Advice wanted on heater for small camper (Romahome)

Will you be using the van off-grid? In which case it would have to be powered by gas or diesel.

If using on an EHU then a small electric fan or oil filled heater. Preferably the latter as a fan heater tends to dry the air which can be uncomfortable.
 
Thanks for that. Keeping my options open at the moment. Is a propex gas heater better than a diesel? And how much electric power do they take to run?
 
The decision between gas and diesel really depends on your gas supply.
If you have a 6kg refillable gas bottle and an LPG supplier around, LPG is a better option.
They're quiet, reliable, very cheap to run and use very little 12v power.
If you use exchangeable bottles, or are nowhere near an LPG outlet, diesel is readily available, and although far more expensive than refillable LPG, it's cheaper than swapping bottles.
The drawbacks of diesel blown air heaters are that they are quite noisy and they use a lot of power, especially when starting up. This is to run the glowplug when starting and to run the fuel pump all the time. LPG ones need neither.
The advantage of them is that they are generally a fair bit cheaper than LPG ones.
 
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n brown said:
well ,LPG heaters need power for their fans, unless it's a carver type
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Yes, they have the same fans as diesel heaters. They use around half as much 12v power overall as the LPG equivalent. This is simple fact.
 
jolly good . anyway ,as i said ,my recommendation would be a floor vented carver , morco or similar as they use no power at all and have no moving parts to go wrong . the output of 1800w is comparable to a larger eberspacher or webasto . in one van i had a webasto 3500 and a morco 1800 , and they both took about the same time to heat the van interior , the only difference being the noise of the webby .
i actually prefer a woodburner
 
n brown said:
jolly good . anyway ,as i said ,my recommendation would be a floor vented carver , morco or similar as they use no power at all and have no moving parts to go wrong . the output of 1800w is comparable to a larger eberspacher or webasto . in one van i had a webasto 3500 and a morco 1800 , and they both took about the same time to heat the van interior , the only difference being the noise of the webby .
i actually prefer a woodburner
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After living with a woodburner for 10 plus years.... On a narrowboat.

I'd go diesel everytime now.... Either eber blown OR drip feed stove and back boiler.
Woodburner was cosy BUT dusty, smelly, temperamental, and prone to going out when most needed....

Decent fuel is also difficult to find for free now.
 
If you you use the old fashioned carver type gas heaters, but sure your floor is air tight. Carbon monoxide poisoning is not a good way to die.
 
SquirrellCook said:
If you you use the old fashioned carver type gas heaters, but sure your floor is air tight. Carbon monoxide poisoning is not a good way to die.
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Personally I'm not sure there are any GOOD ways to die (well none I can post up on here....
Though single malt, something nice to smoke, a filthy chicken tikka kebab (in garlic chilli nan)
My fave wild camping spot, and britt Ekland recreating the scene from the wicker man....

MIGHT feature....

BUT deff care needed with Co.....
 
mistericeman said:
After living with a woodburner for 10 plus years.... On a narrowboat.

I'd go diesel everytime now.... Either eber blown OR drip feed stove and back boiler.
Woodburner was cosy BUT dusty, smelly, temperamental, and prone to going out when most needed....

Decent fuel is also difficult to find for free now.
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same here ,we had woodburners in most of our living vans - great when you're skint ! but now , being able to flick a switch ,well , i expect you appreciate it as much as we do .
my daughter had a drip feed heater in her single- decker . one day she came home and the burner had malfunctioned .leaving a black oily residue over every surface . never really got it all off !
 
The cheap diesel heaters are amazing value and most owners are very happy with them ,they use a bit more electric but are a fraction of running cost even the smallest heater would overpower a romahome .they can run from the deisel tank ore a separate tank .a romahome can only carry a small amount of gas making it very expensive to run ,plus you can run on red diesel making it even cheaper .and much less chance of running out.
 
molly 2 said:
The cheap diesel heaters are amazing value and most owners are very happy with them ,they use a bit more electric but are a fraction of running cost even the smallest heater would overpower a romahome .they can run from the deisel tank ore a separate tank .a romahome can only carry a small amount of gas making it very expensive to run ,plus you can run on red diesel making it even cheaper .and much less chance of running out.
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Is that the Chinese ones?
 
The carver type heaters with no fans are the best, but very few motorhomes have a suitable place to fit one. It has to be a suitable place for the heater on the inside and a suitable place for the flue on the outside.
I have a feeling that the ones that vent through the floor are no longer considered safe in case of snow buildup, but I'd choose one of them if it was available.
 
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