Heating. Gas or diesel?

[FULL TIMER]

You need to get Full Timer to have a look at it for you Carol! Mine makes little noise and is warm and quite cost effective.

this is the exhaust silencer kit to look for Eberspacher & Webasto 24mm Silencer Kit

and the combustion air intake silencer Eberspacher Airtronic Heater Combustion Air Silencer | 201689800500

If your heater exhaust pipe is still in good condition you will probably get away with the silencer on its own with two new exhaust clamps rather than the kit Eberspacher heater exhaust silencer muffler 24mm | 251864810100

 

[carol]

I've been told there is a silencer on it already. Could have fooled me!

 

[Steve121]

I've been told there is a silencer on it already. Could have fooled me!

It's a fairly well known fact that the exhaust silencer is fairly useless. You would be better off fitting an intake silencer as that is usually noisier.

 

[dane]

It's a fairly well known fact that the exhaust silencer is fairly useless. You would be better off fitting an intake silencer as that is usually noisier.

Noticed this when fitting a new Eber to my van recently. The difference after fitting the intake silencer was very noticeable.

 

[caledonia]

I have a propex and its crap to be honest. Next van we'll have an erby. How's the van getting on Mark? Are all the transmission mods been done and have you got it dirty yet?

 

[Rob H]

Can't see how diesel is any safer than gas, they are all room sealed unless you are going to fit a primitive catalytic type heater or one designed for outdoor use. the Truma / Carvers and Propex Heatsource are all room sealed and if fitted correctly perfectly safe to use even overnight

forgot to say I prefer the diesel option as battery power consumption is not normally a problem for us as we have a totally separate battery bank for the heater, I also work on the Eberspacher D2 / D4 Models quite a bit ,nice and easy to service , but I have fitted a Mikuni MY 30 to ours but only because I had a new one in stock and a load of spares to go with it.

Sorry for delay in clarifying, tinternet been off for few days, Flammable gases, no denying handy for cooking. Compressed flammable gas inside a confined space always going to be more dangerous than diesel, diesel heaters generally the tank / pump / fuel lines, run external to habitation space, Gas, ... piping / compression connections / hoses, generally run internal, Compressed Gas either leaks or it doesn't, and sooner or later it may, lol, and when it does, unsupervised, its sneaky, its quiet, and it doesn't stop .. and it can blow the b..... doors off. Pet annoyance, anyone else ? gas doesn't come in 'bottles' as described on many forums, milk does, compressed gases come in 'cylinders'.

Rgrds,

Rob H.

 

[spacehopper]

I fitted a diesel heater in my conversion. They are not the cheapest option if bought from new and silencers are fitted. It does, however, work extremely well and as I have been using the van in the "colder weather" I have concluded the heater is the most valued installation. The pain of fitting it has (almost) been long forgotten.

 

[pugman]

Sorry for delay in clarifying, tinternet been off for few days, Flammable gases, no denying handy for cooking. Compressed flammable gas inside a confined space always going to be more dangerous than diesel, diesel heaters generally the tank / pump / fuel lines, run external to habitation space, Gas, ... piping / compression connections / hoses, generally run internal, Compressed Gas either leaks or it doesn't, and sooner or later it may, lol, and when it does, unsupervised, its sneaky, its quiet, and it doesn't stop .. and it can blow the b..... doors off. Pet annoyance, anyone else ? gas doesn't come in 'bottles' as described on many forums, milk does, compressed gases come in 'cylinders'.

Rgrds,

Rob H.

propex do an outside variant. that, with an outside gas tank, removes any danger from the heating side.

 

[Caz]

My preference, space allowing, would be for a gas convector Truma/Carver type of heater. I've had these in various caravans and motorhomes over the years and they are brilliant.

Unfortunately, converted vans don't generally have the space and I had a Propex in one van which was good at heating but, like Carol, I was reluctant to use it as outside it sounded like Concorde taking off.

Current van has Eberspacher - also sounds like Concorde taking off, is smelly and kicks out black smoke when started (despite having been serviced recently). Even inside the van it is so noisy & smelly it keeps me awake - normally nothing disturbs my beauty sleep - so I wait till after dark to start it up and turn it off before I go to bed. It also (like the Propex) takes a lot of battery power to run the fan. Don't like it at all. The only thing in it's favour is that it doesn't seem to affect the MPG very much so I suspect is a lot cheaper to run than either a proper heater or a Propex.

 

[Ems]

I fitted a propex to my van. I was torn between the deisel v gas heaters but went for cheaper, easier to fit option in the end. Also based on the research I did I think the propex needs less maintanance. So far so good, the noise level is about the same as the diesel heaters I use in welfare vans on site, or site eco ground hogs units with canteens. I think for a bigger van the diesel heater would be better, but for my van (MWB Citroen Relay) the propex works really well.

I can't see a gas heater being any more dangerous than a fridge running on gas, or the gas water heater, the gas piping is already in the van. I may be wrong though but thats my view! Propex wouldn't sell them if they were dangerous?

 

[vwalan]

i use catalytic gas heaters . at the moment i use a thermex but i belive they are getting a bit hard to find new . there are others out there doing them .
work really well and arent big or anything just hang on a wall ideally at floor level .
no flame ,black heat .

 

[Acidclown33]

I've got a paraffin heater called a samphire sea stove, works on a similar principal to a primus stove, it's got a balanced flue and uses about 1 litre of paraffin every 4-6 hours, I run it on central heating oil which costs 59p/litre. They are designed for boats, it's a pain the arse to light, but once it's going it's awesome, it just kicks out plenty of heat and emits a nice blue-orange glow. Before that I've used woodburners, and a rocket stove which I built, I hate the idea of a heater that hums or has a fan buzzing away all the time. I think I'll probably have this paraffin stove for the rest of my life

 

[n brown]

Samphire Sea Stove Demo - YouTube

 

[roads2freedom]

Does anyone have any experience of the ZIBRO R224C? It is a paraffin heater and available for €150 in France. They generally get good write ups.

 

[trevskoda]

I've got a paraffin heater called a samphire sea stove, works on a similar principal to a primus stove, it's got a balanced flue and uses about 1 litre of paraffin every 4-6 hours, I run it on central heating oil which costs 59p/litre. They are designed for boats, it's a pain the arse to light, but once it's going it's awesome, it just kicks out plenty of heat and emits a nice blue-orange glow. Before that I've used woodburners, and a rocket stove which I built, I hate the idea of a heater that hums or has a fan buzzing away all the time. I think I'll probably have this paraffin stove for the rest of my life

59 pence blinkin hell its only 28 pence here,even a petrol station pumps its only 38p ltr

 

[phillybarbour]

Fortunately current van has gas electric and diesel heating. Given free choice of only one it would be diesel.

Very efficient, ultra low cost to run, never run out (feed from main tank), available everywhere in every country.

 

[gordy]

I just reply to diesel heaters not heating a motorhome sufficiently. If you check out You Tube there is actually people heating their homes with these heaters, must be amazing, can't believe it myself, so you can only try. Yes and use the red stuff but you've got to keep it in a separate tank inside preferably incase of getting it dipped and them trying to charge you.

 

[Deadsfo]

I have a Webasto diesel heater ,it was factory fitted into my Merc 508 ex Nato ambulance and it heats up the inside brilliantly in no time at all,it is connected to the engine coolant so can also be used to pre heat the engine on very cold days ,the downside is the heat is provided by three heat exchangers with fans blowing the hot air out which are noisy, to noisy to sleep with, though I have never required it through the night .The heater itself is not too noisy a low whining sound as the internal fans kick in, exhaust could be a nuisance if parked next to another camper and you could certainly cause some damage to a tent camper

 

[wildebus]

I installed an Eberspacher A2 Airtronic Diesel Heater in my T5 and while you get the initial noise (same as any fan heaters in reality going full pelt), it quietens down after a few minutes and is very effective at warming up the interior.
The heater is installed inside (under drivers seat) and the only constant noises noticable is a little constant tick-tick-tick from the fuel pump and a slight background exhaust noise which is negliable
Probably overkill in a vehicle that size and would work just as well in a full size motorhome.
I also have a diesel-powered Webasto engine coolant pre-heater which apparently can be converted to a parking/habitation heater in conjunction with the HVAC system in the rear of the T5, but the price of converting those (wiring and ECUs) is such it is rarely worthwhile (just mentioning this as they often appear on eBay being promoted as removed from VW and ideal as habitation heaters).

 

[mark61]

Thanks very much for all comments.
Went with A2 Airtronic, located at back, for no better reason then it seemed easiest.