Luxurious, stealthy, off grid, 3Tonne lightweight Luton Van

Sadly, we need to let our luxurious off-grid campervan go, as we’re moving to Canada. You’ll find no other van on this page with those high specs! We built the van to our own design and style with the help of architectural CAD drawings. We wanted it to be our home for a long time and consequently didn’t spare any expense, planning everything in detail to make it a great off grid and practical home on wheels, that will last a long time and be truly unique.

Here are the Highlights:
-The Van has a brand new 12 months MOT, with no advisories and is mechanically in a great condition.
-In the spacious wet room, you can enjoy a long, hot shower (160 litre water!) under the rainfall shower head. We have also recently purchased a ‘portapotty’ it’s brand-new and unused ready for YOU!
-The full off grid Campervan has 1000 Watts of solar, yes you heard us right, 1kW! The average campervan supplies just 400 Watts! This charges 4 deep cycle batteries.
A split charge relay is also installed so that the batteries are also charged by the engine when you are on the road.
-The living space includes 7 USB sockets, 3 USB-C fast charging ports and 4 regular 240v sockets powered via an inverter. We never ran out of power even in the depths of a UK winter.
-You can lift up the raised floor beneath the ‘U’ shaped seating area to creates an extra double bed space. This gives you a king-size bed and a double bed.
-We will include a great Viewsonic M1 projector which is designed to be mounted on the ceiling to enable you to watch movies and relax, whilst keeping cosy in the double bed or seating area! The projector will run from its internal batteries, but a transformer power supply has also been installed so that it will run indefinitely.
-the Kitchen offers everything you need: an oven; grill; hob; a 12v household size fridge; a sink; spice rack and lots of storage cabinets.

If you want to know the specifications in more detail, read on:

Vehicle:
-The van is a 58 plate 2008 Luton type Vauxhall Movano 2.5 CDTI with 103,000 miles on the clock.
It has recently passed an MOT test with no advisories.
-It has full service history, good tread on the tyres, new brakes and has never let us down.
-Diesel engine with manual six speed gearbox.
-The weight of this fully loaded van (including water etc.) is just 3180kg so anyone can drive it on a standard license.
-This van has extra big mirrors and you’re sitting up high. Because of this you’ve got a great view and in my opinion It’s easier to drive this van than a small car.
-It pulls very well uphill
-The Luton box is built on a solid galvanized chassis subframe and the Luton box itself is rust free lightweight aluminium.
-The vehicle looks super stealthy as we’ve only installed visible window to the near side of the van (where you normally park up to view the beautiful sights of the English countryside). If you pull down the roller gate at the back you cover up the second window and the entrance door. No one will think you’re camping.
-The downside however is that whilst driving narrow country lanes I’ve inevitably scraped some tree branches and therefore I have several minor scratches on the paintwork. The seat cover on the driver side is slightly ripped, but it’s purely cosmetic damage.

Plumbing, gas, insulation, safety:
Plumbing:
-90 litre insulated hot water calorifier tank inside the vehicle. This includes an expansion vessel and an expansion tank (with anti-freeze). The calorifier is a twin coil version and could additionally be connected to the vehicles coolant system for “free” hot water.
-70 litre custom made cold water underslung tank with lockable refill access
-Underfloor heating in 16mm PEX pipe with heat spreader plates
-Webasto Thermotop Evo 5kW parking heater mounted below the vehicle. Fitted with a Norx universal controller and a Robinsons Labs interface unit. Controlled from a programmable CN101A Digital Programmable Time Switch. A three-port valve switches between water heating and underfloor heating.
-SHURflo 12v Trail King 10 water pump with 2.1 bar (30psi) pressure at outlets. This includes a Fiamma A20 accumulator for even water pressure and an inline strainer.
-Bespoke water tap and sink in kitchen. Rainfall and handheld shower in bathroom.
-External lockable gas and diesel tank storage boxes (The water tank lasts us around a week including 2 showers, drinking the water, cooking and cleaning and the shower is outstanding)

Gas:
-External gas storage box
-Full Camping Gaz 907 bottle installed with Camping -Gaz regulator (we’ll give you a full brand-new replacement bottle on top)
-Hob, oven and grill can run on butane or propane.
-Hob, oven and grill have emergency shut off valve if no gas is required.
-Separate diesel air heater adjacent to the seating area for a rapid warm up.
-There is a “Fire Angel” fire and carbon monoxide alarm in the kitchen.

Insulation:
-The van has been lined with 50mm Kingspan PIR insulation plus insulating bubble foil that is equivalent to 100mm rockwool. Heat is well retained and you’ll be toasty even in the harshest UK winters and in the summer, it will stay nice and cool.

Electrical:
-The van has been designed to be fully off grid. We’ve never run out of electricity and have always had enough power for fridge, diesel heaters and charging phones.
-1,000 Watt (1kW) of solar power supplied via two full sized, roof mounted, high efficiency monocrystalline panels charging four 130 Amp deep cycle lead acid batteries (standard van has 400w and 1 deep cycle battery)
-100 Amp MPPT solar charge controller (an EPEVER Tracer model 10415AN) which controls the charge to the four deep cycle batteries.
-A split charge relay is also installed so that the batteries are charged by the engine when you are on the road. As soon as the engine is switched off the van battery is isolated from the deep cycle batteries so that the battery for starting the van will never be drained by the living space appliances.
-240-volt Inverter supplying two standard square pin mains plug sockets.
-Electrical consumer unit with MCB breakers for 240v hook up (we’ve never needed it as we have never run out of power). This can be linked to a built-in battery charger so that you can top up the deep cycle batteries even when the sun is not shining. The standard weatherproof plug socket is built into the outside of the van.
-All round 12v system supplied from a 12-way fuse board.
-Hidden wiring with option to extend for additional items.
-7 USB, 3 USB-C fast charging (my phone charges from empty to full in 1,5 hours) and 2 regular 240v sockets.
-Light switches in three convenient positions. Kitchen, bed and living area lights controlled via two-way light switches for convenience. Adjacent to the bed there is a “kill switch” that turns off all lights apart from the bed lights. There are switches outside the bathroom, next to the bed and adjacent to the entrance. The lights in bed, living area and kitchen are bespoke kitchen lamps that have been rewired to run on 12v LED lamps. The outside and bathroom lights are waterproof 12v LED lamps.
-Other appliances running on 12v are: the household size 12v fridge including freezer; the bathroom vent; the gas igniter sparking system for the oven, grill and hob; the diesel water and diesel air heaters.

Interior and exterior:

Behind the roller gate:
-After pulling up the rear roller gate there are two nice, bright outside lights built into the pine cladding. You can enjoy the sunset or a barbeque in the summer from your camping chairs outside.
-There is another window in the cladding on the back of the vehicle which opens onto the kitchen area of the van.
-The entrance door is accessible by a convenient pull-out ladder which stows inconspicuously below the vehicle.

Kitchen:
-As soon as you enter the van you can take off your shoes and warm your feet on the heated laminate wood flooring.
-The kitchen is spacious, 160cm long with two wall mounted cabinets, a cabinet under the sink and 2 drawers adjacent to the floor (and a secret spice rack)!
The drawers and cabinets doors are secured by push locks
-The fridge is a full household size fridge with a freezer compartment running on 12v. It has an inbuilt shelves which easily holds household essentials that need to be stored at reduced temperatures.
-The hob, grill and oven are fitted with a convenient electrical piezo spark ignition system so you won’t have to struggle with matches.
-To the right side of the kitchen there are two USB sockets and a regular household 240v socket to attach your kitchen appliances.
-All everyday cooking utensils like cutlery, pots, pans, kettle etc. are included with the van

Bathroom:

-The waterproof, spacious wet room has been treated with a waterproofing kit from Mapei and finished with blue bathroom paint
-The bi-folding door has been treated with a waterproofing kit from the inside and comes with a jungle style shower curtain.
-The bespoke rainfall shower has a nice household like pressure at 2.1 bar. It includes a handheld shower head and a tap which could be used for filling up the flush water of the porta potty or attaching an extra hose for a hot outside shower.
-The brand-new unused porta potty will hold approximately 2 weeks of waste before you’ll need to empty it.
-On the ceiling there is a bright and waterproof 12v light plus a skylight which includes a mesh to prevent flies entering. The skylight includes an electrical fan to draw out the moist air after having a shower.

Living area:
-Moving from the kitchen to the living area, there is a step up that leads you to the seating area. Under the step and beneath the whole of the seating area there is a lot of storage. (My partner and I have been storing folding bikes, laundry basket and 5 guitars in there). In the side storage area, we also store 2 folding tables which you can easily put up to create a space for a nice meal or to get crafty.
-The raised floor can be lifted up level with the seat tops and after you have locked the floor in position with tower bolts you can create an extra double bed with mattress parts that are stored under the raised floor.
-On the near side you have a window which can be covered with thick reversible curtains.
-Over the window we’ve installed a tripod mount for a projector that will give you a spectacular cinema experience. Just remove the pictures from the opposite wall and enjoy some movies. Screen size equivalent to a 65” TV in full HD (1920×1080).
-On both side walls you’ve got bespoke sidelights.
-On the outside wall of the bathroom (facing the front of the van) you’ll find a light control panel and the water heater/underfloor heating controller.
-The desk area immediately below gives enough space to do your office work on your laptop. You’ll find three fast charging USB sockets as well as a regular 240v household socket and 3 USB sockets.
-In addition, we’ll give you our TP Link Wi-Fi router that can hold a SIM card of your choice.

Bed area:
-The spacious king-size mattress has a recent Otty memory foam mattress. It’s super comfy.
-As the bed overhangs the cab below by 50cm, it creates a massive cupboard space under the bed facing onto the seating area. In the left (nearside) cupboard is all the electrical equipment, the middle cupboard is a spacious clothes storage area and to the right you’ll find a clothing rail for hanging clothes.
-To the side of the bed is a light switch panel with dimmer switches. There are switches for the living area and for the bespoke burl light by the bed and a very convenient kill switch to turn off all lights (apart from the bed light). The bed light can be switched from both sides of the bed (two way switch).
-There are also 2 USB sockets in the bed area to allow you to charge your phone overnight or keep it charging whilst you use it in bed.

I hope all questions are answered here. If not, we’re happy to send you more pictures and show you the van in person. If you’re living far away, we could easily arrange a video chat to show you the van first. The van is sold including everything indside, as we’re moving to Canada in summer and can’t take any of it with us.

After living in the van for quite a long time, we’re very sorry to see it going and hope it will go to a good home and a person that loves van life as much as we do. It took a lot of effort, time and love to create such a beautiful practical van. We planned it out as our home and didn’t rush anything as we wanted it to be perfect. It’s not just a campervan. It’s a home.