Date: Sat, 16 Nov 2002 07:13:16 -0500
Reply-To: Isaac Taylor <itaylor@ATTBI.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Isaac Taylor <itaylor@ATTBI.COM>
Subject: Re: Winters in the van...
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Hey that stovetop heater exhaust idea has potential.
You can solve the exhaust problem by installing your draw fan as the
exhaust outlet, flush mounted in an unobtrusive location. Some computer
microfan would work -- most run ion 12v DC off the internal power
supply, and would have the advantage of being really quiet (especially
given it'd be on the other side of the interior padding). There'd be
some drafting issues while under way, and you'd want to allow for any
water that gets in the out door to have a place to go. But those are
easily solved problems.
I think the tricky part would be installing the stovetop
chimney/exhaust-ducting permanently & unobtrusively, and yet having it
be somewhere useful -- because if it's running along up in the corner,
it'd just heat the roof and windows, and probably not do much for folks
in bed. Also, you'd want whatever apparatus connects the stove-top can
chamber to the permanent ducting run to be easily removable & stowable,
which could be tricky, and adds clutter.
The more I think about it, I think there is a more elegant solution --
and less obtrusive result -- if the stove and New Fancy Heater System
are decoupled.
Why not just build the guts of a electric space heater directly into a
custom coffee can concept, *but* mount the thing in the engine bay?
Advantage: doubles as overnight block heater, which can be really nice
is seriously cold places. Then duct your heating conduit up, under,
around and/or next to the bed -- maybe even out into the floor of the
cabin? As long as there's a fan sucking on the end of the exhaust, it'll
draw heat through a surprisingly long and/or circuitous duct, and with
strategic use of insulation you could deliver the heat to where it's
most useful. In this plan, construction and installation are if anything
*less* involved than in your stovetop concept, and the final product
would be all but invisible if done properly. Most importantly: you'd get
radiant heat rising up, through inhabited space.
Disadvantages are increased weight, further cluttering the engine bay,
introduction of potential fire hazard, and basic inverse relationship
between complexity and reliability in any electric system.
But surely I'm trying to reinvent the wheel here? Somebody's done this
before, yes?
Isaac Taylor
Cambridge, Mass.
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf
Of Edward Maglott
Sent: Friday, November 15, 2002 9:28 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Winters in the van...
Lots of ideas for solving problems roll around in my head all the
time. Some are actually good, many don't ever get realized. One
recently
is for a westy heating system that uses the stove top, but vents to the
outside. I have heard of this upside down flower pot on the stove
heating scenario. What I picture is something like a 5 pound coffee can
turned upside down over the forward burner. exiting near the top of the
can are some metal tubes, perhaps 1/2" electrical conduit. (the tubes
are used instead of one big pipe to get more heat out of the exhaust.)
<snip>
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