20' Series Diesel or gas heater?

[achjimmy]

Lol having to take the cap off to use the gas heater is a new one! Do you Lower the legs ? Unlock a hatch? It's just part of the setup if you think it's remotely going to be cold. The other 99.99999 % of the time it keeps the crap out. One of the diesel heaters I looked at recommended same on inlet or exhaust but it was going to be located under the van!

On Gas usage with a gas heater is a non event in a couple of years now we have only had two bottle fills maybe on expandas with less thermal efficiency. But when it's cold I don't try and recreate the tropics inside either!

Both do a wonderful job, self install on the gas is easy with it costing $120 for compliance at the end. It does take a higher amount of commonsense to work out the install correctly which may deter some. But the result can be a much better protected /sealed unit.

Next van I'd happily consider diesel but for MY use I'd have to get past a couple of deterents. I fill the Cruza from xtra hi flow pumps so the heater tank has to take same and I don't want exhaust/inlet sucking from under the van.

Good luck with it either will work really well just gotta work what suits best for you.

 

[Dobbie]

Wow....a diesel heater for a Queenslander!

You'll both keep warm with that and you need another thing to play with and adapt.

You must have been talking long and hard about how good they are.

 

[Drover]

Mate, a few years back it was minus 3 deg C at 0830 in Warrialda, water lines under van froze, not much warmer at The Ridge or Nindigully as the trip progressed during July, it's taken awhile but progress is being made on the Treasurer releasing funds......Grandkids visit to Canberra in winter will be possible is how I've described it (no way I want to go there after March actually or before Oct)......................

 

[mikerezny]

This is a little like the Ford v Holden debate; bit ridiculous when Nissans beat both ( .... and Toyotas )

But Fords and Holdens are also now fitted with heaters as standard!

 

[Crusty181]

This is a little like the Ford v Holden debate; ridiculous when we all know Nissans beat both (... and Toyotas )

Lol having to take the cap off to use the gas heater is a new one! Do you Lower the legs ? Unlock a hatch? It's just part of the setup if you think it's remotely going to be cold.

nope ... and nope. Ha

 

[Crusty181]

Stand by, stand by......................Mrs D is checking out diesel heaters, prices and fittings, asking questions...........Woo Hooo looks like things might happen, must mean she's thinking of a winter tour somewhere and warm toes are a must.................

So my only question to the Heater Guru's or is that just Guru ??????...........anyway Big Mal is 22ft so do I go a 2kw or a 5kw, ????? I suppose running a 5kw at half pedal is better than a 2kw at full throttle................................looking forward to the build already, some great ideas to try, I wonder if I can get it looking nice and neat, not my strong point....................

2kW is ample. 5kW your beer would be warm before you could run it out of the van.

 

[Drover]

Mrs D runs on a differn't thermostat to me thusly I thought 5kw would save me grief but I might go the 2kw then, far be it for me to go overboard on an item....................thankfully when a heater is needed the beer just sits in the back of the Ute and a fridge isn't needed........trouble is I want to get a heater and another battery, might be pushing my luck for that much coin.

 

[Bellbirdweb]

Mrs D runs on a differn't thermostat to me thusly I thought 5kw would save me grief but I might go the 2kw then, far be it for me to go overboard on an item....................thankfully when a heater is needed the beer just sits in the back of the Ute and a fridge isn't needed........trouble is I want to get a heater and another battery, might be pushing my luck for that much coin.

Extra battery will be a rounding error compared to the price of a heater.

 

[CrazyMOBB]

So the decision is diesel and am very happy with the result.


Inside cupboard under the slideout. Insulation around the heat pipe to keep cupboard cool.

Double vents


Tank


Stone guard


Underside


Fuel pump mounted inside chassis. Now just have to get away and give it a tryout.

 

[Bellbirdweb]

So the decision is diesel and am very happy with the result.

View attachment 49584
Inside cupboard under the slideout. Insulation around the heat pipe to keep cupboard cool.
View attachment 49585
Double vents

View attachment 49586
Tank

View attachment 49587
Stone guard

View attachment 49588
Underside

View attachment 49589
Fuel pump mounted inside chassis. Now just have to get away and give it a tryout.

Well done @CrazyMOBB youll be very happy with it

 

[Crusty181]

So the decision is diesel and am very happy with the result.

View attachment 49584
Inside cupboard under the slideout. Insulation around the heat pipe to keep cupboard cool.
View attachment 49585
Double vents

View attachment 49586
Tank

View attachment 49587
Stone guard

View attachment 49588
Underside

View attachment 49589
Fuel pump mounted inside chassis. Now just have to get away and give it a tryout.

Good job ... tick ... tick ... tick ... tick. Ha. If you have a diesel heater, that takes on a whole new meaning

 

[Crusty181]

PS. What does "Parking Heater" mean ??

 

[Bellbirdweb]

PS. What does "Parking Heater" mean ??

I've seen them referred to as parking heaters as well. I assumed it was meant for motor homes when parked, but that was just a guess

 

[CrazyMOBB]

PS. What does "Parking Heater" mean ??

It's a European thing. Used in trucks when parked.

 

[CrazyMOBB]

Good job ... tick ... tick ... tick ... tick. Ha. If you have a diesel heater, that takes on a whole new meaning

Good thing is, we can't hear the tick on the inside and you can hardly notice it on the outside either. Result.

 

[Bellbirdweb]

Good thing is, we can't hear the tick on the inside and you can hardly notice it on the outside either. Result.

I put the pump at the other end of the van from where we sleep, so can barely hear it.

My daughter complained about it when she slept down that end, so might need to look at further isolation in addition to the supplied rubber mount

 

[Drover]

A small gearbox or engine mount is good to mount pumps and stuff on, a foot of rubber hose from pump and making sure the lines are insulated where they go thru the body and never touch walls and things unless insulated cuts down heaps of pump noise........being deaf is an asset also.

 

[Crusty181]

Good thing is, we can't hear the tick on the inside and you can hardly notice it on the outside either. Result.

Have you slept with it yet? We virtually can't hear ours at all .... until 2am

 

[Vere]

Gas or Diesel - what a question. I spent ages going from one to the other and with a Bathurst 1000 trip coming I bit the bullet a couple of weeks ago and had a diesel unit installed. I chose diesel as it was a smaller unit/control box and was a proven technology.Within 1/2 hour of going to pickup van from the installers I was asking myself if I made right choice. When fuelled up it chugged and choofed like a steam train and was clearly not happy. Installer changed angle of fuel pump, reran some fuel line, changed fresh air intake under van, changed bends in exhaust but no better. After talking to manufacturer they felt it was bad fuel and asked if we used Shell (was Caltex). Fuel was put into new container on way to collect van! 20L container, around 5L put into van tank rest into tug which ran fine...We had to drain fuel in the van, flush tank and lines with metho and put fresh fuel in - BINGO.

Now I will recommend diesel but I was told they can be touchy regarding fuel lines/setup and now it would appear fuel itself.

 

[Crusty181]

The current Caravan and Motorhome mag has as article on diesel v gas heaters. I usually by pass these magazines because I dont need to be force fed sponsored "pay for opinion" brand whoring, but occasionally among the self serving dribble there is the odd fact lurking, or prompt for a better look.

From the stats printed gas is 20% more efficient than diesel. Not sure about that but Il run with it. Efficiency is nice if the fuel cost is the same but in the real world, efficiency will take a back seat to the actual running costs. The fuel prices quoted in the article were skewed and specs were also out so I adjusted them for the price of fuel today. I used Diesel $1.15 and a city Bunnings 8.5kg gas bottle swap for $24. Gas bottle swap prices are incredibly expensive, with the same amount of gas from a petrol station LPG pump worth around $11 at todays $0.65/ltr.

A little side story; an engineer in the factory next to mine had a left and right side LPG gas fill point on his ute. One side filled the cars gas tank, and the other side filled the 2 x 9kg gas bottles in the back of the ute under a tarp he use to oxy/propane weld, so if your keen enough you could half you LPG gas costs

Power consumption between the gas and diesel will interest free campers. Constant 1.1amp for the gas and btw 0.6 and 2.8amps for the diesel defendant on demand.

The gas heater consumption is a constant 170grams/hr, and the diesel consumption varies from 0.1 to 0.28/hr dependent on demand. To put that into perspective at zero deg outside my diesel heater thumped away constantly at, or very close to that 0.28 consumption.

An 8.5kg gas bottle will last 50hrs, and with a std 10ltr diesel tank it diesel will last between 36 and 100hrs dependent on demand. Maximum cost for gas is $0.48/hr and diesel btw $0.12 and $0.33 per hour. Gas has an 1st world capitalist handicap because bottle gas is outrageously expensive. From a petrol station gas pump prices the gas heater would show its true cost potential, at $0.22/hr based on the current $0.65/ltr gas price

In super cold conditions with both heater running constantly the diesel would be a cheaper run cost option but only by $0.15/ hour. At a more likely average 50/50 run cycle they would be pretty much identical in running costs. At 50/50 run cycle a 10ltr diesel tank would last about 66 hours, 20% longer than the single 8.5kg gas bottle.