Date:         Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:24:25 -0500
Reply-To:     Karl Mullendore <groups@WESTYVENTURES.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Karl Mullendore <groups@WESTYVENTURES.COM>
Subject:      Re: Alternative Heaters
In-Reply-To:  <475E159B.3020706@charter.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Almost all of the heaters, Espar/Eberspacher, Webasto, Propex, draw
combustion air from outside and exhaust routes outside. The combustion
is sealed away from the heating portion of these, so no worries about
Co/CO2. I'm not sure why one would need anything else, the wheel has
already been invented, so to speak. The beauty of these is that the
thermostat can be left on and your van will stay warm regardless. I've
been using different Propex heaters and more recently a diesel Espar
heater, and they are just perfect for our campers.

Karl Mullendore
www.westyventures.com
www.propexusa.com

John Rodgers wrote:
> I've read a lot on this list about different kinds of heaters to heat
> the inside of our beloved vans - some gas, some diesel, some catalytic
> types, some propane fired space heaters, and others. Most of these types
> are for the purpose of heat when parked, as the Vanagon cab heaters in
> the front and rear do a pretty good job when the engine is running but
> not when the vehicle is parked.
>
> Having a combustion heater in the van is a bit of a problem, because of
> the need to have an adequate exhaust. so CO and CO2 don't collect
> inside. One solution is to have a small air handling unit type heating
> system that would simply blow heated air into the van - air heated in a
> plenum so it did not have the gases of combustion mixed in it. I saw
> such a system once in Alaska, and I don't see why it would ot be
> applicable to our vans.
>
> In the Alaska case, it was a school bus converted into a camper. The old
> fellow who owned it had plumbed it inside and had the plumbing connected
> to a radiator with a fan motor behind it. Hot coolant circulated in the
> pipes and flowed through the radiator with the fan attached. Lots of
> heat in winter with no combustion fumes. The plumbing from the radiator
> eventually stuck out of the bus at a point where there were
> quick-disconnects. There the plumbing went to a box sitting on the
> ground with a propane burner attached. The burner heated the coolant,
> and a circulating pump circulated it back to the radiator core inside
> the bus, where the fan blew cooling air across the radiator to heat it.
> When this guy got ready to move, he just popped the quick-disconnects,
> moved the heater inside, No fluid was lost.
>
> Has anyone ever considered such a system for the Vanagons?