one comment on the propane heater, you stated that it is more of a "wet" heat. propex heaters exhaust outside so it would be no different than any of the other heaters in terms of moisture
Agreed. A propane force air furnace it a closed system. Cabin air is pulled in, heated and pushed into the camper. Combustion air is pulled in from outside, burned and pushed outside. Propane catalytic heaters like the Mr Buddy burn cabin air and are not exhausted outside. These add moisture into your camper.
@@campingboy9213 yep wood stove would also be dry heat - exhaust is routed outside. Heaters such as propane cat heaters are not ideal for heating an enclosed space. One of the byproducts of combustion is water vapour.
Their schoolie is beautiful, and I would do the wood stove! Then I would do the gas heater. Thanks for info. I love the very tiny Wood stoves I have seen. They are even smaller than the on e in the schoolie!
This was a very helpful, short overview, thankyou. You might improve the humidity in a van using dry heat by leaving a bowl of water out on a counter. This will evaporate and raise the humidity slightly.
The modern propane heater has a balanced flue, drawing air from outside and exhausting to the outside, so no moisture problem. The Truma heater is an example of this, and very frugal on fuel. We use one in Australia, it has revolutionised our travelling experience.
Love seeing the propane fireplace gaining traction! I'm chemically sensitive and it's the only of these options that fully vents to the exterior so it's my choice
I pulled my old propane heater out of my slid in and super nerding out what I should do. Big one for me is moisture control as I’m snowboarding out of it. 2 not packing to many different types of fuel. My old propane heat made the camper drip with water ness even with fans on ect.
What swung me about choosing a diesel heater was that it barely uses any diesel! I calculated that I could run a 2kW heater full power 24/7 for an entire month off my tank! I never run it that hot as my van would be an instant sauna - even on low 800W setting I have to open a vent as one downside is that they need to run continuously and can't switch on and off. Mine does have a thermostat but all it does is increase or decrease the power and bottoms out at 800W.
rightttt!!!? its such an insanely amazing efficiency rate compared to any of the counterparts. We 100% agree. We are also parked up right now and go an entire month only using 3/4 of our tank and then make the 1hr drive to town and do it all over again ahah
How do you get enough power in winter for it Kevin, my eberspacher uses more battery power than anything else I use in my van, meaning I have to drive way too much to charge batteries...solar is pretty useless here in winter. I think I'd prefer something like a reflex 66 MK-C diesel heater/stove, no power needed and can have a viewing glass porthole/window...or the similar "Sibirien",1.8kW with larger viewing window. I do like my eberspacher for quickly heating up my van, just not on permanently because for me, any power usage that's not necessary is too much of a battery drain I don't need.
If you're covered in snow and don't have the pioneering spirit to get all the wood 🪵 issues..... You may want to be looking into the Dickerson Heater. Used in the yachting industry... It's very efficient and self contained... Using tiny amounts of propane and electricity because in the ocean there's no trees or gas ⛽ stations.
I have an Olympian Wave Cat heater. Works great and throws off a lot of radiant heat like a fireplace, plus it's adjustable, starts up quickly and uses very little fuel. I do have to open the vent 1\4" and it gets moisture on the windows a bit, but those are the only drawbacks which I can easily live with one month out of the year. If I were a full timer, then I'd consider another type.
I have a 38' Class A and right now I am using a Big Buddy heater up front and a Mr. Buddy heater in the back of the rig, however, I am looking at the Dickenson Newport Diesel heater for upfront, and hydronic radiant floor heating throughout. I have two Max Air fans to keep constant inflow of fresh air to eliminate moisture buildup.
when I am parked, I set a bowl of water in front of the heated air discharge of my diesel heater, it doesn’t saturate moisture into the air, but it definitely makes enough difference.
When my furnace was out I used a mr buddy heater for a couple weeks in my trailer. That thing caused a ton of moisture, the walls and ceiling were wet wet. Even with quite plentiful drafts. Looking into diesel heaters, propane furnace works decent but when it gets cold, 20-30f, it takes a lot of propane to keep it even 55-60f inside. Can go through a tank per day, at about $20 each it gets pricey. Ideally id have a mid sized wood stove, not mini but small. The insulation on rvs, campers is not ideal for heating efficiency in the cold so need something with strong output.
I always wondered about the plastic diesel tanks hanging inside of people's vans. Do they have an oder? I can't carry a container of regular gas in my car without it smelling like gas in there for days. Does diesel smell like gas? I use my electric car as a hotel room often these days. I simply put it in Utility Mode and set the thermostat. All electric vans will be a real game changer when it comes to heating!
7 x 14 cargo trailer with 6 x 6 tailgate tent extension. We use the permanent mount trailer 9000BTU mini-split until extreme cold for entire 7 x 20 area. Extreme cold (
2021 Ford E350 cutaway van with a lot of insulation. Heating and air-conditioning 1. 9,000 btu Pioneer mini split AC/heat pump. 2. Propex HS2000 propane heater, with a 12.2 gallon propane tank. Good at altitudes up to 10-12 thousand feet. 3. 400 watt oil filled electric heater, powered by 1,200 watts of solar panels and 900 amp hours of lithium batteries and a 60 amp dc to dc charger.
Propane furnaces like Carly and Kyle use, same as is used in RVs, campers, etc work with a heat exchanger. The same way as a diesel heater and their heat is no more "wet" than that of a diesel heater. Now if we're talking about none vented propane heaters with an open flame, like a Mr Buddy heater ie, than yes their heat output contains a massive amount of moisture.
At about the 8:50 mark he says the Propex Heater puts out a wet heat. This is totally wrong. Propex heaters work just like a diesel heater, venting all combusted gases to the exterior when correctly installed.
Mine is not a van but a 2020 Toyota 4Runner, which I describe as a mobile tent. My heater is a 120v toe kick plate heater that cycles throughout the night while sleeping. The battery system for the heater (and other appliances) is 400ah lithium with a 3k watts inverter. While I have 200watt solar, rarely do I stay in one place; thus, driving (alternator at 30amp) to the next site recharges the battery for the next bedtime use. Last week the heater and battery system did well in 17F to 3F (-8C to -16C) overnight. A second choice would be the gas (Webasto, Esbar, or Autoterm) heater. Not the first choice due to their altitude limitation. Last week camped just under 10k feet above sea level; not an issue with electricity, which is also dry and limits condensation inside the vehicle. Wood burning would be nice too but my space is very limited. Thanks for sharing.
I've been using a Mr Heater Portable Buddy to warm my cheap 'n' tacky short bus home. Small heater + 1 lb propane bottles = expensive hassle. If I'm still living in the bus next winter, I'll definitely want to upgrade my heating, and those diesel heaters seem like a cheap, easy way to do that. I could sling a big propane tank under the bus and use that to run a heater, but that's an expensive upgrade. A wood-burning stove has an undeniable awesomeness factor, but I drive some bumpy roads, and I'd be worried about it holding together. Since I already have a 60-gallon diesel tank on this rig and a 600W/300AH solar PV system, it seems like a diesel heater is the smart move. But damn, a wood-burning stove would be so very, very cool. :)
I agree, a wood burning stove would be cool but it can be quite a hassle for some. Highly recommend the diesel heater, seems like it would work great in your rig.
The main drawback with wood burning stoves, is that they don't burn long before needing to put more wood into them, even when you use harder woods, like oak and such. They provide a lot of heat when burning, but cool off comparatively quickly when the fire dies down or goes out, so unless you want to stay up all night feeding the woodstove, you will wake up cold, unless your camper/trailer is super insulated and can retain the heat for a long time. I've lived with woodstove heat alone for a couple years, and it's a PITA to maintain long term heat and I would not recommend it for anyone. It's okay as a backup heat source if you want the ambiance of a wood fire to look at.
Wood 🪵 stove uses lots of oxygen... and you'll need to get up every 2 to 4 hours to put in more wood. Also, The gases given off by the wood burning could be an issue. As to the Dickinson Heater ... Not only It uses only the tiniest amount of propane ... (A couple of weeks with a 20# tank)... but also, They hardly use any we look electricity 🔌. a simple power station or battery🔋 can give you an unlimited fan. The vent is a closed loop so the outside cold 🥶 air goes in... then the hot 🥵 exhaust goes out through a double walled pipe. The fan is loud 🔊 on full blast but then turn it down when you're ready for bed 🛏️💤
I love the wood burning fire place that also heats up bread. .but can they burn wood found in the woods or would that bring in bugs? Does the cat get burned on the fire place?
SUV camping is left out in the cold! Looking for something that doesn't get the metal above the headliner wet and intake & exhaust from out, so CO is never a danger, Yet is small enough to mount or place somewhere safe with no catching fire worries? Hey...... we want to be warm too, ya know! LOL SAFELY
Regardless of the claim, I am confident that copper is not as good at reflecting as it is in conducting. It probably doesn't matter if installed with standoffs, but still.
@@VanClan I'm glad you're never wrong. But, can you please show us a demonstration? If any product has an intake and in the exhaust for combustion, will this be considered high-efficiency???
Hahah thanks Nate - its a work in progress! Off the top of my head, the espar can range from $1000-$1700 depending on the model and additions(webasto ringing in a little above that). The Dickenson is about $2k i think. A cheap chinese diesle heater is about $250 and although may not last as long, does much of the same as the espar
None of them. i use a 12 volts DC 800 watt electric heater. it only works when the van engine is running. takes 30 minutes to warm the van to 20 degrees C. no drilling,
There are so so many drawbacks to a wood heater. They are quite expensive. the smell of wood smoke and creosol unpleasant. the constant maintenance and cleaning . The hassle of keeping up the wood supply. Making Shure the fire is completely out before you travel, The fact that is illegal to transfer wood to other areas. Having cold feet and a hot head due to uneven heat distribution. Gettin up all hours of the night to keep the fire going. The bugs and spiders that come in with the wood to name a few. Oh and the backdrafts that fill the living space with smoke. I cant think of one thing that makes a wood stove worth having for a nomad. Just saying
Some that live on the road can't even afford the extra propane after all the other expenses, with a limited fixed income. At least if you are out where it's not suburban, you can find wood already down and clean up the mess and disciplined use of hardwood, so creosote doesn't have to be a a huge negative. Forced exercise too! LOL Removable top and low profile cap as well when moving.
I’d like to point out I have yet to find a Chinese or American diesel heater that uses regular gasoline unless you’re stupid enough to spend two and three grand for the Webasto’s no thank you
No it won't, and posting this 4 times does not make it so. It will change your CALCULATED MPG since you will be using diesel out of the tank that does not move the vehicle. And that's only if you draw fuel out of your main tank, not the little one that come with the heater. The engine will still deliver the same MPG as before.
