[Closed] I know nothing about vans. Van question. Do you know about vans?

Good idea IMO but you will want a big LWB high top one as you will not be able to use the outside as extra space.

A van in winter, mmm needs to be a biggie.
I would go for a coach built one with the double bed over the cab.
That will give you more interior space to relax in if you can't sit outside.
I wouldn't want to be crammed in a small transit/T4/5 with small kids.

If you want to use it in ski resorts in winter, You will want to get proper insulation (fitted well)

And proper (diesel) blown air heating.

Ok today's new words are LWB , Coach Built and diesel blown air heating. First two just refer to the size or?

LWB = Long Wheel Base.
Coachbuilt, Google images will explain easier than words to be honest.
Diesel Heating, look at Eberspacher or Webasto online.

One thing to consider, if you want to be comfortable and not freezing, a van for winter use in the snow is unlikely to be a "cheap" option.

It's going to cost a fair bit to do it properly, otherwise it's going to be a moisture (then ice) filled, tin tent.

Might want to give an idea of budget? Plus are there many sites open in winter? Found [url= http://www.motorhomeski.com ]this site but not sure how good it is[/url]

Just quickly hi-jacking this thread. Is there any problems getting insurance for commercial vehicles when used for domestic and social purposes?

If you intend to carry your children around I would steer clear of DIY conversions with seats bolted to the floor. make sure they are insurance approved and have a certificate.
a coach built option may prove to be safer

Just quickly hi-jacking this thread. Is there any problems getting insurance for commercial vehicles when used for domestic and social purposes?

No.

If you intend to carry your children around I would steer clear of DIY conversions with seats bolted to the floor. make sure they are insurance approved and have a certificate.
a coach built option may prove to be safer

Doesn't really need to be a coachbuilt to be safe. There are plenty of camper van conversions that meet all the relevant safety standards.

Budget would be what Is required for something decent. Resorts are in Norway and Sweden, so that webpage doesn't cover it but many thanks for the suggestion .

I've learnt a lot already. Any particular suggestions on models. Second hand of course

My mates got something like this http://motorhomes.autotrader.co.uk/mobile/stock-item-id/8aa41edf4a5d2749014acfea944e0e72/advert?make=swift&seoIdentifier=true&pageNumber=3 but in left hand drive.
Note in the description it says it's fully insulated, not all will be, especially the older cheaper ones.

When you consider the depreciation, etc etc, and the general unusability of big vans for anything but their intended use, you're better off hiring unless you are planning really long extended trips.

I went from a big campervan to a plain van, and found it got used more.

have a look at motorhomes - you can often get them with a 'winterised' package - water tanks (generally hung underneath are insulated and have heaters with thermostats in them to stop freezing) and they have fully integrated wall etc insulation and decent window blinds built in - trouble will be price.

we have a nuevo ek (auto sleeper) - 2 people only and it's as small a motorhome as we could find with everything we want in it (6M/ambulance size with coachbuilt body, full cooking/microwave/bog/shower/heating etc) - have a look at the Nuevo ES as it's a 2+2, and note that winterisation is an added extra package - so may not be on a given van.

other motorhome makes are eldiss, bessacarr, swift etc etc etc etc

For a more 'van, like experience see Wildax, Romahome, Timberland etc etc

http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/CaravanClubApps/Applications/caravan-classifieds/results.aspx?adverttypeid=2&makeid=395&model=Nuevo%20Es&numberofresults=20

http://motorhomes.autotrader.co.uk/makemodel/make/auto-sleepers/model/nuevo/search?keywords=nuevo%20es&locationName=Aldermaston&latitude=51.3819&longitude=-1.1713&postcode=RG7

** edit - autotrader lets you search on length - do some research re van length, ferry prices, road toll prices (*6m appears to be a key number), also be aware of weights - we can't do 3T bridges ... and also width/height restrictions and do some reading up on potential grip issues - ie front wheel drive with 100L of water and a kitchen etc etc at rear of van might slip - ie we got wheelspin on a wet road in Mull driving up a very steep hill .......)

it might be worth looking at european specific models - from (my very limited look) the uk ones have better kitchen facilities (probably due to weather) but you'd think that they'd developed ones for ski people ........

late edit

wildax do a weekend hire program

Having been down the diy conversion route, my advice is to either get a proper one, which will be expensive (think £10k and up) or a decent caravan. A couple of grand will get you a decent caravan.

T5

[img] http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/picture.php?albumid=23649&pictureid=170597 [/img]

And some detail to go with it:

We've been going skiing in one van or another now for 8 years, at least twice a year so we have had many trials and tribulations to learn from, so here goes:
We live up in the north east so the journey is a just short of 1000 miles! The cost of the fuel at Xmas 2014 was approx £280, however, this included some extra miles as we detoured via the Beajolais to get some wine! We don't fuel up on the motorways either, there are plenty of big supermarkets just of the motorways if you know where they are. If there is a town alongside the motorway it will have a supermarket. One of the easiest to find is at Reims, first junction after the toll free section of motorway around Reims. It's a Leclerc, you can see it from the motorway before you get to the junction.
We always travel via the tunnel as it's the most convenient, cost this year at Xmas was £134, booked well in advance. Book as a high van and not a campervan, it's cheaper. The tolls to and from Tignes are around £140 (class 2). Buy an electronic tag in advance of going from one of the motorway operators such as Sanef prior to going, it saves so much hassle and time on the journey. You can buy it on the web. It also means you can drive through the 30 kmh lane and not stop at the peage as long as you don't have a roof rack or roof box on the van. Don't try and avoid using the toll motorways unless you can afford to spend 2-3 days getting there.
We generally don't stop on the way down except at the tunnel where we usually get to around midnight and kip in the van in the car park we usually get an approx 5.00 am crossing. If we do stop on the way down or back we use the French aire system (note: not the motorway aires but the ones in the towns and villages etc. generally free or a small charge of a few euros. Buy the book ' All the Aires' from Vicarious books. There is another free scheme called 'France Passion' which we also use. Look it up on the web, you have to join annually for this.
Depending on where we ski we either wild camp in car parks, use the local aire or stop on camp sites. Camp sites will cost around 25 euros at this time of year, and the quality of electrical hook up will vary from 3 amps to 10 amps, so be aware. If you are stopping on official aires there will be a source of water and somewhere to dump toilet waste. Wild camping you need to be a bit more savvy and find sources of water and somewhere to dump your toilet. Tignes les brevieres has a village water supply into a trough which runs all year no matter the temperature. We've used it and never suffered! So don't be afraid of sources like this in the mountains. There is manhole lid located in the corner of the car park which has handle on it, this is the toilet dump! Arrangements like this can be found by asking other wild camping vans when you get where you are going.
A source of information is available on www.motorhomeski.co.uk, it's not a big source but quite good what is there.

Now to the van......ours is fully insulated and has a diesel heater, two ring cooker, no oven. The water tank is on board, a 40 litre CAK wheel arch tank. Don't even think of putting water into an underslung tank even if it's insulated and heated, IT WILL FREEZE! If your tank is underslung just use a water container stored in the van. We also don't have a waste tank either as it will freeze, our waste water goes straight out under the van. If we are on snow or grass it just adds to the environment but if you feel a little shy put an open container, we use a collapsible Ortlieb camping bowl, under to collect it and dispose. Do not use anything which is enclosed as the waste will freeze and you won't get it out.
We don't have hot water, we just boil the kettle.
When wild camping we usually manage to find some local swimming baths for showers every other day or so. The aire at Serre Chevalier is around 400m from the baths so we used it everyday.
We have winter tyres, a must have, don't even think of going to the alpine region without these or you will have trouble or worse still in Switzerland and Austria it's the law. We also carry snow chains as well, if there is snow on the road again the police will stop you going up the mountain without them. Don't buy snow socks as they are not legal and rubbish! Remember to pack some gloves and kneeling mat for putting the chains on and practice before you go! It's no fun putting them on for the first time in a blizzard, we've witnessed many struggles by the road side! Make sure you use neat windscreen wash suitable for -20deg C.
Get a quality external insulated silver screen for the front windows such as a Taylormade or Silverscreen. We have an insulated wrap for the pop top as well. This was made to measure by Polar screens in Sheffield. The rear windows have curtains and insulated screens behind them as well. We also put internal screens. On the front windows as well as the external screens. Believe you me when it drops below -10deg C you will need all this! We also carry a spare bottle of gas as well, but this is not essential as we use campingaz and it's regularly available all over. We also try to open one of the vents in the pop top behind the insulation slightly to provide some fresh air.
We always carry a shovel, ours is a metal avalanche shovel, to dig the van out when we need to. Carry a water container 10 litres to fetch water rather than have to drive the van to the tap. We have a carpet on the floor of the van on top of the vinyl floor to add to the insulation as well.
We carry our skis outside of the van in a thule roof box, mounted transversally on the vw bike rack. We carry all our ski gear in the box when travelling but always keep clothes and most importantly BOOTS in the van when parked up. We store them in the front of the van. Any damp or wet clothing are hung from the straps of the pop top to dry overnight. We have a roof bed but don't use it, but it adds insulation to the roof when it is up out of the way.
When parked up NEVER switch the heater off as everything will freeze up in no time. We switch to low when we go to bed and leave the van to go ski. If we are off grid we run the engine for 30 minutes or so whilst having breakfast to top up the leisure battery very day. We have successfully parked up for a week off grid this way and had no issues with running out of power. We always try to fill up with diesel prior to parking up as well, never came anywhere near running out of diesel by using the heater, electricity is the source you have to be careful with. We do have a solar panel on the roof but snow tends to make this irrelevant, useful in the summer months only.
We don't use sleeping bags, but you could, we use two 10 tog duvets, zipped together.
Finally we have telly to watch DVD's and saved Iplayer programmes etc for the long dark nights. You could always spend the nights in the bars but your liver will suffer after a while!
We often go away in April as well, when sometimes we take our Vango awning if we are stopping on a site, it's usually warm enough to sit in during the day and store gear in. We take the barbie as well.