Condensation in a camper van is the most dreaded and hard-to-find solution in the van life community.
You are golden if you can really figure out how to control the moisture in your living quarters, and I am here to help you do just that.
Welcome to our guide to controlling moisture in your camper van where we will go over things like proper ventilation, insulation, why dehumidifiers won’t work, and so much more!
In order to really grasp controlling moisture in a camper van, you must first understand the basics, which brings us to my very first point! How does condensation form in the first place?
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First, here are all of the items in a chart that we have decided to talk about in this post.
How does condensation form inside a camper van?
Let’s pretend it’s your cheat day, you grab a can of soda from the fridge, and you decide to take it outside because the weather is so warm and nice. You start to notice little water droplets forming on your can. This is called condensation or dew point.
Dew point is whenever water can not evaporate any longer and liquid will form, just like in the scenario above, and the infographic below.
Simply put when heat touches a cold surface condensation starts to form.
In some ways, your camper van is like this can of soda. Sure it doesn’t taste quite as good, but it still adheres to the same condensation principles.
If you take your camper van out on a nice hot summer night with the A/C blowing while you sleep, this is sure to form condensation within your van.
This is only the basics of condensation, and there are many more things that will form moisture in your camper van such as your breathing, but we really can’t prevent you from breathing.
Why Should You Prevent condensation in a Camper Van?
I thought this when we first started our van build. Actually, I didn’t think it was even important enough to research, which put us in a bit of a pickle down the road. I can promise you moisture control is actually one of the MOST important parts of your van build, and here Is why…
Mold
Ah! Yes, you read that right, MOLD. You can actually have mold in your camper van, which means you are breathing in mold spores in your living quarters. In this case that is very bad, especially since everything is so close together.
This is a huge problem in camper van mattresses and is the number one complaint of those traveling in any type of motor home.
without proper moisture, control mold WILL form in many places of your van, some places you may not even see, which is worse because you may not be able to address the problem right away.
Rot
When living in a high condensation environment you are sure to experience rot in things like your walls, floorboards, or the platform of your bed. Your camper van cost so much money to put together, let’s work on protecting it!
Rust
Don’t even get me started on rust! Once it starts it can be hard to stop. I have seen in numerous people’s vans where they take apart their floor or their walls and they find rust due to condensation.
Personal health
Like I stated above mold is NOT good for your health. You would do anything to prevent mold in your house, so why wouldn’t you try to prevent it in your motorhome.
How to Prevent Condensation/Moisture in Your Camper Van
Now that you know how important it is to control condensation in your camper van, or you are looking to fix an already occurred problem I give you some awesome solutions!
1. Air Flow
Airflow is THE MOST IMPORTANT part in controlling condensation in your camper van. I could not even emphasize this enough or say it enough, but you NEED ventilation!
You may want to install a ventilation fan in your ceiling to help with the airflow. Not only is a fan good for airflow, but it’s a great way to cool off when you are super hot. it’s really just a win-win item to install in your van.
If you don’t want to install one on the roof because it gives you anxiety then try a window fan. as long as you have airflow from one end of the van to the other this should work.
2. Insulation
Insulation is not only for keeping you warm in the winter and cool in the summer, but it’s great for moisture control. There are actually types of insulation, like fiberglass, that will worsen condensation. I would recommend something like sheep wool that wicks away moisture that creeps into your walls.
You can read more about camper van insulation in my very detailed post here.
Another thing you should take into consideration is installing a vapor barrier behind your insulation ( I go over that in my insulation post in more detail). Most people cannot get a vapor barrier right on the first try because it must be sealed properly. If there is even a crack in your barrier moisture will come through it. Don’t feel bad if this has happened to you.
3. Treated Wood
Do you remember me telling you that moisture can cause rot? Well, you can help prevent rot by treating the wood you use in your van build. The only item that we treated in our van was our bed base, but we should have treated the board under our peel and stick tiles.
4. Mattress Type
Yes, even the type of mattress you purchase can affect moisture retention. Some mattresses are better at wicking moisture than others. I would recommend a gel-infused mattress because it’s one of the most breathable options.
The mattress in a camper van is actually one of the most common places for mold to grow! And it’s right where you sleep at night! Getting the right type of mattress from the start will really help you out.
5. Bed Frame
The type of bed frame you decide to build will play a huge part in whether or not your mattress will retain moisture. Think about it, if you have your mattress on a flat piece of board there is no room for it to breathe, therefore it’s just pooling moisture up between the board and mattress.
There are several things you can do if you have a flat piece of board for a frame which I go over in detail in my mattress post. If you don’t want to read through all of that right now then try building a camper van slat bed for ultimate breathability.
6. Moisture absorbing bags
I’ve heard that bags won’t work to control moisture in your camper van. That is true and false. We have a big bag in ours, and it definitely soaked up some moisture from the air because it expanded after some time of being in there.
However, this doesn’t mean it solved our problems because we still have condensation forming on the windows due to poor ventilation. So no, these bags won’t do any good if it’s the only thing you are doing to prevent moisture. It really cannot treat an area where you are constantly breathing and living.
7. Wipe up wet surfaces
Spills happen no matter where you’re at. As soon as you notice a spill somewhere in your camper van immediately clean it up. This can help quite a bit.
Along with spills, make sure you are wiping your windows dry when you do notice condensation forming. Don’t just leave it there, this will cause bigger problems down the road.
8. Ventilation fan when cooking
Cooking releases a ton of moisture in the air, and that is part of the reason why we don’t cook inside of our van, that and it’s way too small for a kitchen.
If you do insist on having a kitchen inside of your van at least have some ventilation going through your van at the time you are cooking. Or you can install a cooking vent specifically for cooking. Also, be sure to cover your food with a pan top while you are cooking it.
This ventilation fan has amazing reviews and can run off your vehicle’s battery.
9. Keep showers short
If you have a shower in your van this is another great way to provide condensation to your van, especially if you take a hot steamy one and you are like me and like to take forever.
You can either shower on the outside of your van as we do, or just try to take shorter showers. Installing a fan for your shower can also help relieve condensation.
Our bathroom in our home doesn’t have a vent, therefore we are always wiping down the mold in our walls, windows.
10. Don’t leave wet items in your Van
Leaving wet items like clothes or towels in your van is screaming for mold problems. Try drying those things on a clothesline first before storing them.
We have a huge dry bag that we put wet stuff in if we can’t dry them first, and wait for laundry time. I wouldn’t recommend leaving your clothing damp in a bag like this for too long, as we all know they start to smell bad even after you wash them.
11. Regular Dehumidifier
This is where a lot of arguing comes into play. Some say dehumidifiers work some say they don’t.
The reason why they don’t work is that you need to have them running most of the time. You can’t always have a power supply to run a dehumidifier for the amount of time that’s needed.
Remembering to pour out the water in the back of the dehumidifier can also be a pain in the butt.
12. Use a Desiccant Dehumidifier
If you insist on using a dehumidifier try using a desiccant dehumidifier. It’s much less messy. Instead of pooling water into a container that you could spill when emptying it, there is a chemical process involved.
When you turn on a desiccant dehumidifier it pulls in the moist air through silica gel which absorbs the moisture in the air then releases dry air back out into your van.
13. Proper Heating
One huge problem with propane heaters is the moisture they put into the air. So if you have a built-in propane heater or one of those buddy heaters, that could be the cause of condensation in your camper van.
I would go for either a built-in diesel or gas heater if you want an off-grid option, otherwise, I would try going electric.
You can try installing one that will ventilate outside the van or just go electric. We use one that’s electric and sleep at campgrounds on freezing cold nights.
Check out our post about purchasing heaters. This will give you a better idea of what to get and what not to get for your camper van heater.
14. Windows
It helps to have windows that will open even if it’s just a crack. We regret not having windows that open in the back of our van. It makes for very hot summer nights, and tough to control condensation in the van.
If you are scared of bugs coming into your camper van while you sleep, try purchasing window netting to keep the bugs out. Who wants a ton of mosquito bites when they wake up!?
Where Does moisture Typically Form inside of a Camper Van?
Moisture typically forms around your door frames, on mattresses, on the windows, and on the metal walls of your camper van.
When you first start your build is when you should start your condensation defenses. This is due to the fact that the most effective moisture control happens when you install a ventilation fan and insulation.
Properly planning out your camper van build and design is the best place to defend against condensation.
Learn From Our Mistakes!
We made many mistakes during our build that can help you out in your build.
First of all, we used the WORST possible insulation for our build, fiberglass! Like I said this is a breeding ground for mold as it holds in all the moisture. In our next build, we will most definitely be using sheep’s wool.
The second mistake we made was ventilation. At the time we were too scared to cut a hole in our ceiling to put in a fan. This was a huge mistake, as it is my number one rule for preventing condensation in a camper van. And yes we have a ton of condensation on our windows due to this mistake.
Third, we don’t have but two windows in the front that will open. We don’t have much airflow to the back of the van when we sleep even when the two front windows are open with a fan blowing air.
Conclusion
I hope I covered most of your questions about controlling condensation in a camper van. I know this is a huge topic, so if you have any other questions that I didn’t thoroughly answer, pop them in the comment section below.
