Eberspacher/Dometic diesel heater installed and working a treat.
After Nagambie weekend and the horrible freezing realisation the Ibis aint to happy in zero temps, ive bitten the bullet and plonked in the Eberspacher. Bit more expensive than the other offering but the local 2 year factory warranty is excellent, and research suggests they cant be surpassed. Not to say the Planar isnt a good unit.
The biggest installation hurdle was working out where each component would/could/should be placed. The actual labour element was probably around the 5 hour mark, but add double that 5 hours looking, thinking, looking, deciding, undeciding, thinking ...... i have a heap of photos of the install but would require to much explanation of each pic to be of use, plus its unique to my 20.63.1OB
I have two ducts so that created its own issues. Each ideal location for individual components impacted on other components ideal locations. Eg. Having the fuel tank at the rear of the van placed the pump in an area i wasnt happy so I moved the tank to the front. It was all became about compromise, combined with necessity and availabilty.
As a side issue, diesel can be carried on the rear of a van, so theres an option there. As it turned out, i position my tank at the front on the same side as the car filler so i can fill them both without needing to move the car.
The Eberspacher is completely automatic, set and forget thermo controlled with no manual overide; and that works very well. According to Dometic stats, they get single figure warranty claims Australia wide each year.
Noise is subjective and everybody has different thresholds. A cold start results in high fan and high furnace. The fan is the only noise inside, and even at its highest is not anywhere near as noisey as the Ibis aircon. There is the "ticking" of what they call the dosing fuel pump. Each "tick" delivers a tiny dose of fuel, so the ticking frequency matches how hard the heater is working. At the startup "ticking" furiously, and at temp a tick every other second or so. The "tick" could be described as about as annoying as a reasonably quiet clock in the next room.
The aircon running all night doesnt keep us awake, so the heater pump certainly will not. The noise of the pump would be inaudible in any adjoining van
Ive only had the heater in 2 days and I really only notice the pump "ticking" if i consciously decide to listen for it.
Outside, the heater noise is a different animal. At a cold startup it is very noticable, bit like a low pitched hairdryer on low ... not super loud but very noticable. The noise comes from the combination of exhaust and intake. The exhaust has an inline muffler which without that would absolutely cause complaints.
The consulation would be at bed time the heater would be at a low temperture maintenance setting, which is barely audible outside or inside for that matter.
Routing the exhaust was a bit of a headache. After the process of elimination in location all the components, the areas and avenues to rout the exhaust were limited, with the necessessity to point the exhaust end away from the annex (and toward the neighbours) combined with masses of waterlines and electrical wires and the high temps of the exhaust which i was worried might melt something.
The fuel usage is very low, and admittedly the vans inside the factory but after starting the heater there was very rapidly a scent of torched fuel in the air. It will interesting to see how the fumes woft about in a caravan park
A more expensive controller is available which has a 7 day timer to program the heater like the home ducted heater. Even with the normally packaged electronic controller you can leave the heater turned on (even whilst travelling if you choose) and it will only fire up when it needs to in order maintain the temp as set.
The unit itself only gets warm to the touch so can be jambed into small cavities surrounded by combustibles. The unit is 12v only, and power consumption is minimal. Ive lost about a loaf of bread size area in storage space
The end result ... the all important heating performance ... it pumps out a large amount of hot air, heats the van very quickly, effectively, quietly and cheaply ... and most importantly off the grid, free camping. Its a very comfortable heat which unlike the aircon starts at floor level and vents downwards which make a significant difference.
Once its installed, it takes up bugger all hidden space, and all you can see is 2 x 60mm vents in the lounge base and a tiny controller on the fridge wall.
For caravan park travellers, the install cost is ridiculously expensive when the reverse cycle aircon will work "most" of the time, and a couple of $30 blow heater will take over when the aircon wont. But for free campers its a no brainer, absolute, no compromise comfort .... better than our caravan park compatriots, whilst off the grid with no fuel or power rationing required.
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