want to make wool work in my build.
Hi there and thank you for your comment and question. We're loving our wool insulation and haven't had any issues since putting it in. We spent most of the last autumn and winter in the Lake District, UK, where it's pretty much raining all of the time. We have our Maxx Air Fan on the lowest setting 24/7 (all year) and an extra ceiling vent that is open most of the time as well when it's not raining plus a Diesel heater that was also on almost all of the time during the cold season. No issues with the wool whatsoever, but we do think that it absorbed a bit of moisture nonetheless, which is fine and something we expected anyway. This summer we spent our time down south where there was lots of sun and higher temperatures almost all of the time and it we believe the wool would have dried out completely (through the above mentioned fan, vent, as well as open doors and windows whilst driving). It's all hidden behind the ceiling cladding and wall plywood, so we don't know for sure of course, but we would always use wool again, be it in a van or a house. Other people have mentioned taking it out after years and it being completely dry and intact as mentioned in the video. Fabulous stuff! Would definitely recommend, especially now after having it in for over a year...
I understand what you have done is working well for you all, it’s just I’ve seen so many videos of van builds with a vapor barrier to not have one feels kind of strange. I’m beginning the building of a Promaster right now, I have wool sitting waiting for me to put it up. I suppose my question is what would happen if I do go with a vapor barrier? Will it not dry?
To be completely honest, I can't answer that question 100%, but to us it just made more sense not to put one in with it being wool. I think people who use other insulation materials should probably put it in as the insulation would simply not work as well anymore if/when it gets wet. If you have heating and proper ventilation installed, the condensation will hopefully be minimal and only really when it's cold outside. So fingers crossed you won't struggle with too much water from condensation inside the van anyway. I am wondering though, if you do put a vapour barrier up, the water will absolutely find a way to get behind it (think screw or nail holes from your panels/ply sheets/wood cladding/etc.), but is it going to find its way out again just as easily? I don't believe it would. Hence why we decided against it. Having said all of that, it's only a theory and also based on other peoples' and companies' experiences with wool insulation. Only time will tell. We might do an update on that in a few years, but for now we're happy with our decision. ;)
Thanks for doing all your research on wool insulation and NOT using a vapour barrier!
Great video. A rare demonstration on non-toxic van building. We use sheeps wool insulation in our wooden shed - where we lived for one year - in Vermont. The winter was much more comfortable with the sheeps wool. We also felt the wool softened the harshness of sounds being made inside the shed as well as almost eliminating the sound from outside. Very cozy.
We absolutely love it too! Thank you for your lovely comment! x
Just as an FYI for anyone else thinking of doing this: you can buy metal spikes that are specifically for insulation that have a very good adhesive backing. Usually used with foam, but I would think it would work with wool just fine.
Love your insight! I feel silly having used sheepwool but also 3M -90 in my van .
Thanks for the video. We are getting ready to use sheeps wool in our van conversion as well. New sub here. Good job!
Great video, thanks for all the information👍👍 I’m hoping to convert a van soon and insulation was something I was unsure about and this has helped massively. Thank you!
thanks benn & lu for this video! I'm planning a sheep wool insulation in my vw bus t5 during november. now I finally know that I'm not using a vapor barrier. so many different opinions on this topi as you said in your video. I'm not worried that its too loud in my van thats why I won't use an additional sound deadner as you did. just 5mm wool and 6mm plywood which I mount with the preexisting screws. kind regards from Switzerland!
Hi Marc! I'm originally from Germany, so hello 'neighbour' ;)
Oh it's such a tough one, isn't it? We weren't sure for ages about whether to use it or not and then based our decision on what made more sense to us.
Thanks for your comment and all the best with your build! Happy van living!
We are considering about making our van. But we were so confused with different types of insulation. I would like to use natural materials as much as we can. Sheep wool sounds amazing. I love the way you just use natural materials and smart tips like using those sticks. Hope you enjoy your van life!
Thank you! That sounds great Sahar! The conversion has been quite a long process for us so far and finding natural materials that work means putting in a bit of research (as you probably already know ;)), but it's so worth it in my eyes. Definitely no regrets re the sheep wool so far. All the best to you guys and have fun! xx
Thanks for the info. Planning a van build soon, insulation a must and this product sounds amazing. Looking foward to your input on hot or cold seasons with sheeps wool.n
Hey guys, great video. Very informative. It was what we needed to give it a go with sheep wool. Could you tell us how much did you used and more or less the cost of it?
Thank you for a great video.
Hey, this is very helpful and well articulated video. I just bought a van and totally convinced to use sheep wool. I want to use as much natural materials as possible. I have few questions: 1) Did you use any sound dampener material, I see some foil type sheets on the metal panels. 2) My van comes with a wood panel on the floor, did you remove the factory ones? If yes, why? 3) Why did you insulate it before doing the electrical wiring and plumbing, is there a pro and con to it?
Love the video! Reaelly helpful. Quick question. On the wheel arches and inside the cavities, is that foil bubble wrap I can see?
Hi Daniel, thank you! The silver stuff is the sound deadening, which we've probably gone a bit overboard with, but we thought more might be better in this case ;) Are you or will you be working on your own van soon? If so, all the best!
Pros cons. Wool insulation. Heat and cool noise.
You mentioned that you did not want to use the glue but there is an adhesive on those "sound deadening" panels. Was it worth it to use those - did they really minimize the sound and significantly contributed to making the van sound-proof?
Great video. Thanks! super interesting and informative. I'm new to all of this...So, when the humidity drops does the moisture held in the wool move back into the van compartment? Thanks. I'm just getting started on my van build and believe I want to make wool work in my build.
Hi there and thank you for your comment and question. We're loving our wool insulation and haven't had any issues since putting it in. We spent most of the last autumn and winter in the Lake District, UK, where it's pretty much raining all of the time. We have our Maxx Air Fan on the lowest setting 24/7 (all year) and an extra ceiling vent that is open most of the time as well when it's not raining plus a Diesel heater that was also on almost all of the time during the cold season. No issues with the wool whatsoever, but we do think that it absorbed a bit of moisture nonetheless, which is fine and something we expected anyway. This summer we spent our time down south where there was lots of sun and higher temperatures almost all of the time and it we believe the wool would have dried out completely (through the above mentioned fan, vent, as well as open doors and windows whilst driving).
It's all hidden behind the ceiling cladding and wall plywood, so we don't know for sure of course, but we would always use wool again, be it in a van or a house.
Other people have mentioned taking it out after years and it being completely dry and intact as mentioned in the video.
Fabulous stuff! Would definitely recommend, especially now after having it in for over a year...
How much insulation for a van? We are dreaming of a Ram Promaster with 159 inch Wheelbase and high top. Thanks for your video!
I understand what you have done is working well for you all, it’s just I’ve seen so many videos of van builds with a vapor barrier to not have one feels kind of strange. I’m beginning the building of a Promaster right now, I have wool sitting waiting for me to put it up. I suppose my question is what would happen if I do go with a vapor barrier? Will it not dry?
To be completely honest, I can't answer that question 100%, but to us it just made more sense not to put one in with it being wool. I think people who use other insulation materials should probably put it in as the insulation would simply not work as well anymore if/when it gets wet.
If you have heating and proper ventilation installed, the condensation will hopefully be minimal and only really when it's cold outside. So fingers crossed you won't struggle with too much water from condensation inside the van anyway.
I am wondering though, if you do put a vapour barrier up, the water will absolutely find a way to get behind it (think screw or nail holes from your panels/ply sheets/wood cladding/etc.), but is it going to find its way out again just as easily? I don't believe it would. Hence why we decided against it.
Having said all of that, it's only a theory and also based on other peoples' and companies' experiences with wool insulation.
Only time will tell. We might do an update on that in a few years, but for now we're happy with our decision. ;)
hi how would you rate the sheep insulation after all these years? Wasnt there a problem with condensation?
Hi, is using a vapour barrier with sheeps wool harmful? Thanks
hi, does this compress well? i have been in contact with black mountain and they suggest 75mm thickness, but its going into a 50mm gap. thx
Hi guys, I checked Black mountain and they have different thickness, I was wondering why didn't you get 10mm?
How much did you buy? What size is your van?
17:15 desinged by God. Not nature. ;)