Date: Wed, 8 Dec 1999 09:45:42 -0500
Reply-To: Steve Elfelt <steveelf@SPRYNET.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Steve Elfelt <steveelf@SPRYNET.COM>
Subject: Re: [Winter]
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Got several emails about my RV heater.... here it is for the whole
world
Brand: Suburban (Dayton Tennessee)
Model: Unknown
Cost: $50 used from a RV shop
Installed by me in an 84 Vanagon, formerly a passenger van.
I have the rear heater. I laid plywood down over the entire
interior behind the front seats. Built a box around rear heater.
This made two spatial "holes" to either side of the heater in front
of the sloping rear "fire wall". I put 2 golf cart batteries in the hole
on the driver side and built a box around them. I then built a box just
in front of the battery box for the furnace. The box is double-walled
and lined with fiberglass insulated sheet metal as a fire precaution
just because I am paranoid The furnace is (very roughly)
9" X 9" X 24". It requires 1-2 " clearnace on sides
and top, so I built the furnace box that big with a bit extra clearance.
The rear has intake and exhaust vents for which
I had to cut holes in the side of the van. (That was emotionally
difficult!) The front of the furnace had a solid plate, and there
were punch-outs on the sides where I could hook up ducts. Not
needing ducts for such a small van, I covered the ducts with sheet
metal (screwed down) and bought a small louvered vent thingie
from the RV shop, which they had in a box and sold to me for
a buck. This looks very attractive and screwed onto the front
of the furnace after I removed the solid plate. Now the warm
air blows into the van through that thing. The orienation is
crosswise in the van. Thus, the furnace box and the battery box
both extend from the side of the van crosswise towards and
up to the rear heater. The passenger side of those two boxes
lies in a plane with the drivers side of the rear heater box. That
plane mark a plane that extends all the way to the driver seat,
and encompasses the fronts of many other innovations, including
cabinets, stove, and icebox. I have a semi-permament oneperson
bed in front of the sliding door, and an aisle the width of the
rear heater box going down the middle. The plane I was mentioning
includes a 2x2 support ridge upon which I can rest extra pieces
of plywood to turn the aisle into additional bed width when I am playing
instead of working. ;-) Plywood for the added bed width is stored
behind the drivers seat. I also laid fiberglass insulation in the
ceiling and blocked off and insulated the two rear side windows
entirely. I use a regular RV (12 volt) thermostat to set temp and
if I wanted it would be 80 degrees when it was below zero
outside. The sucker really pumps it out. I also have a smoke detector
on the ceiling, a CO monitor near the floor, and a propane alarm/auto
shutoff unit if a leak is detected (20% of combustion saturation). And
a fire extinguisher, not that it would do any good, but it makes me
feel nice. If I had it to do over, I would have
invested instead of the furnace into better cold weather clothes/bag/etc
Hooked up the equipment IN MY HOUSE before installing (but without
hooking up gas) and tried sleeping with it clicking off and on next to
my
head as my house furnace took care of the actual heating.
Relied on an open window and a coleman heater and a CO alarm instead
of cutting holes in the car and buying a $800 propane tank. My first
tank
was not designed for VWs and hung suspended below the frame. Actually
I still have that one. I stopped carrying extra days of gas when I
heard
something fly up from the road and bang it. I caught a vision of a
headline
starting "SpaceShuttle Vanagon". Uh-uh. I took some of the $800 and
bought
good cold weather gear, and keep the propane empty as much as possible.
But
I will get a good tank eventually, particularly since my travelling
companion
is less cold tolerant.
Steve
84 vanagon
Lansing Mich
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