# Heating my converted motorhome!!!



## colboy8 (Jan 30, 2012)

Hi,

I have just realised that I may not be able to use the heating I had originally intended for my motorhome.

I have a ford transit welfare bus that I am converting, its still fairly early days but I have to stay in it for a week or so between house moves and I am worried about the heating.

For starters, a welfare bus has 3 massive windows each side, four on the back door, the windscreen, two front side windows and a massive full height door with full length windows, so insulating them is unlikely due to financial constraints.

Ill be staying with the girlfriend and 8 dogs, yes thats right, 8 dogs. (we are abviously mental!)

I have Provence calor gas flueless fire and I thought Id just use that in the van with a butane tank but now i realise that this is probably lethal.

I have two starter batteries and a 110ah leaisure battery.

What should I be using for heating, bearing in mind I am pretty much skint due to the house move?

Any advice (even expensive ones, as I may have to find the money) and I need the advice and heating set up in 1 week.

GO PEOPLE GO!!!!!! Tell me your wisdom!!! save my cold behind!!!


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## mitzimad (Jan 30, 2012)

id go for a couple of dogs each


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## Apache Two (Jan 30, 2012)

Hi
I would look to purchasing the propex gas blow air heater..I have one and would highly recommend this product....not cheap but does what it says on the tin....and is battery friendly to...and cheap to run ..the model I have is the 2800 gas only version fantastic it of kit...
Ps .I am only a very satisfied customer and have no connection with the said company.


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## Tbear (Jan 30, 2012)

The only way to heat it on the cheap is if you can hook up to electricity

Ask any street sleeper and they will tell that cardboard is a wonderful insulator, cut to shape and a bit of gaffer tape and you can insulate all the windows. Cover it with aluminiun foil and it does no look too bad and will stand a bit of condensation. A person gives off about 80watts  if the dogs give off 40 each, I make that about 500watts. Not a bad heater in a confined space.

Richard


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## Tbear (Jan 30, 2012)

Somebody on here was insulating their van with cheap sleeping mats


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## whitevanwoman (Jan 30, 2012)

Tbear said:


> Somebody on here was insulating their van with cheap sleeping mats



Me!  

Am following this with interest as I have no heating in my unconverted Tranny and was planning on relying on my butane gas stove at Stonehenge meet, but I have a carbon monoxide alarm and air vents in roof so not too worried about fumes but more worried that if temp drops, the butane will be pretty useless. Got a Tranjia camping stove with meths as back up but I think insulation, thermal undies, woolly jumpers and a down mountaineering sleeping bag will be my short term solution. 

I've got cheap camping mats for the floor, and some silver air bubble insulation stuff for the roof from B&Q, about £12 per roll and I've used a roll and half to do the whole roof. If I've time and money I'm going to double line the roof with some thin polystyrene foam too, the silver stuff isn't great thermal properties but better than nothing. I'm also going to get a roll of loft insulation to stuff into all the nooks and crannies, it's only £3 a roll in B&Q.

Long term I'm seriously considering a wood burner once I've decided on my layout.


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## n brown (Jan 30, 2012)

you can pick up truma heaters cheap now, they're toasty and cheap,but people don't like them.2 types basically,one vents thru the floor other thru the roof


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## sasquatch (Jan 30, 2012)

A good sleeping bag and a jogging suit for PJs. Also if you heat an upturned plant pot on a gas ring,turn the gas off before going to bed and it will radiate its heat. But ensure the dogs don't knock it over.


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## Viktor (Jan 31, 2012)

Actually the best solution to this problem is in another direction.

I use these for an extreme sport...they are small chemical heated carbon body warmers which you can drop inside your jumper, shoes, helmet, pockets, mittens, sleeping bag....just whatever...

Similar items can be bought fairly cheaply at any outdoor sports outlet, ski shop, and I've even seen some branches of Asda selling the smaller 
hand warmer versions for around 70 pence each. There are several different makes - but essentially made the same way.

They last between 6 - 8 HOURS!

As for the windows....a couple of emergency foil blankets taped over the windows with duck tape should get you by...or you could buy some of the small plastic suction cups with a hook on them and make a small hole in the blanket to attach to the sucker when stuck on the window - just take a marker pen and circle the small holes on the inside surface so you can easily find them again after removing it the following morning.

White Rock Disposable Hand Warmers - HF1943 - Trekwear


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## whitevanwoman (Jan 31, 2012)

sasquatch said:


> A good sleeping bag and a jogging suit for PJs. Also if you heat an upturned plant pot on a gas ring,turn the gas off before going to bed and it will radiate its heat. But ensure the dogs don't knock it over.



Good tip, you can also use a large stone, I have one on top of my wood burner at home as a foot warmer for when I'm watching tv.


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## whitevanwoman (Jan 31, 2012)

Viktor said:


> Actually the best solution to this problem is in another direction.
> 
> I use these for an extreme sport...they are small chemical heated carbon body warmers which you can drop inside your jumper, shoes, helmet, pockets, mittens, sleeping bag....just whatever...
> 
> ...



I've used these and they're not bad at all. Just a shame that they aren't reusable. You might be able to pick up a job lot cheap on ebay.

Viktor, what's the extreme sport?


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## Viktor (Jan 31, 2012)

Flying lol.

This will give you an idea .... http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01bfczz


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## whitevanwoman (Jan 31, 2012)

Viktor said:


> Flying lol.
> 
> This will give you an idea .... BBC Two - Wonderland, Series 4, The Real Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines: A Wonderland Film



Wow. Extreme indeed, and dangerous. A very good friend of mine who built his own little planes (not microlites) and who had been a pilot for 20 or 30 years was killed last year in a tragic accident on landing on his own runway on his farm, something he had done countless times before. I think the CAA enquiry is still ongoing but it's likely that no-one will ever know the reason why he crashed that day. But as a former serious rock climber I can identify with the challenge and thrill of the risk because the buzz you get from doing something extreme is unlike anything else and is so powerful and so addictive. I don't climb these days, I'm out of condition and practice after a few years of not being very well but I do miss it and I miss that buzz.


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## Firefox (Jan 31, 2012)

colboy8 said:


> What should I be using for heating, bearing in mind I am pretty much skint due to the house move?



Being skint - not a good time to be converting a motor home!

Cheapest thing is clothing and lots of it. Layers of thermals, a nice warm pullover or two and even a coat/jacket worn indoors and a couple of duvets or duvet + sleeping bag.

Insulating windows you can do with fleece curtains and maybe silver screens on the front, but that is all going to cost quite a bit. You probably already own the clothes and the sleeping bag.

In the long term you need a propex heater to run off calor gas or similar, but I'd do the insulation first especially roof and floor or you'll just be heating tin exposed to air which will whisk the warmth away. You may as well be pouring your gas money down the drain!


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## scampa (Jan 31, 2012)

Tbear said:


> A person gives off about 80watts  if the dogs give off 40 each,



I like that idea....... what's the best way to fix people and dogs to my vans' walls and roof??    :hammer:


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## Billy Ruffian (Jan 31, 2012)

A Tilley lamp will give off lots of heat as well as light.


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## Tbear (Jan 31, 2012)

scampa said:


> I like that idea....... what's the best way to fix people and dogs to my vans' walls and roof??    :hammer:



Have you not seen Coma


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## chass (Jan 31, 2012)

The trouble with any heat you put in the van including dogs/people is condensation it will drip of the roof run down the walls & if it's really cold will turn to ice, electric fan heater/oil filled radiator would be ok.
Insulation is your friend.


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## whitevanwoman (Jan 31, 2012)

chass said:


> The trouble with any heat you put in the van including dogs/people is condensation it will drip of the roof run down the walls & if it's really cold will turn to ice, electric fan heater/oil filled radiator would be ok.
> Insulation is your friend.



Definitely. Even though I've only put a single layer of the silver air bubble stuff on my roof, it's already made a massive difference, no more drips. Any gas appliance will generate additional moisture in the air, and will add to the condensation problem and having to have venting for the fumes means draughts so unless it's a fitted gas stove/heater with proper ventilation which minimises cold air flow back into the van, I guess it's a case of being stuck between a rock and a hard thing.


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## sean rua (Jan 31, 2012)

A guy pulled onto a town carpark in a camper van along with his five dogs ( four collies and a terrier). Somehow, he managed to befriend the local tyrranical traffic warden and was advised to get a monthly parking ticket as that would be cheapest.

He stayed there for four weeks during one of the recent extremely cold winters ( -19). When I asked him how he was getting on, he told me he NEVER felt cold, once he was inside!
 This was all down to "insulation" and the body heat of himself and his canine companions. As far as I could see, he'd moreorless made a temporary, large kennel inside the van with six sheets of the stiff -sheet insulation as used in modern tin-box factories ( like Kingspan).

I suppose he'd managed to acquire these at scrap prices. The final piece, through which he and the dogs crawled, was pulled into place after them, like a door on an igloo.

 For lighting he used some sort of torch, and for ventilation and dehumidifying, Goodness knows!

The major negative - to which he seemed oblivious - was that he stank to high heaven and was always covered in dog hairs.

We may think "where needs must", but this guy used to have £500 bets in the bookies'!

The major positive that I can glean from all this is that INSULATION is the way.
He had eliminated three dangers, ie. fire risk; risk of burning the occupants; and risk of combustion fumes.
How he dealt with the need for ventilation and the likely dampness from condensation, I do not know, but I wish I did. That's my current quest, and sadly, I never came across the guy again to ask him more.

I should just point out that he never cooked within the van, so all the associated problems were not encountered.

sean rua.


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## winchman (Feb 9, 2012)

Remember if you are skint the Propex if bought second hand will always sell for what you paid for ir as they are very sought after second hand


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