The Best Security System For Van Life

As a solo traveler, I have several safety measures and a security system for my van. I researched several van security systems before settling on SimpliSafe, and also rely on a few additional safety features to keep me and my van secure while traveling.

An ideal security system for any van should include the basics like intruder alerts, and additional features like video monitoring, temperature sensors and smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.

In addition to having a security system in my van, I also have several additional security and safety items, like a GPS locator, additional door locks and a security safe.

In this article:

• The different types of security systems for vans
• Safety features to consider
• Tips for safety while traveling

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SimpliSafe Security System for van Review

I highly recommend installing a security system for your van. I researched several van security system providers before deciding on SimpliSafe. I like that it’s an easy DIY install and a modest monthly subscription price (or free! – just depends on your wifi setup, more on that below.)

SimpliSafe Security System For Van Life Components

There are several different device packages you can purchase, or you can build your own. Each system requires a base station and a keypad. Beyond that, you can add entry sensors, motion sensors, glassbreak sensors, an indoor or outdoor camera, a water alarm, smoke detector, carbon monoxide detector and a temperature sensor.

I recommend a minimum system setup for your van security system to include the base station, keypad, entry sensor, motion sensor and smoke detector.

The base station and keypad are required basics. Entry sensors can be placed on your doors, so if anyone breaks in your system will alarm. The motion sensors are great because if someone breaks in through a window the motion will be detected and set of the alarm.

Lastly, every van should have a smoke detector!! The nice part about having one that syncs with your security system is that even if you aren’t in the van, you’ll still receive an alert that there’s a problem.

The smoke alarm is a non-negotiable for me because I travel with my dog and occasionally have to leave him alone for a few minutes (like while I’m quickly showering), and god forbid something goes wrong at least this way I’ll know about it immediately and can get him out safely.

If you travel with pets I also highly recommend adding the RV pet temperature monitor sensor and indoor camera. The temperature sensor will push notifications to your phone when the temperature exceeds a range which you set.

I have my temperature sensor set to a low of 45° and a high of 85°. Once the temperature in my van goes outside of that range I get an alert on my phone.

I also have a second temperature sensor in my battery compartment so I can keep an eye on those, too.

Security System For Van Life Monthly Services

SimpliSafe offers three monthly service packages:

Additionally there is an option for no monthly monitoring service where you self-monitor (this is what I use).

All monthly packages will send alerts to your phone, but only the Interactive and Standard Monitoring packages will deploy emergency responders.

Note: emergency response will be sent to your physical address – so if you’re in a van and not at home or at the address you’ve registered on your account, this feature is not helpful.

The Interactive Monitoring plan is around $30/month. Standard Monitoring is under $20/month and Self Monitoring with Camera Recordings is around $10/month.

If you choose to self monitor without a monthly subscription your only cost is purchasing the equipment.

If You Have WiFi In Your Van

Since I already have a WiFi connection in my van, I find the free monthly subscription is the best value for my van security system. My SimpliSafe base station connects to the WiFi network, which still allows me to get alerts on my phone.

This also allows me to check the video cameras remotely. However, it does not have the ability to save the video recordings.

This method also allows you to receive alerts through the app (make sure you have push notifications turned on), but it does not include SMS text message alerts.

Good for:

If You Don’t Have WiFi In Your Van

If you don’t have WiFi in your van (example: you use Starlink and that’s not always on), then I recommend the Standard Monitoring service for $17.99/month.

This gives you the ability to utilize cellular connection instead of wifi.

All base stations come with this capability, but only the Standard Monitoring and Interactive Monitoring subscriptions activate the sim card.

In addition to running on cellular connectivity, this plan also allows you to save video recordings from your camera.

Good for:

Regardless of which monitoring plan you have the base station will always alarm when the system is triggered. The only difference in monitoring subscriptions is how you receive notifications and how your system connects (WiFi or cellular network).

A detailed description on how to convert your Simplisafe system to run on 12v instead of 120v is outlined at the end of this post.

Additional Ideas For Security Systems For Van Life

In addition to a full van security system, these are a few ideas to help keep you (and your van) safe, especially if you’re traveling alone as a female!

GPS Locator

A GPS locator is a fairly inexpensive way to monitor your vehicles location. This accomplishes a few things – it helps you track and locate your van if it’s ever stolen, and it allows anyone with access to the GPS login to track your location.

For example, my family has the login for my account and can keep tabs on me – which puts us both at ease, and makes it much easier to find me if anything ever happens.

I researched several GPS tracking devices before settling on the Trak-4 GPS system in my van.

There are two options for Trak-4 tracking devices – one that hardwire to your vans electrical system and one that is powered by a recharable battery.

The hardwired version needs to be permanently installed, while the battery operated device can be moved around but requires a recharge every week or so.

There are 3 monthly monitoring options and the cost ranges from $6.99 to $18.99 per month.

Unfortunately, the Trak-4 GPS system does not have an app yet, so you have to login through a web browser, but I like that it’s a more affordable option that accomplishes exactly what it needs to.

I chose the battery powered device for my vehicle over the hard-wired option. While it means I have to remember to charge it, I appreciate the ability to hide it in the van. That way, if my van is ever stolen, it’s less likely the thief can find and ditch the GPS unit prior to me locating the vehicle.

Van Lock

Installing a lock on your sliding and rear van doors can help deter break-ins, too. There are two leading options for van security locks.

The Thule Van Security Lock is one you can install yourself. It’s meant to be installed on the exterior of your van as it needs a flat surface on both halves of the lock in order to function properly.

When it is closed the attachment screws are hidden and inaccessible, which gives you more flexibility with how you install it since no one can tamper with the screws while it’s locked.

If you’d like two keyed with the same key be sure to buy the twin pack.

Another option is a Master Van Security Lock.

This security lock can be installed on the interior or exterior of your rear van doors. It’s designed to be resistant to bolt cutting.

However, the cylinder lock is removable so be careful not to lose it while it’s not in use!

Security Safe For Vans

In addition to protecting your van, it’s also a good idea to put highly valuable items into a van security safe. I installed this Security Safe by bolting it to the floor of my van in one of my lower cabinets.

Important items, like spare cash, my passport, jewelry and even my Trak-4 GPS unit are secured inside of it.

The GPS unit in particular means even if someone can break into my vehicle, they can’t disarm the tracking device easily. Just make sure your GPS signal can still transmit through the metal security safe.

Motion Sensor Lights

One of the items I added to my van’s security system after a few months on the road was motion sensor lights.

I don’t love the idea of drilling more holes in my van, which can lead to problems with leaks down the road. Instead, I found magnetic motion sensor lights that work perfectly for my needs!

These are simple, rechargable lights that attach to the side of my van with a strong magnet. They’re easily recharged with a USB cord and last several days on one charge.

There are two settings – constantly on or motion sensor. I like how portable these are, and frequently use them around camp at night. Then, before I go to bed I switch them to motion sensor. They’ll only light up if something comes nearby.

The motion sensor is great for keeping wildlife away, as well as people who might get a little too curious about what’s inside your vehicle. You can purchase them from amazon.

Window Covers And Tint

Window covers and window tint are a great way to keep the items inside your van concealed. While most of the windows I installed on my van come with dark tint, the factory windows on my van did not come with any tint on them.

I decided to DIY my own tint after getting a quote from a tint shop for several hundred dollars. This tint from amazon is affordable and easy to install yourself.

Additionally, I use window covers for added privacy (and better van insulation.)

When I first started, I used these inexpensive window covers from amazon and they got the job done.

Eventually, I added better quality window covers. I especially like these window covers for the cab door windows and front windshield because they block out light completely, so you can’t see that I’m inside of my van at night even if my lights are on.

Dashcam For Vans

I recently added a dashcam to my security set up. After seeing far too many videos where insurance frauds try and create a scenario where they get paid out from your insurance company after causing an accident which looks like it’s your fault I finally invested in one.

There are several options when it comes to dashcams. I chose to install the Nexus5, which has a front and rear camera, both which face forward and backward. This means almost every angle of your vehicle is recorded. It also has many additional features, like the ability to adjust recording length, accident sensitivity and an integrated phone app. This also means it’s sells on the higher end of the price range.

In my opinion, if I can avoid being found at fault in one accident this camera will have more than paid for itself.

However, there are also more affordable options that come with fewer bells and whistles available, too, like this one by RedTiger.

Steering Wheel Lock

Another great way to deter theft is to use a steering wheel lock on your van. These are fairly affordable when it comes to security systems for vans. They’re also easy to set up quickly once you establish camp for the night. You can find them on Amazon here.

Bring Your Dog

Van life with a dog has the added benefit of a furry security guard. My dog can hear better and smell better than I can, so he’s usually the first one to notice when an animal or a human is nearby.

In addition to alerting me to a potential new threat, he also deters many people from approaching me. Even though he’s the dopiest, most harmless looking golden retriever you’ve probably ever seen, bad guys aren’t willing to take the risk that he’s hyper protective of me.

SimpliSafe Base Station Modification

The SimpliSafe base station is intended to be plugged into a 120V (household) outlet. This isn’t ideal for most camper vans because in order to operate a 120V appliance you have to have your inverter on.

While inverters can power 120V appliances, the process of converting your 12v battery power to 120v wastes about 20% of your energy. This isn’t an ideal setup for a base station which needs to be powered 24 hours a day.

With some easy modifications the base station can be converted to run on your 12V batteries, bypassing the need for an inverter.

It’s an easy update to make. I made this modification to my base station in under an hour.

Required materials:

Step 1

Cut the brick/wall plug end of the power cord off. Try to cut as close to the plug as possible and keep as much wire length for your base station as you can.

The base station actually runs on 6.5V DC, and the brick that plugs into the wall adjusts a typical household voltage (120V AC) into the correct voltage.

You’re going to replace the AC brick with a DC voltage converter. Instead of the factory system which takes 120V AC and turns it into 6.5V DC this mod will take 12V DC power from your batteries and drop it down to 6.5V DC – then you can hardwire your base station into your van and install it anywhere.

Step 2

Carefully remove the outer insulation plastic and expose the wires inside the power cord. There is one wrapped wire and many teeny silver strands inside.

The wrapped wire is the positive wire and the teeny silver strands are the negative. You can reuse the outer insulation you removed from the power cord, or you can use electrical tape to wrap the negative wires.

Step 3

Connect the power cord positive and negative wires to the converter. The converter is what will adjust the power from your batteries (12v) to the acceptable voltage for the SimpliSafe base station (6.5v).

These are attached to the output side of the converter – the right side (pictured in diagram above).

Step 4 (optional)

Add an in-line fuse to your positive wire. This is only necessary if you are not connecting your van security system to your fuse box.

If you connect to your fuse box then this step is redundant and can be skipped.

I chose to connect my van security system directly to my 12V batteries and bypass my fuse box. This allows my system to be powered even if I’ve shut down the electrical system in my van for any reason like winterizing or troubleshooting.

Even in those scenarios, when my batteries are disconnected from the van’s main electrical system, my SimpliSafe security system for my van will still operate.

Because it is directly connected to my batteries, and does not run through my fuse box, I needed to add an in-line fuse to protect the base station from potential power surges that would ruin the equipment.

A simple in-line fuse holder is all you need. Connect one end to the positive input side of your converter. The SimpliSafe van security system pulls 1.6A so a 2A fuse is the perfect size to protect your system from power surges.

Step 5

Connect the converter to your power source (directly to your batteries, or to your fuse box).

⚠️ Make sure you do NOT have your power cord plugged into your base station yet. This is very important because you have not adjusted the converter to the right voltage yet (see Step 6). If your power cord is connected to your base station when you plug into your electrical system, but before you’ve programed the converter for the right voltage, you can potentially send too much voltage to the base station and damage it.

If you’re connecting to your batteries, attach a negative wire to the negative input side of your converter (the left side). Attach a ring terminal to the opposite end of the wire, then connect the wire to your batteries negative terminal.

Next, connect a ring terminal to the end of the in-line fuse wire (or, you may need to run additional wire to get this to reach your batteries, and then attach a ring terminal to the extension wire). You should already have one end of the in-line fuse holder attached to the input side (left side) of the converter. After you attach the ring terminal to the other end, connect it to the positive terminal on your battery.

Note: 12 awg wire should be more than sufficient for this if you’re only powering the base station, and chances are you have some extra 12 awg laying around from your van electrical system installation.

If you’re connecting to your fuse box, connect your negative wire to the input side (left side) of your converter, and then to the negative slot in your fuse box.

Next, do the same for your positive wire. You’ll want to use a 2A fuse to protect the circuit. However, if you have additional loads on the same circuit you will want to recalculate based on the loads within that circuit.

Step 6

Program the converter to 6.5V, which is the correct voltage for the SimpliSafe van security system base station.

The converter can seem really intimidating at first, but it’s actually very simple. The left side (input) is what connects to your power source (batteries or fuse box). The right side (output) is what connects to your base station.

In order to program the converter for the right voltage for the base station (6.5A as indicated on the power brick previously cut off) you spin the “ADJ-V” brass knob located on the bottom/middle of the converter (see diagram above).

Keep spinning it (clockwise to increase voltage or counterclockwise to decrease voltage) until the screen reads 6.5V.

That’s it! It sounds complicated but modifying the security system for your vans base station is fairly straight forward and can be completed in less than an hour.

Conclusion – Best Security System For Van Life

There are many things you can do to make your van safer! Including a few safety features as well as a security system for your van can go a long way in deterring theft and forced entry.

I swear by my SimpliSafe security system, and I especially love how customizable it is. Receiving alerts to my phone if the smoke alarm is triggered, or the temperature gets too hot or too cold is extremely reassuring and gives me peace of mind.