We roll in a Winnie ERA 170M, a Sprinter "B" with a slide-out on the driver's side. The bed is in the slideout, head right near the driver's side "cargo door" window.
The heating system is ducted through the cabinetry, and works with the hot water heater. (a Truma system, I think?). In terms of temperature, you can divide the van in two: the bed and cockpit area have very little cabinetry, lots of windows, and no vents immediatly in that area. To the rear of the cargo door you have floor-to-ceiling cabinets, only one window, and 4 heating ducts (5?).
Thus, the bed area would get VERY cold (we've camped into the low 30's), but the back of the van would be nice and warm.
On a whim, I made some curtains. I made a very thick "quilted" type for the bedroom window: two layers of heavy fabric, and a thin layer of padding between them. The Cockpit area is sealed off with two curtains, 6' wide, and maybe 7' long (so there's no air gap at teh bottom of the curtain, it bunches up on the floor). The cargo door (passenger side) is sealed off with another such curtain that closes off all the way to where the cabinetry starts. I even made a small one for the kitchen window.
Other than the bedroom window, the curtains are all made of a single layer of a fairly thick felt.
The curtains are all hung with "outdoor" grade velcro. I used lots around the bedroom window, because it's never coming down. The other ones I used 3 pieces of velcro, each about 2" on a side. One side is sewed to teh curtain, the other side is tucked into the inside of a cabinet door, or hidden as best I can. Under normal circumstances you can only see a couple of the velcro pieces around the top of the cargo door.
They fold up fairly small, they are not heavy.
Our last cold weather camping trip (high 30's at night) the interior was so warm I slept without blankets. (My wife cranks the heat). They even block a bit of sunlight in the morning... which I like.
As soon as you move one of the curtains (especially the one blocking off the cockpit), a rush of cold air sweeps in.
Total cost was under $100. We used a lot of fabric, but Jo-Anns has regular 50% off sales.
(On a related note, the women at Jo-Anns look at a guy carrying fabric the same way one might look at a family cat carrying a calculator.)
The heating system is ducted through the cabinetry, and works with the hot water heater. (a Truma system, I think?). In terms of temperature, you can divide the van in two: the bed and cockpit area have very little cabinetry, lots of windows, and no vents immediatly in that area. To the rear of the cargo door you have floor-to-ceiling cabinets, only one window, and 4 heating ducts (5?).
Thus, the bed area would get VERY cold (we've camped into the low 30's), but the back of the van would be nice and warm.
On a whim, I made some curtains. I made a very thick "quilted" type for the bedroom window: two layers of heavy fabric, and a thin layer of padding between them. The Cockpit area is sealed off with two curtains, 6' wide, and maybe 7' long (so there's no air gap at teh bottom of the curtain, it bunches up on the floor). The cargo door (passenger side) is sealed off with another such curtain that closes off all the way to where the cabinetry starts. I even made a small one for the kitchen window.
Other than the bedroom window, the curtains are all made of a single layer of a fairly thick felt.
The curtains are all hung with "outdoor" grade velcro. I used lots around the bedroom window, because it's never coming down. The other ones I used 3 pieces of velcro, each about 2" on a side. One side is sewed to teh curtain, the other side is tucked into the inside of a cabinet door, or hidden as best I can. Under normal circumstances you can only see a couple of the velcro pieces around the top of the cargo door.
They fold up fairly small, they are not heavy.
Our last cold weather camping trip (high 30's at night) the interior was so warm I slept without blankets. (My wife cranks the heat). They even block a bit of sunlight in the morning... which I like.
As soon as you move one of the curtains (especially the one blocking off the cockpit), a rush of cold air sweeps in.
Total cost was under $100. We used a lot of fabric, but Jo-Anns has regular 50% off sales.
(On a related note, the women at Jo-Anns look at a guy carrying fabric the same way one might look at a family cat carrying a calculator.)