Do I Need a Vent in My Van? (Stealth Van Ventilation Guide)
Not everyone wants the world to know that they are sleeping in their van. Those rooftop vents are often dead giveaways that someone is sleeping inside. Those people who like a little privacy prefer to find stealth vent alternatives so they can sleep in peace.
Do I need a vent in my van? Yes, you do need a vent in your van. Vents are very important and are needed to remove the condensation that gathers when people are inside. However, you may have options other than the roof to vent your van’s interior.
To learn more about those alternatives just continue to read our article. It has that information and more. Take a few minutes to see if the following data will be useful for your camper van projects. Finding the right vent location is essential to healthy van living.
Do I Need a Vent In My Van?
As we just said, yes you will need a vent in your van if you want it to be a healthy environment when you go camping. They do a lot as you will see in the upcoming section.
But before that, you should know that installing a good vent is not going to be that expensive. Plus, professionals can install one in under 30 minutes. That isn’t bad for a fan that rarely needs any maintenance work.
In addition to those benefits, you may also get a lifetime warranty if you choose the right company and vent fan. Then you do not have to convert your van to a camper or RV to enjoy all the benefits that a vent fan comes with.
Most importantly, you want to make sure that your van is protected. A vent fan will spare you a lot of cleaning once you discover all that mold growing in hidden places. That is something to consider when any van you own is without a vent.
What Does a Van Roof Vent Do?
This is a good question and the answer may be more detailed than you were expecting.
1. Air circulation and air exchange- it moves the air around so it feels cooler inside the van. Then it helps replace the old air with new oxygen to breathe. Plus, you can get rid of the hot air very quickly after being parked in the sun for a while.
2. Regulates humidity and controls condensation- both are mold growth enablers and the vent helps get rid of the excess of both environmental conditions. Once it has removed the hot, humid, and moist air you get a comfortable place to sit and relax. The removal of condensation protects your health as well.
3. Regulate the temperature- vans may not have a lot of insulation in them thus your interior can really heat up if you are not careful. They let cooler air come in while at the same time sending the hot air out. This option may not work as well as air conditioning but it doesn’t use a lot of power either.
4. Removes fumes- you never know what fumes will enter your van. Having a good vent installed lets you air out the interior and expel those deadly fumes. Letting the fumes remain only negatively affects your health.
5. Compliance with safety regulations- as a privately owned van you may not need to install a vent but if you are going to sleep in it, it is always wise to be on the side of safety.
How Much Ventilation Does a Roof Vent Provide?
There is no hard or written in stone rule about how much ventilation you need in your van. You have heard the term ‘less is more’ but that doesn't apply in this case. This is where ‘more is more’ and the more ventilation you have the better it is.
The principle surrounding ventilation is always the same. You need to bring in enough new air while expelling the hot old air out of the van and do this action continuously.
Then the ventilation system needs to be powerful enough to move the moisture out while keeping the air circulating at a good rate. One good indicator that will guide you is how many people will be using the interior of the van. The more people the more ventilation you will need.
That means you need a very good ventilation system if there is going to be more than one of you sharing the van. Although your van is not naturally air-tight, the airflow coming through dash vents, door and body seals just is not enough to keep your interior at safe levels.
You could open a couple of windows but there will be those days where the air is still and open windows will not help. Then if you sleep with the windows open, you place yourself and your mate at risk. Or rain will come in if the weather changes overnight.
How Do You Vent a Van?
There are many ways to vent a van and many are naturally built into the design of the vehicle. You have dash vents, doors, and windows that will handle some of the venting chores. However, as just discussed, these are not powerful enough to remove all the hot air or moisture from the interior.
While windows are very good at venting vans you are at the mercy of the wind levels and the weather. Not to mention the safety risk you place yourself in if you leave them open at night.
Wind deflectors will help and may allow you to leave the windows open at night and during rainstorms but the airflow is not always that great. Your best option is to choose from the many available vent options.
There are some very good options from the pop-up types to the mushroom options. The latter is more stealth than the former. Then you have wind-driven vents that, like the mushroom types, give your vent a low profile.
Then you have louvered vents and butterfly types that will work well although you may need a good cover to keep the rain out. Finally, there are those powered vents that do a great job with a push of a button on the remote control.
Stealth Van Ventilation
To get very specific information and costs when you want to add a few stealth vents to hide your occupancy in your van, you should talk to the professional installers who handle this type of work.
They will be able to give you the exact cost and materials you will need to make sure your van is ventilated without a lot of people knowing about it. You do have some options to consider though.
First, what type of vent will you want. The ones described earlier that best fit a stealth mode operation would be the louvered, the butterfly, and the mushroom types. The pop-ups and the powered along with the wind types are a dead giveaway that someone is inside.
The next consideration will be the location of those vents. Some want to place the vent openings at the rear of the van. But that raises the issue of exhaust and other fumes entering your van.
Other owners prefer these types of vents to be placed on the side of the vehicle. That is good for some louvered and butterfly types but not so good for the mushroom ones. You do not want the exterior of the vent to have a very large profile.
If any of the vents you use are powered, you will have to consider where the wiring will go.
Campervan Ventilation Fan
The location where you place the vents is going to be the top priority. For example, if you are going the louvered route then you would need a couple of these vents at the bottom of the wall to draw in fresh cool air.
Then you would need at least one more at the top somewhere to let the hot air out. Or you can try the wind-powered roof vents. They can clean out your van of bad air while you are driving. Plus, they can be fairly inconspicuous when they need to be.
The best option they say is a roof vent. These come in a variety of types including power. There would be screens attached to the vents to keep the bugs out. You would probably need more than one to make sure you got enough air circulation to handle the workload.
Of the roof-type vent models, it is also said that the power models are the best. That way you do not need to rely on the wind to clear out the van’s interior. The drawback to this option is that they are a drain on your battery system.
Ventilation for a Van with CPU Fans
This is a very good option as it provides you with a lot of speed levels to choose from. You get to stay in control of how fast your air is circulated. The number of speed levels you get depends on the brand making the fans.
Your biggest concern will be location and some people suggest that you place these types of fans near the front of the vehicle. Others suggest that you go with two as one fan can draw in fresh air while the other is expelling the old air.
What makes them a great possibility is the number of built-in features. Some of these units have rain sensors, remote controls, and so on. The drawback to these fan types will be their cost. They do not come cheap and there are only about 3 good manufacturing brands to work with that are any good.
One thing you should know about this option is that they are not for those people looking for a stealth alternative. Anyone looking at your van will know it is being used for purposes other than hauling cargo.
Finally, you will have to check your van’s electrical system to see if it can handle the extra workload that comes from using computer-type vent fans.
How do you Fit a Van Roof Vent?
When you are replacing an old vent, the fitting will be the least of your problems. All you have to do is measure the current opening and then buy the fan type you want that fits that opening.
Then you need to take into account the size of your van and the power of the fan. Smaller vans do not need vents with a lot of power. If your van is larger then you should upgrade and go with a more powerful van to handle a large amount of air that needs to be removed and replaced.
If you are installing a fan in a van that has never had one before, you should measure the opening needed and make your cut. Remember, you can always take more of the roof off if you go too small. You can’t replace the lost roof if you cut too large of a hole.
Then you need a fan that works with your electrical system. What is currently installed may not handle those powered vents very well. Double-check to make sure the van doesn't require more power than the electrical system has to offer.
Some Final Words
There are stealth alternatives you can use to hide the fact you are sleeping inside. The biggest problem is that those fan options may not be to your liking. The way to circulate the air properly is to make sure you get the stealth fans in the right location and install enough fans to handle the workload.
You have plenty of options to choose from so take your time and find the right one for you.
