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content/blog/022-new-van.md

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+---
+title: I Got a Van
+date: 2024-08-24
+tags:
+  - Van Build
+description: >
+    I've bought a van. I'm planning on converting it to a camper and documenting
+    the process here.
+---
+
+So, as you've probably gathered from the title, I've bought a van. Or, at least,
+reserved it, I actually pick it up in a couple of weeks. It's a 2019 Fiat Ducato
+L4H2 which means it's long and quite tall.
+
+There will be 3 of us using the van. Me, my wife, and our lurcher, Rumple. One
+of the biggest requirements we have is that the van is both comfortable and safe
+for him to live and travel in. We have some ideas and thoughts around this, but
+you will hopefully see what that looks like in future posts.
+
+My plan is to convert this van into a camper. This first post is mainly a brain
+dump, for me as much as anyone else, about my current plans. Many will change,
+some may be scrapped all together.
+
+We are not planning on living in the van. However, it would be nice if we can go
+away for prolonged trips in it. Maybe a month or 6 weeks at a time. Obviously,
+we will use it for shorter weekend breaks, but we don't want to be limited
+to a week or so at a time. As a result, we should be able to work from the van.
+
+We are in a very fortunate position that my wife and I both work from home for
+the vast majority of the time. As a result, as long as we have a reasonable
+internet connection and electricity, we can both work.
+
+Obviously, if we are both working off laptops, and potentially with additional
+monitors, or power consumption is likely to be on the higher end. The electrical
+system in the van will definitely be a separate blog post, but at the moment, it
+looks like we'll be going for [LiFePO_4_
+batteries](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_iron_phosphate_battery).
+Hopefully with 2 or 3 solar panels on the roof, as well as DC to DC charging so
+we can charge the batteries whilst driving. We will probably also add a shore
+power hookup, but that may come further down the line.
+
+For the internet side of things, I plan to mount a 5G antenna on the roof.
+Despite the name, it should pick up all the Gs. I will be on the look out for a
+router that I can plug such an antenna into, preferably one that supports the
+something like OpenWRT.
+
+This brings me quite nicely onto my plans for the Van's network. I hate WiFi. It
+will be available in the van for all my ESP boards (more on that later), but if
+I'm working on my laptop, I want it plugged in with a cable. So, I will be
+running Ethernet in my van, as well as power and water and whatever else I need
+to make it into a camper. I won't be going overboard like I did in my house -
+weight is a consideration in a van and cables are heavy; but I will be running
+it to (as a minimum) the office space for me and my wife, and my van server.
+
+Van server? Yes, you heard (read?) that right. I'll be having a server in my
+van. I am not sure yet if I'll be going down the Pi route, or something like a
+Nuc, but I will be having a low-ish powered server in the van. This will run
+things like [Home Assistant](https://www.home-assistant.io/) (more on that in a
+bit), [PiHole](https://pi-hole.net/),
+[AudioBookShelf](https://www.audiobookshelf.org/),
+[WireGuard](https://www.wireguard.com/) and maybe a few other things.
+Importantly, I won't be using it to run things that need a lot of power - think
+Jellyfin, Ollama and such.
+
+Things might change. Obviously, with a server that can go on motorways, spinning
+hard drives are a no-go. So storage is likely to have to be solid state for
+everything. As a result, I won't really be using this for a NAS. Storage of
+photos and videos will still go to my home server in my house. But things like
+audiobooks and podcasts that I am likely to want to listen to on the go will be
+stored on the local network.
+
+So, I mentioned Home Assistant. I am a big fan of **some** smart home tech. For
+me to be a fan of it, it needs to run (or be made to run) locally. Being able to
+turn your lights on from your phone is great, but if the switch on the wall
+doesn't work without an internet connection, I'm not interested. In my house,
+all of our light switches have been flashed with [ESPHome](https://esphome.io/).
+This custom firmware allows the switch to be controlled via Home Assistant, but
+importantly, even if my network has some catastrophic failure, the button still
+works. In the van, the chances of no internet are likely to be high - even with
+a fancy antenna on the roof. So, requiring the internet is an absolute no go for
+me.
+
+That will probably mean a whole bunch of DIY devices. I should be able to quite
+easily make things like lighting smart. I would also like to think that things
+like water sensors for my fresh and waste water can be read by an ESP device.
+What will probably take a bit more work / experimentation will be plugging an
+ESP device into the vehicles CAN bus to see if I can read data from that. It
+would also be great to have things like celling fans and heaters controllable
+from Home Assistant.
+
+Talking of fans and heaters, it is probably worth me mentioning that I will be
+trying to keep costs down where possible - or at least prioritising where money
+is spent. I would much rather, for instance, buy a cheap [Chinese celing
+fan](https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007224984817.html) or [diesel
+heater](https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006359176237.html) so I can buy
+decent electronics from the likes of [Victron](https://www.victronenergy.com/).
+
+Of course, I'll be taking things like the fans apart to see if I can stick an
+ESP chip in them and control them with Home Assistant.
+
+With regard to cooking in the van, I'm currently undecided on the best course of
+action. I would like to go fully electric, with induction hobs and an electric
+oven. Obviously, this would mean I need even more batteries in the van, which
+will increase the weight even more. However, I think with the amount of driving
+we normally do, I should be able to keep batteries topped up from the vehicle's
+alternator. It is possible that we will keep a gas camping stove somewhere so
+that if we're caught out, we can still boil water and heat food. But I would
+rather avoid the added hassle of gas canisters and piping if I can.
+
+With regard to water, I would like to mount both fresh and waste water tanks
+under the van. I don't yet know how big they will be, and will probably be
+determined by weight restrictions. However, my plan is to fit a low powered
+immersion heater into these to prevent them freezing in the winter. I won't be
+using this to make hot water, just to keep the temperature of the water above
+freezing - again probably powered by an ESP chip.
+
+Hot water is a different story. I have seen many youtube van builders pipe their
+diesel heater's pipe to a heat exchanger to heat the water. I may do this, but I
+would also like to try and heat the water from the engine's coolant system. I
+haven't seen this done in a camper (I'm not suggesting it hasn't been done), but
+I have seen it done [on other
+vehicles](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKmkqenpE5o).
+
+One thing I'm fairly sure I don't want in the van is a full sized shower. At
+least, not an internal one. Space is a premium in a van, and in my opinion, the
+space a shower takes up is unnecessary. I will probably add something like the
+[Bullfinch External Shower
+Point](https://camperwarehouse.co.uk/product/bullfinch-external-shower-point-white/),
+so we can have outdoor showers if we need them. But most of the time, I think
+we'll be able to make do with a flannel and a bowl of hot water. It does mean
+that the sink in the van will need to be big enough to wash our hair in. An
+added bonus of the external shower system is we'll be able to wash off Rumple
+before he gets in the van when he inevitably gets covered in mud.
+
+Only thing I haven't really touched upon is the planned layout. That will
+probably be my next blog post, but I plan to keep it quite simple. Bed at the
+back. Undecided yet on the orientation, and that will depend if I can sleep
+width ways once we've added the insulation. If I can't, and we end up making the
+bed go length ways, we will probably have an "almost" fixed bed, where the
+bottom foot or so is removable and is used as a back rest or something. This
+frees up some more space in the middle of the van during the day, but still
+means we don't need to make our bed each evening.
+
+The cab area will have swivel seats. This will make our main living / working
+area, and as a result, we won't have a separate "lounge". Again, space is at a
+premium in a van.
+
+Between the cab / living area and the bed will be our kitchen and toilet areas,
+as well as a spot for Rumple's bed. Importantly this will include a mounting
+point for his harness so he is secured whilst driving.
+
+Before I finish up, it's probably important that I clarify a few things. I will
+be learning as I go. I will be making mistakes and I will aim to share those
+with you. However, this "build log" will not be tutorials. I am not an
+electrician, so don't take electrical advice off me. Same for plumbing or
+carpentry or anything else for that matter. That being said, if you spot
+something I could be doing better, or an idea you think I might like, or just
+want to say hi, leave a comment by emailing `comments.new-van<at>jn.hn`.