Date: Tue, 3 Nov 1998 16:34:43 -0800
Reply-To: davidson <davidson@SIERRA.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: davidson <davidson@SIERRA.NET>
Subject: Re: Catalytic Heaters.
Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Steve,
The vented heater may vent all the water vapor that is a by product of
burning propane to the outside. But my guess is that far more water vapor
is put into the air by the people's bodies and the cooking in the van than
the burning of propane. So my guess is that the difference in the amount of
water vapor in the van is not much more for the unvented heater. Of course,
the problem is created when the water vapor that is contained by the warm
air inside the van becomes condensation when it comes into contact with
cold surfaces. So there are a lot of factors at play here besides the
heater selection. How many people in the van? How big are their bodies? How
much heavy breathing are they doing? :) How much cooking is being done?
And the temperature and moisture content difference between the air inside
and the air outside.
If the vented heater gets the van warmer, as some suggest, then that warmer
air will hold even more moisture (from people & cooking if not from the
burn process) than the van with the unvented heater. That would mean there
could be more water vapor in the van with the vented heater available for
condensation. Think about it.
Bill
90 Westy Syncro
Lake Tahoe
----------
> From: Steve <sxs@concentric.net>
> To: davidson <davidson@SIERRA.NET>
> Cc: vanagon@VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Catalytic Heaters.
> Date: Tuesday, November 03, 1998 4:09 PM
>
> The Platinum Cat heaters vent all the moisture to the outdoors...all the
water
> vapor goes outside. Since catalytic heaters give off radiant heat, the
venting
> does not diminish heat out put. When you burn propane in a catalytic
heater,
> you create water vapor and co2...if the water vapor is not vented
outside, it
> collects in your matress, condences on the interior metal walls and can
do
> damage. When i use the cat plat, there is typically little and often no
> condensation on the windows in the morning with the heater running all
night
> and with all windows closed all night). I suspect you get condensation
with the
> unvented catalytic heater if you do the same.
>
> I have had a plat cat for almost 5 years. It is a fine piece of
> engineering...one of those great products that work. I have a propex
too. I
> prefer the quality of the heat, the cleaner environment and the
efficiency
> (elec. and gas) of the plat cat over the propex, but the convenience of
the
> propex is hard to beat. When it's really cold or if i'm going to camp
for a
> few days or more, i use both, with the plat cat as the main heat source.
It's
> nicer. Otherwise, i use just the propex and am happy with it, too.
> steve
>
> davidson wrote:
>
> > I don't understand. Can you explain how this can be so? How does an
> > unvented catalytic heater (vented with windows open a crack) create
more
> > water vapor in the van than a vented heater? They are both creating
heat,
> > they both have air intake from outside and air exhaust to the outside?
Have
> > you measured this?
> > Bill
> > 90 Westy Syncro
> > Lake Tahoe
> >
> > ----------
> > > From: Steve <sxs@concentric.net>
> > > To: vanagon@VANAGON.COM
> > > Subject: Re: Catalytic Heaters.
> > > Date: Tuesday, November 03, 1998 3:27 PM
> > >
> > > Unvented catalytic heaters also dump copious amounts of
> > > water vapor
> > > into the van...enough to rust it out from the inside with
> > > regular use.
> > > Plat-Cat makes the best ventded heater for a vanagon...lots
> > > in the
> > > archive...including a plat-ca- vs. propex comparison.
> > > steve
> > >
> > > Malcolm Stebbins wrote:
> > >
> > > > Harald 90 westy said:
> > > >
> > > > > I found that a unvented catalytic heater can
> > > > > give me a terrible headache if it stays on all night, even with a
> > > > > window partly open.
> > > >
> > > > This may be so, but the heaters that I have used (81 gas & 85
> > > > diesel), I only used for a few minutes in the morning to take the
> > > > chill off while I/we dress. A sleeping partner and a good sleeping
> > > > bag and a stocking cap are enough for the night. So for my usage
> > > > pattern, I think that for just a few minutes use (even 30), an
> > > > unvented heater would work just fine for me.
> > > >
> > > > Malcolm S
>
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