Date:         Wed, 8 Mar 2006 19:21:27 -0500
Reply-To:     Phil Zimmerman <philzimm1@OBERON.ARK.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Phil Zimmerman <philzimm1@OBERON.ARK.COM>
Subject:      Re: Propane heaters

On Wed, 8 Mar 2006 10:02:23 -0700, Jeffrey Olson <jjolson@GWTC.NET> wrote:

>
>Curious minds want to know???

Jeffrey,

The previous posts appear to cover the basic differences.
The Suburban with its 5 amp draw, will suck even an 55amp/hr Optima below the furnace's cutoff
voltage of 11 Volts in about 5-6 hours of run-time (50% battery efficiency). Granted, the furnace
will not be running all the time. At 12,000BtU's output, the inside of the Van would be "cooking
hot" if it did.... 8-)  So, with a 50%  furnace run-time, the best you are going to get is about 12
hours of heating-time out of your house battery without a recharge.

So, depending on your intended use, a couple of hard answers demand your attention. If you are
going to be plugged into 110V most of the time and have an onboard battery charger to keep-up
with the Suburban 5 amp draw, you will be a happy camper. Another consideration is propane
usage. To produce 12K BtU's the Suburban is going to use allot of propane. A previous post last
week gave the figures needed to estimate this quantity. Rest assured, the 2.5 gal Westie tank will
be sucked dry pretty fast. What most of this says is the Suburban is made for a travel trailer...
where one has big propane tanks and equally big batteries. Sure, it will work in a Westie but, will
you be satisfied with the results.

The plat-cats of various styles will give you enough heat for relative comfort and with a battery/
propane draw that will allow you to camp off-the-grid for at least a couple of days.

Have you looked at the Propex line of forced air gas furnaces?

All the best as you consider the options, prices, capacities but in the end.... heat is great!

phil z........ Espar D2 Airtronic