Spaceloft (aerogel) insulated VS30

[COVAN-19]

So in my COVID lockdown time, I lost my mind and decided to insulate my new build (2019 170 4x4 2500) with an aerogel product (Spaceloft) as my contribution to the cannon of sprinter conversions. The remainder of the build was fairly standard stuff so I'll stick to describing the insulation.

Why, you ask? Well I planned on using wool batting for my insulation (because of its thermal and sound-deadening properties), and I noticed that with 2" wool batting there was about 1/2" of airspace left over in most of the bays in the vehicle. Spaceloft comes in a 10mm (0.39") thickness which provides an extra R value of 4-ish to the wool's R7 and perfectly fits in this extra airspace.

Aerogels are mostly air by volume and come from space-shuttle technology, and Spaceloft is essentially an aerogel-impregnated fiberglass mat. It's hydrophobic but vapor-permeable and useful for energy-efficient home building. Plus with the COVID lockdown, I had the time, and I certainly needed it because this is a *very* time-consuming process. I also used Lizard Skin ceramic insulation and Hushmat over nearly the entire van, including underneath the front seats, which was another significant time-suck. This level of insulation is probably overkill/diminishing returns, but hey, I was bored and aiming for the quietest, most insulated van I could possibly achieve. Would I do it again? At gunpoint, maybe...

So the walls, ceiling, and doors are like this:

1) Lizard Skin (both SC and IC)
2) Hushmat sound deadening mat
3) 10mm Tyvek-wrapped Spaceloft
4) 2" Havelock wool insulation
5) paneling

Some idiosyncrasies of Spaceloft:

-Fairly easy to work with, except it's very dusty and therefore needs to be wrapped in something. I chose Tyvek because it is vapor-permeable, cheap, and also easy to work with.
-Time consuming: each bay required measuring and cutting the Spaceloft and Tyvek, wrapping the Spaceloft into a Tyvek sandwich with DAP Weldwood upholstery glue (or alternatively taped into a sandwich with Tyvek tape) using a pneumatic paint sprayer, and gluing the sandwich to the inside of each bay.
-Expensive. The Spaceloft alone for a 170 WB sprinter will set you back about $3000.

Various photos attached. Discuss!

 

[woebkeja]

Cool! I've used Spaceloft in the past in my non-van related professional career (engineering/product development). It's always in the back of my mind as a good insulation material and I've always thought about applying it to other projects/products.

I can attest to the difficulty in working with the material. When we used it we created "panels" by essentially vacuum packing the material in reflective Mylar. Reflective Mylar helps with the radiative emissivity and the vacuum packing helps enhance the spaceloft's core insulative properties - limit the ability for air molecules to transfer heat...

cool project.

 

[Scribe with a Stylus]

... ...

So the walls, ceiling, and doors are like this:

1) Lizard Skin (both SC and IC)
2) Hushmat sound deadening mat
3) 10mm Tyvek-wrapped Spaceloft
4) 2" Havelock wool insulation
5) paneling

Some idiosyncrasies of Spaceloft:

-Fairly easy to work with, except it's very dusty and therefore needs to be wrapped in something. I chose Tyvek because it is vapor-permeable, cheap, and also easy to work with.
-Time consuming: each bay required measuring and cutting the Spaceloft and Tyvek, wrapping the Spaceloft into a Tyvek sandwich with DAP Weldwood upholstery glue (or alternatively taped into a sandwich with Tyvek tape) using a pneumatic paint sprayer, and gluing the sandwich to the inside of each bay.
-Expensive. The Spaceloft alone for a 170 WB sprinter will set you back about $3000.

Various photos attached. Discuss!

Where did you order the "10mm Tyvek-wrapped Spaceloft"? Were you not able to order it as Tyvek-wrapped so that you had to wrap it yourself?
Walk in His Peace,
Scribe With A Stylus

 

[COVAN-19]

Where did you order the "10mm Tyvek-wrapped Spaceloft"? Were you not able to order it as Tyvek-wrapped so that you had to wrap it yourself?
Walk in His Peace,
Scribe With A Stylus

I had to wrap the spaceloft in Tyvek myself, which honestly was the most time-consuming part. I wrapped each piece and glued the Tyvek on with DAP Weldwood upholstery glue using a pneumatic sprayer. Definitely not the easiest process but I got a rhythm down eventually and could whip out 10-20 pieces in an hour.

 

[Scribe with a Stylus]

Oops, I emphasized the wrapping part of my question too much. The first part of my question was where you purchase or ordered it. This would allow me to buy some if I need it.

Would you please indicate the seller you located and their website and URL for where to order it - or their phone number or both?

Do they sell any other thicknesses or is the 10 mm the best?

Thank you,
Scribe With A Stylus

 

[COVAN-19]

Oops, I emphasized the wrapping part of my question too much. The first part of my question was where you purchase or ordered it. This would allow me to buy some if I need it.

Would you please indicate the seller you located and their website and URL for where to order it - or their phone number or both?

Do they sell any other thicknesses or is the 10 mm the best?

Thank you,
Scribe With A Stylus

I purchased it from Airtight Distribution: https://www.airtightdistribution.com/

10mm is the thickest Spaceloft product, but you can sandwich several layers together (as I did in the slider door).

 

[Scribe with a Stylus]

I purchased it from Airtight Distribution: https://www.airtightdistribution.com/

10mm is the thickest Spaceloft product, but you can sandwich several layers together (as I did in the slider door).

Thank you very much. If you ever work with it again, be sure to have someone take some videos that you can post.

Walk in His Peace,
Scribe With A Stylus

 

[Jwc11]

@COVAN-19 very cool, thanks for sharing! I randomly had the thought of insulating my new van with this stuff and was happy to discover this thread. Have you done a scan with a thermal imager? It would be interesting to see some sort of analysis of thermal performance now that the cold weather has arrived. Also curious about the impact on acoustics

 

[COVAN-19]

@COVAN-19 very cool, thanks for sharing! I randomly had the thought of insulating my new van with this stuff and was happy to discover this thread. Have you done a scan with a thermal imager? It would be interesting to see some sort of analysis of thermal performance now that the cold weather has arrived. Also curious about the impact on acoustics

I actually thought about using a thermal imager, but haven't yet. I do have access to one so when I do that, I'll post images and video for you. I can also compare panels with and without the Spaceloft because I plan on removing the roof rails and LineX-ing the roof in white for heat rejection and waterproofing. I'm pretty satisfied with my gestalt feeling thus far as it's very quiet and warm inside (I slept in it yesterday). I can't speak specifically to the acoustics because I have nothing to compare it to really. Obviously after all of the attention paid to insulation, the van is considerably quieter than the factory van. The wool batting and butyl mats probably provide most of the soundproofing. Here's a photo from today at the beach:

 

[Christian-]

Looks great! Did you make those diamond-stitch panels yourself?

 

[COVAN-19]

I did everything except for the actual sewing machine work. I paid a local upholsterer do the diamond stitch, then I applied the fabric (Sileather) and foam to the panels myself. The underlying kit is the Adventure Wagon kit. I still have some furniture and cabinets to put in, and a bit of electrical work. Going on 10 months of work on this thing and I'm just now getting to the fun parts.

 

[Jwc11]

I actually thought about using a thermal imager, but haven't yet. I do have access to one so when I do that, I'll post images and video for you. I can also compare panels with and without the Spaceloft because I plan on removing the roof rails and LineX-ing the roof in white for heat rejection and waterproofing. I'm pretty satisfied with my gestalt feeling thus far as it's very quiet and warm inside (I slept in it yesterday). I can't speak specifically to the acoustics because I have nothing to compare it to really. Obviously after all of the attention paid to insulation, the van is considerably quieter than the factory van. The wool batting and butyl mats probably provide most of the soundproofing. Here's a photo from today at the beach:

Wow, great work with the fabric additions to the kit panels - looks like a really clean, modular design! I don't want to derail this thread about Spaceloft insulation with other questions about your build, but I hope to read more about your build progress. And looking forward to seeing the results of your thermal scans. I'd be surprised if there are any better insulated vans out there that aren't used for commercial refrigeration.

 

[COVAN-19]

Wow, great work with the fabric additions to the kit panels - looks like a really clean, modular design! I don't want to derail this thread about Spaceloft insulation with other questions about your build, but I hope to read more about your build progress. And looking forward to seeing the results of your thermal scans. I'd be surprised if there are any better insulated vans out there that aren't used for commercial refrigeration.

Thanks, I should probably post more about the build as I’ve done some really good stuff. The whole design was based around simplicity and modularity. L-track everywhere including the floors for modular seating. Right now I’m working on the electrical system which will mostly be hidden in the walls and under the floor...also 2 battery banks, one lithium and one AGM along with a second alternator. I’ll probably start another thread about the build soon.

 

[creaturecomforts]

Thanks, I should probably post more about the build as I’ve done some really good stuff. The whole design was based around simplicity and modularity. L-track everywhere including the floors for modular seating. Right now I’m working on the electrical system which will mostly be hidden in the walls and under the floor...also 2 battery banks, one lithium and one AGM along with a second alternator. I’ll probably start another thread about the build soon.

Looks amazing. Where’d you source the sileather from? And how much did you end up using?

 

[COVAN-19]

I got the Sileather straight from the company US representative. I bought an entire roll and ended up using about 3/4 of it.

 

[creaturecomforts]

Awesome, thanks for the info!

 

[Syv]

Nice work - I'm curious, did you come across some of the aerogel film products they have for thermal breaks for example between the frame and the t-slot? I'm considering a combination of this less dusty version of aerogel blanket/wrap http://www.buyaerogel.com/product/thermal-wrap-8-mm/ and this http://www.buyaerogel.com/product/airloy-x116-thin-films/ ... expensive, but maybe less fussy.

I've read some horror stories and there's a big thinsulate crew, though I can't quite shake the idea that some careful application of spray foam in the tight corners could still help. Or if there isn't some way... to provide some flex next to the panels so that they don't deform and give that awful oil can look. Wondering if some combination of aerogel blanket against the metal with spray foam around it or in the corners would give enough play for expansion/contraction or if it would just be a water trap waiting for a problem... perhaps if the edges of the blanket were sealed and the front was too? E.g. the blanket l with a ] of spray foam up against it for van wall | + l of aerogel + ] of spray foam |l] tight together to seal it in???

so far at the idea stage... the new van doesn't arrive until Aug, so still some time to plan.

 

[SprinterVsTheWorld]

So in my COVID lockdown time, I lost my mind and decided to insulate my new build (2019 170 4x4 2500) with an aerogel product (Spaceloft) as my contribution to the cannon of sprinter conversions. The remainder of the build was fairly standard stuff so I'll stick to describing the insulation.

Why, you ask? Well I planned on using wool batting for my insulation (because of its thermal and sound-deadening properties), and I noticed that with 2" wool batting there was about 1/2" of airspace left over in most of the bays in the vehicle. Spaceloft comes in a 10mm (0.39") thickness which provides an extra R value of 4-ish to the wool's R7 and perfectly fits in this extra airspace.

Aerogels are mostly air by volume and come from space-shuttle technology, and Spaceloft is essentially an aerogel-impregnated fiberglass mat. It's hydrophobic but vapor-permeable and useful for energy-efficient home building. Plus with the COVID lockdown, I had the time, and I certainly needed it because this is a *very* time-consuming process. I also used Lizard Skin ceramic insulation and Hushmat over nearly the entire van, including underneath the front seats, which was another significant time-suck. This level of insulation is probably overkill/diminishing returns, but hey, I was bored and aiming for the quietest, most insulated van I could possibly achieve. Would I do it again? At gunpoint, maybe...

So the walls, ceiling, and doors are like this:

1) Lizard Skin (both SC and IC)
2) Hushmat sound deadening mat
3) 10mm Tyvek-wrapped Spaceloft
4) 2" Havelock wool insulation
5) paneling

Some idiosyncrasies of Spaceloft:

-Fairly easy to work with, except it's very dusty and therefore needs to be wrapped in something. I chose Tyvek because it is vapor-permeable, cheap, and also easy to work with.
-Time consuming: each bay required measuring and cutting the Spaceloft and Tyvek, wrapping the Spaceloft into a Tyvek sandwich with DAP Weldwood upholstery glue (or alternatively taped into a sandwich with Tyvek tape) using a pneumatic paint sprayer, and gluing the sandwich to the inside of each bay.
-Expensive. The Spaceloft alone for a 170 WB sprinter will set you back about $3000.

Various photos attached. Discuss!

Any advice in regards to the Lizard skin and your overall opinion/ happiness with the product, considering it for the first layer of insulation on my Van.

Did you hush matt before of after applying the Lizard skin?

Think it is enough of a Thermal break to prevent heat transfer to aluminum framing?
Did you use any thermal breaks between your L track and the Van?

Thanks for sharing

 

[COVAN-19]

Any advice in regards to the Lizard skin and your overall opinion/ happiness with the product, considering it for the first layer of insulation on my Van.

Did you hush matt before of after applying the Lizard skin?

Think it is enough of a Thermal break to prevent heat transfer to aluminum framing?
Did you use any thermal breaks between your L track and the Van?

Thanks for sharing

The lizard skin was a real hassle to install on the 170 mostly because scuffing the entire inside of the van before spraying the multiple layers was very time consuming and tedious. It is the thermal barrier between the aluminum L-track kit that I used from Adventure Wagon and the van’s frame. It seems to do a good job in this roll insofar as I don’t believe the L-track transmits as much heat from the outside of the van as it could.

I say this with some confidence because I have two aluminum Arctic Tern window frames that penetrate all the way through from the interior to the outside which aren’t protected by the lizard skin and these are quite warm in direct sunlight and acting as a thermal bridge whereas the interior L-track does not feel particularly warmer in direct sunlight than the surrounding walls. I do plan on sharing infrared imaging when I get ahold of an IR camera.

The lizard skin also affected the installation of the L-track because it made installing the riv-nuts that much more touchy—every riv nut had an extra 1/8th” or so of material to contend with and I had to be very diligent in cleaning and preparing every drilled hole before applying the riv-nut otherwise it would not set correctly. This was frustrating at first but I eventually got into a rhythm.

Interestingly, applying the hush mat over the lizard skin (which is how I did it) seemed to increase the thermal conductivity because areas of the wall with hush mat felt noticeably warmer in direct sunlight than areas with just lizard skin—this is probably just the result of the increased thermal conductivity of the aluminum foil backing. From what I understand about heat and mass transfer engineering though it probably doesn’t matter overall which one I applied first especially since there was a layer of Spaceloft then wool then upholstered wood paneling over the top of the hush mat.

The lizard skin was an expensive addition because to apply it at the recommended thickness on a 170 WB van required several thousand dollars’ worth of Lizard Skin. I lost track of the number of buckets of each layer that I ended up ordering, I’m guessing around 6 buckets of the sound deadener and 6 buckets of the ceramic insulation. I was very diligent and applied it *everywhere* other than on the surface of seat bases—even in the footwell under the front seats and inside the doors as well as on the inside of my fiberglass flarespace bump outs before installing them.

I also noticed an immediate improvement in the sound transmission. Overall I feel the van is incredibly quiet—with a fully buttoned-up van I have a hard time hearing my 3 year old screaming inside even if I’m standing right next to it. The wool insulation and hushmat probably contributed the most to reducing sound transmission, however, and at 42 years old my hearing isn’t what it used to be anyway.

I’m glad I did it, but I would not attempt a build like this ever again unless someone was paying me handsomely to do so because it was very difficult, tedious work. If I were going to leave out a layer, I would choose the Lizard Skin because it is the least important of all the layers.

 

[SprinterVsTheWorld]

Thanks for the details response!

Curious to see the difference in those heat images when you get to it.

Ive been concerned about how to best create a thermal break between L track and 80/20 when connecting to the Van floor and walls.

Nice to hear it seems to have helped you, however like many others that have taken on the job, the cost/benefit scenario is bleak. Im still leaning on using it especially on the floor of the van where I'm concerned about about floor L-track creating cold spots on the floor.