Date:         Sat, 16 Nov 2002 08:09:20 -0500
Reply-To:     Edward Maglott <emaglott@BUNCOMBE.MAIN.NC.US>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Edward Maglott <emaglott@BUNCOMBE.MAIN.NC.US>
Subject:      Re: Winters in the van...
In-Reply-To:  <03f601c28d69$8b0aab90$6401020a@garibaldi>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

At 11/16/02 07:13 AM, you wrote:
>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

I thought about this powered exhaust possibility.  I am thinking a little
plastic fan would melt in the exhaust stream depending on the amount of
heat that is input.  I also really want to avoid any permanent
installation, so the whole thing can be stowed in the garage in the warmer
months.

>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 a problem, but maybe the fan would come in there to move the heat
around better.

>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.

Are you saying to still use the stove as the burner and run this ducting
all the way to the engine compartment?  Sounds interesting but more
permanent and complex than I was looking.  I like the idea of the longer
ducting and the draw fan though.  That would get a lot more heat out of the
exhaust.  My (house) gas furnace uses that method.  pulling the fire *down*
though a big S shaped heat exchanger and out through a plastic pipe.  It
gets so much heat out of the fire/exhaust, it doesn't need a chimney.

New idea:  use a automotive turbo intercooler.  A smaller funnel
shaped  structure goes over the stove burner and connects to input end of
the intercooler.  Draw fan pulls the exhaust out of the output end of the
intercooler and out the window.  Another fairly powerful fan blows through
the intercooler, heating the interior.  More expensive, and complex, but
smaller and better performance.

Edward