Floor Vents

Rensho

Member
I plan to put one in on the vertical face of the sliding door step. Hoping to find a ~4"x12" grate with a sliding closure. If not, I'll use a fixed grate with a magnet sheet to close it off/fully cover.
 

PaulDavis

Member
You need to be able to close the vent unless you plan on being in perfect weather conditions at all times (including when driving), and never driving on dirt roads.
 

OrioN

2008 2500 170" EXT
I plan to put one in on the vertical face of the sliding door step. Hoping to find a ~4"x12" grate with a sliding closure. If not, I'll use a fixed grate with a magnet sheet to close it off/fully cover.
Some of these may help, as they open/close and with remote options.

http://ventline.com/range_hood_accessories1?b=1

Place it off to the left so it won't always be susceptible to kicking.

Fabricate/use a sheet metal (galv) sleeve with a lip flange through the step fascia (protects the backside from road elements).



.
 
Last edited:

hulagun

Haulin' A** since 1974
I found this on line and am thinking with the flange cut down, it might fit in the footwell of the sliding door. Or mount it in a rear door, Maybe behind a license plate for stealth. In the footwell, it would be mounted in reverse so the mechanism went under the van. Add a small knob to the lid for pulling it open. A neoprene gasket could be fit inside the lid to seal fumes out when closed.
 

Attachments

Graphite Dave

Dave Orton
You need to be able to close the vent unless you plan on being in perfect weather conditions at all times (including when driving), and never driving on dirt roads.
In my climate the 4" square vent is open 95% of the time. Driving or parked. Close it on dirt roads and sometimes at night in cold weather.
 

hulagun

Haulin' A** since 1974
Dave, looking at installing a floor vent in my T1n side door stepwell. There is only 4" vertical clearance there. I am trying to decide between a homemade 3" round opening with a plug closure vs a 2"x10" opening with a standard rv floor damper grille fitted. The first option is more or less idiot proof but may not allow enough air flow? The second is more convenient to use and will flow plenty, but could rattle and leak a bit from closed when moving. I know you used a round vent opening on one of your builds. What was your experience?
 

sprint2freedom

2008 NCV3 170ext
Consider a larger number of smaller openings. You can then open as many or as few as the situation warrants for improved ventilation.

I went with two 4" round openings that have aluminum screen across them to keep bugs out. I'm happy with the result but I wish I'd done six from an airflow perspective. The other nice thing about that idea is that you can locate the six anywhere, and get nice mixing and crossflow instead of all the air coming from one location. Downsides are more install work, and a little more time spent opening and closing vents.

Whatever you do, you don't want something that rattles or leaks (not just water but dust and exhaust fumes).
 

Graphite Dave

Dave Orton
Dave, looking at installing a floor vent in my T1n side door stepwell. There is only 4" vertical clearance there. I am trying to decide between a homemade 3" round opening with a plug closure vs a 2"x10" opening with a standard rv floor damper grille fitted. The first option is more or less idiot proof but may not allow enough air flow? The second is more convenient to use and will flow plenty, but could rattle and leak a bit from closed when moving. I know you used a round vent opening on one of your builds. What was your experience?
Sprinter had a 3" x 4 1/2" rectangular hole. Transit has a 4" square hole. Both have a screen and a Rube Goldberg plywood cover that is actuated with a lawn mower pull cord. Only close the vent on dirt roads and sometimes on cold nights. For some reason the Sprinter vent worked much better than the Transit. Think it is due to a hole required in side of cabinet for the Vitrifrigo condenser fan. A taller "chimney" above vent must make a difference. Suspect a hole in side step vertical wall could have a simple hinged cover with hinge on top edge.
 

wankel7

Active member
Since you mentioned other vans....GD....

The Promaster has it's fuel pump access panel between the seats....it's around 6 inch diameter. I pull that for our low to high ventilation. I put magnets on it for the quick disconnect.
 

joylesshusband

New member
Being sufficiently ventilation-literate, it was obvious to me that the area of the floor vent opening should be at least equal to the area of the roof fan when active.
Thus I chose and installed the following hatch, which I close while in transit and keep open while stationary. The fan is never starved for air with the hatch open, and there is no need to monkey around with opening windows, as the airflow route is unobstructed and crosses the entire cargo area (fan is in rear).





The hatch is lockable, seals very well and is sturdy enough to stand on when closed. This setup provides excellent ventilation, even with the roof fan off (its lid open). Windows are mostly kept closed. I seldom need to run the fan above the 6th of its 10 available speeds.

Experienced van-dwellers (who never had a floor vent) get very surprised by the strength of the resulting draft and the volume of moving air upon visiting in my van.

Details:
Roof fan - Maxxfan Deluxe 6200k, which determined the size of the necessary floor vent opening.
Floor hatch - Five Oceans Marine Deck Access Hatch with Lock, 10 7/8" x 14 3/8"
 

hulagun

Haulin' A** since 1974
...This setup provides excellent ventilation, even with the roof fan off (its lid open). Windows are mostly kept closed. I seldom need to run the fan above the 6th of its 10 available speeds.
Details:
Roof fan - Maxxfan Deluxe 6200k, which determined the size of the necessary floor vent opening.
Floor hatch - Five Oceans Marine Deck Access Hatch with Lock, 10 7/8" x 14 3/8"
Thanks, its too bad these are always so large. I'm not sure my van has the available clear floor space for such a large hatch. I am researching less obtrusive alternatives to a big roof vent. But I can see the advantages. Did the bug screen come with your hatch or did you add that?
 

joylesshusband

New member
Did the bug screen come with your hatch or did you add that?
Not sure what you mean by "bug screen". The wire mesh in my photo has 1" x 2" openings, which I guess could serve as a partial bug screen only against unusually large invading locusts.... And it did not come with the hatch, I added it as a prevention against uninvited visitors like mice, chipmunks and squirrels.
I have a piece of "noseeum" mesh material, which I tailored to be laid upon the wire mesh for bug protection. Fortunately, in the 11 months of using the vent I never needed to deploy it, even though I have spent a few days in locales with very high bug pressure. Bugs just don't seem to appreciate the vent as an entrance.

A sidebar tidbit on ventilation literacy:
Screens suitable for prevention against midges and noseeums (~900-1000 holes per square inch) pose a huge airflow restriction since more than 70% of the total opening is occupied by solid material (mesh fibers), leaving less than 30% of the area available for airflow.
Most people do not realize this, and do not account for its effect while sizing their ventilation layouts...
This leads to dumb approaches - like using more than 1 fan, roof fans running starved for air while cranked high, resulting in accelerated wear, increased noise and power consumption, the latter impacting the sizing and utilization of the electric system. This adds to both the initial conversion cost and the cost of running the van.
 

Top Bottom