Heating. Gas or diesel?

mark61

Forum Member
If fitting a van out from scratch, what would your preferred choice of heating be?

Or what would you consider the pros/cons of gas or diesel. Any other thoughts on heating appreciated too. :)
 

Buzzy Beans

Well I fitted mine out from scratch, but in so saying, I let the decision be made by what I found on eBay 2nd hand.

I hunted for ages and eventually found a brand new and still boxed Henry water heater that is either run on 240V or gas, I bought it for an amazing price of less than half what it had been originally purchased for.
For the heating, my searches also included Preloved and Gumtree and eventually I discovered a Propex 1800 gas room heater that was nearly new and yet it cost me only £50............

So far both of these devices have proven to work superbly, however I must say that the Propex is a tad noisy. I also must add that the company Propex are an absolute revelation of customer focused efficiency, they are absolutely brilliant and so amazingly helpful.

All the best

Phil
 

pughed2

MH heating

hello mark...........if I was going to fit myself, would go for gas as the diesel heaters (presumably fuelled from the diesel tank) may be expensive. IN my 2003 trigano tribute PVC, I use the gas cooker rings and grill as required for heating with carbon monoxide detectors, backed up when necessary by the vans webasto diesel heating (not very hot on its own), and backed up by the vehicle heating blown with engine on if its freezing..................steve bristol
 

mark61

Forum Member
hello mark...........if I was going to fit myself, would go for gas as the diesel heaters (presumably fuelled from the diesel tank) may be expensive. IN my 2003 trigano tribute PVC, I use the gas cooker rings and grill as required for heating with carbon monoxide detectors, backed up when necessary by the vans webasto diesel heating (not very hot on its own), and backed up by the vehicle heating blown with engine on if its freezing..................steve bristol

Thanks Steve.
Surprised the webasto is not good enough on it's own. Do you know what model it is?
Is it just a air heater or does it heat water as well?
 

witzend

Forum Member
In a old van we had a gas fire which had a fan which could be used for quick warmth if regd. Now we have blown air heating which is really good but it uses battery several time's we've said it would be nicer with the old fire type heater
 

delicagirl

I have an old gas fire in mine and it heats the van really quickly. the engine hot air is piped through to the hab box when I am driving so its toasty when I park up for the night and i immediately switch the fire on in severe cold conditions. in the winter I sleep downstairs so I can reach the gas fire from my bed and switch it on before getting up ..... nice ...
 

Rob H

heating. Gas or diesel?

If fitting a van out from scratch, what would your preferred choice of heating be?

Or what would you consider the pros/cons of gas or diesel. Any other thoughts on heating appreciated too. :)

Diesel, its safer.

Rgrds,

Rob H.
 

molly 2

Gas usually quiter .draws less current, more expensive to run unless you have refillable gas tank ,then on a par with diesel ,dose not need service

Diesel ,no need to carry extra gas, much less likely to run out ,cheaper to run if you fit red tank,.draws more current at start up .

I have a Truma 2400 gas l find it a pain to keep gasit topped up in winter ,but more than halves the cost of Calor .an under slung tank would be ideal but costly
 
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delicagirl

Gas usually quiter .draws less current, more expensive to run unless you have refillable gas tank ,then on a par with diesel ,dose not need service

Diesel ,no need to carry extra gas, much less likely to run out ,cheaper to run if you fit red tank,.draws more current at start up .

I have a propex gas l find it a pain to keep gasit topped up in winter ,but more than halves the cost of Calor .an under slung tank would be ideal but costly


Why is this molly ?
 

delicagirl

blimey ... must be tiny - I guess you have no room for another bottle or a larger one ? - my van had one small bottle when I bought it (a winter weeks supply of calor) but hippie worked out that I could accommodate 2 6kg bottlers and its made all the difference
 

molly 2

blimey ... must be tiny - I guess you have no room for another bottle or a larger one ? - my van had one small bottle when I bought it (a winter weeks supply of calor) but hippie worked out that I could accommodate 2 6kg bottlers and its made all the difference

That's with heating on 24/7.
 

Steve121

Thanks Steve.
Surprised the webasto is not good enough on it's own. Do you know what model it is?
Is it just a air heater or does it heat water as well?

I would suggest the Webasto is well under specified. My Land Rover XD130 Ambulance conversion has a factory fitted Eberspacher which on its own will heat interior from around freezing to 16 - 18° C in under 20 mins. It's a D5LC model (5kW) and the vehicle body is made from three layer bonded 2" insulated panels. Being so well insulated means the (proportional) thermostat usually only cuts in for a few minutes each hour. Very cheap to run and no worries about running out of gas. A bit noisier than a gas heater but most noise is outside, so not a real problem.
 

n brown

Forum Member
i've got a Webasto 3.5 kw which ,when it's running fine, heats the van to 25 degrees in about 25 mins .i've had to service it, not hard but a complete dismantle, and now the pump's gone- another £40-60. it uses 12v constantly of course ,as well as diesel
however i also have a Morco convector heater flued through the floor. this heats the van in about the same time.once hot,then i turn it down to pilot .
i might not fix the webby, the morco, like a truma , uses no power and you can get them for fifty quid . i'd recommend them
 

FULL TIMER

Diesel, its safer.

Rgrds,

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.
 
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Deleted member 2572

That's with heating on 24/7.
Our old swift with the 6kw truma could use a 13 kg in 2 or 3 days in winter , the Winnebago used a tank a week in this mild winter had it been cold it would have been around 25 kg every couple of day's. Lpg is a pain to find unless you are near a town or city as we soon found out after converting the Winnebago engine to run on lpg !
 

carol

The Eberspacher in my van is so loud I'm reluctant to put it on which makes it very economical! :)
 

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