Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 13:33:03 -0700
Reply-To: Gary Shea <shea@GTSDESIGN.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Gary Shea <shea@GTSDESIGN.COM>
Subject: Re: Winters in the van...
In-Reply-To: <B9FFDF17.7AA5%eric@seniornet.org>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
On Tue, 19 Nov 2002, at 12:29 [-0800], Eric Spletzer (eric@seniornet.org) wrote:
> Not really true. The same people who make the pipe make 2 foot clip on
> plates that you can attach to plywood for those people who don't want to use
> a concrete floor. I've seen under floor installations, too. Radiant
> heating doesn't have to be in concrete.
Could you describe these plates? I presume they serve as the thermal
mass? Thermal mass is the key, concrete, metal, water, whatever.
Plywood however doesn't work as thermal mass ;)
Gary
>
>
>
> On 11/19/02 11:17 AM, "Gary Shea" <shea@gtsdesign.com> wrote:
>
> > On Tue, 19 Nov 2002, at 10:49 [-0800], Eric Spletzer (eric@SENIORNET.ORG)
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Thanks to everyone who responded. Turned out to be a great thread.
> >>
> >> After attending a workshop on hydronic radiant heating this weekend, I'm
> >> somewhat interested in the possibility of using this. I'm shooting from the
> >> hip here - so if I'm missing something. Please let me know. Humor me though
> >> - this could have potential.
> >>
> >> What if there was a submersible water heater/pump that would heat your water
> >> to say.... 130 degrees. Not hot enough to melt your tank, but enough to
> >> keep it really warm. This (130-140 degrees) is roughly the temp that goes
> >> through the radiant piping in a home. Then you could use this pump to
> >> circulate the hot water through KITEC tubing that you lay under your carpet
> >> in the cabin.
> >
> > An interesting idea... but I'm afraid there is a fatal flaw. Humans are
> > very aware of radiant heat, which is why hydronic heating is so popular.
> > The way you get radiant heat with a hydronic floor is by saturating a
> > large thermal mass with a low level of enery which it radiates
> > semi-uniformly. The key is the amount of thermal mass. The equivalent
> > hydronic floor for the van is unfortunately a 3" layer of concrete under
> > he carpet. Yikes!
> >
> > Gary
> >
> >> This is basically the concept behind a hydronic radiant heating system in
> >> your home. If you did this in the van, it could be a permanent
> >> installation, and all you have to do is turn on the heater and you serve two
> >> purposes: keep your water warm and unfrozen, and heat the van safely at the
> >> same time.
> >>
> >> Drawbacks I can see right now:
> >> 1. The water you get from this sink would be really hot and I don't know if
> >> you can get a pump/heater that you can use on potable water. (But you don't
> >> really want cold water in the winter anyway.)
> >> 2. To install the piping correctly, you would fill in the spaces in between
> >> the pipes with plywood or something similar, which might suck in the case of
> >> an accident.
> >>
> >> Now that said - it's not nearly as simple as an electric blanket or a lil
> >> block heater from WalMart - but could be a realy cool (er... Warm) way of
> >> keeping your water handy and keeping the van warm.
> >>
> >> Any thoughts/comments/noticeable problems with this?
> >>
> >> --eric
> >> ----------------------
> >> '85 GL Camper (Moby)
> >> San Francisco, CA
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
>
> --
> Eric Spletzer
> Webmaster
> SeniorNet
> 121 2nd Street, 7th Floor
> San Francisco, CA, 94105
>
> "I'm convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% the way I react
> to it." -- Charles Swindoll
>
>
>
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