Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2013 17:53:49 -0800
Reply-To: Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Propex alternative?
In-Reply-To: <CAHTkEuJQO+AoHKvP-hZ8wqiUk-CHFm=KezTHYO9mnmc7L6ZAtw@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
"A dedicated heater like the propex or others wouldn't get much use in
our van...."
And such machines burns through a lot of propane quickly. Propane is
problematic to me, because it is expensive, and it requires
substantially-strong packaging, which adds to the price. Kerosene, OTOH,
is less expensive, BTU-wise, and is packaged much less expensively. My
Dietz lantern and Aladdin kerosene heater provide light and heat much
more efficiently. In comparison to a Mr. Heater Buddy or similar
propane-bottle heater, my kerosene heater positively sips fuel. Looking
at the specs for the Propex, I get the impression that if I were to use
one to heat near-freezing mornings for more than a few days in a row,
the van's tank would empty quickly.
--
Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
1984 Westfalia, auto trans,
Bend, Ore.
On 11/04/2013 05:26 PM, Don Hanson wrote:
> Woolens and down....
>
> For wet climates, nothing is better than wool...For cold, nothing
> beats down. Getting up inside my van I turn the stove and my coffee
> pot on for long enough to perk the coffee...That warms up my tin top to
> make it comfortable to get up out of my expedition weight down bag....
> I pull on a light down sweater and put on my down booties, if I am
> planning on staying in...I have Ugg boots for outside...A ski hat,
> too....comfy to drink my coffee and get going...I really see no reason
> to drive somewhere and just stay inside my van, ....camping...
> It's great transport for us and our toys and dogs..it's a nice motel
> room with a view, it's a great dressing room and kitchen, and nice
> shelter in a rainstorm.......but hanging out inside, it leaves a bit to
> be desired....
>
> I saw a 'heater' made from nesting clay pots with a couple of votive
> candles inside....that would do in my tin top, if I were to be confined
> there during bad weather for some reason....A dedicated heater like the
> propex or others wouldn't get much use in our van....
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 4, 2013 at 5:06 PM, Rocket J Squirrel
> <camping.elliott@gmail.com <mailto:camping.elliott@gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> Ol Al writes to say, "Lighting one candle with nominal airflow will keep
> the inside warmish until you can caffeine or mate' up"
>
> I used to use one of the smaller Dietz kerosene lanterns lit inside the
> Westy for (a) light and (b) quite perceptible heat in your colder
> evenings. They are quite nice and the added warmth is welcome. The soot
> blackening the overhead, not so much. I have since added LED lighting
> strips and have relegated the lantern to the outside. The new inside
> lights provide much nicer lighting but, since they are so darn
> efficient, kick off no heat. Lose one, win one.
>
> "Several of our esteemed adventurers keep the lid up but with a heat
> isolating membrane over the upstairs to keep a modicum of the expensive
> hot air (we see a lot of that around these days) in the cabin."
>
> I sleep on the downstairs bed with my head toward the front of the van.
> On your more frigid nights -- like in the teens -- I definitely feel a
> downdraft from the upper deck onto my head. I wonder about having some
> kind of fabric snap-in seal that would close off of the upper deck and
> prevent that downdraft.
>
> And in the morning, arising when it is in the low-30s (F) or lower in
> the van, I fire up the Mr. Heater Buddy (for about 30 minutes, that
> thing chews through 16.4oz bottles of propane at a fearsome rate, and a
> Propex heater would empty the van's stock tank quickly, too) before
> bringing in the preheated kerosene heater and think to myself, I think:
> sure a lot of hot air up in the top of this thing, sure wish I had a
> gentle ceiling fan to bring that hot air down to me where I am sitting,
> wrapped in woolens and down.
>
> --
> Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
> 1984 Westfalia, auto trans,
> Bend, Ore.
>
> On 11/04/2013 01:47 PM, Al Knoll wrote:
>
> Following the thread along. Seems there are several popular heater
> types, ranging from the unglazed ceramic inverted on the westy
> stove,
> to full blown furnaces (propex is a furnace). Coleman (RIP) had
> propane catalytics for years and mine still work pretty well. Then
> other radiant heaters like buddys, black cats, and so on
> rounding out
> the bunch, with the exception of Rocket's kero blaster they all
> run on
> either petrol or LPG. Now since amount of energy going from fuel to
> water and CO2 is gained by breaking CH bonds is proportional to the
> number of bonds broken in the process, the most efficient is the
> Kero
> using long chain hydrocarbons as the energy source. The least
> efficient is the Propane. So for more BTU per buck stick with the
> most efficient.
>
> Lighting one candle with nominal airflow will keep the inside
> warmish
> until you can caffeine or mate' up. Several of our esteemed
> adventurers keep the lid up but with a heat isolating membrane over
> the upstairs to keep a modicum of the expensive hot air (we see
> a lot
> of that around these days) in the cabin. Bob has one I think. A
> sleepytime hat will do wonders for those of little thatch. And
> I use
> a makeshift shawl around my shoulders made of dead synchilla skins,
> adjusted to cover those nasty drafts.
>
> Oh ya, I do have a wondrous old propex which whines away under the
> seat on occasion.
>
> Some years a go a fellow in colorado made and marketed a certified
> radiant heater with an exhaust system to vac the nasties outside.
> Disremember the fellow and the name of the heater.
>
> The organic squirrel coats can be a problem as the squirrels tend to
> come out of hibernation and scurry around inside the coat.
>
> Pensionerd.,
>
>
|