Advice wanted on heater for small camper (Romahome)

There isn't enough room in a Romahome for one of the Carver type wall mounted caravan gas heaters so it would have to be either a Propex type blown air gas heater or an Eberspacher/Webasto/cheap Chinese diesel heater.
The gas locker in my Romahome was only big enough to fit a Campingaz bottle in, although I have heard of people squeezing in a Calor 3.9 Kg size bottle - you can't get refillable bottles that small.
So I would say the best bet would be a diesel heater - but it would have to be very carefully sited as Romahome's bodies, fixtures and fittings are plastic so could be easily damaged by heat.
 
Caz said:
There isn't enough room in a Romahome for one of the Carver type wall mounted caravan gas heaters so it would have to be either a Propex type blown air gas heater or an Eberspacher/Webasto/cheap Chinese diesel heater.
The gas locker in my Romahome was only big enough to fit a Campingaz bottle in, although I have heard of people squeezing in a Calor 3.9 Kg size bottle - you can't get refillable bottles that small.
So I would say the best bet would be a diesel heater - but it would have to be very carefully sited as Romahome's bodies, fixtures and fittings are plastic so could be easily damaged by heat.
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Less of a problem IF the correct turret mount is used (basically replaces a 5" ish piece of wood/fibreglass etc with a metal fitting to protect the surrounding material....

And I can vouch for how hot the exhaust is (It actually burnt some of the hairs on my palms off ;-))
 
Caz said:
There isn't enough room in a Romahome for one of the Carver type wall mounted caravan gas heaters so it would have to be either a Propex type blown air gas heater or an Eberspacher/Webasto/cheap Chinese diesel heater.
The gas locker in my Romahome was only big enough to fit a Campingaz bottle in, although I have heard of people squeezing in a Calor 3.9 Kg size bottle - you can't get refillable bottles that small.
So I would say the best bet would be a diesel heater - but it would have to be very carefully sited as Romahome's bodies, fixtures and fittings are plastic so could be easily damaged by heat.
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You can get 2.7kg gaslow it's 330 high x 203 diameter which is slightly smaller than calor 3.9kg
 
Penn said:
Hi, looking for advice on a heater for a small Romahome
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Which van have you got, It would be better to get a diesel heater with small vans your gas capacity is limited by only being able carry 1 3.9kg propane bottle and no spare so heating by diesel is a better alternative. In the Berlingo Hylo's etc the Eberspacher heater is fitted at the back of the offside locker this give the heater output vent direct into the van no ducting needed. We had a hylo for 4 years and never had a battery voltage problem and we used the van all year round.
 
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Caz said:
It may fit - but I think trying to run heating from it would mean you'd be forever filling it up.
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I agree but I was just correcting a statement in case someone was thinking of going refillable.
 
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Markd said:
You can get 2.7kg gaslow it's 330 high x 203 diameter which is slightly smaller than calor 3.9kg
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And you loose 1.2kg of gas which is a lot when there is no room to carry a spare bottle.
 
The difference is that you don't need a spare bottle with refillables. You top up before it runs out. Though I agree that size is seriously small.
 
Alf said:
And you loose 1.2kg of gas which is a lot when there is no room to carry a spare bottle.
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Can you explain how you'd manage with a single 3.9kg bottle of gas?
OK, when it's full, no problem, but for the next trip, you can weigh it and deduct the tare to find out how much gas there is, but say there's 1.7kg left. What do you do? Swap it for a full one and effectively almost double the cost, or hope you can find a replacement when it runs out on your trip away?
Seems to me that if you can't carry a spare, you must use refillables.
 
A completely different approach but has anyone tried bioethanol for heating small vans? I've been experimenting recently with mixed results.
 
kangooroo said:
A completely different approach but has anyone tried bioethanol for heating small vans? I've been experimenting recently with mixed results.
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It can cause condensation Karen and there must be adequate ventilation.

I tried it once but didn't find the heat output strong enough to be effective.
 
So this would basically be a freestanding paraffin heater?
Is there room in a Romahome?
 
Markd said:
So this would basically be a freestanding paraffin heater?
Is there room in a Romahome?
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The one I had was basically just a small ceramic bowl into which you poured a little Bioethanol gel and lit it.

They supposedly do not produce any or very little carbon monoxide.
 
in h said:
Can you explain how you'd manage with a single 3.9kg bottle of gas?
OK, when it's full, no problem, but for the next trip, you can weigh it and deduct the tare to find out how much gas there is, but say there's 1.7kg left. What do you do? Swap it for a full one and effectively almost double the cost, or hope you can find a replacement when it runs out on your trip away?
Seems to me that if you can't carry a spare, you must use refillables.
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I couldn't fit Calor 3.9 Kg in my Romahome gas locker, they were actually designed to use Campingaz 907 bottles which hold app. 2.7 butane. There was a second locker the same size on the opposite side of the vehicle which could be used to carry a spare.

kangooroo said:
A completely different approach but has anyone tried bioethanol for heating small vans? I've been experimenting recently with mixed results.
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I have a firebowl that runs on bioethanol gel. It does give off a good amount of heat, supposed to be 2Kw. As Rob says they aren't supposed to give off CO, so should be safe in a van. However, I've only used it outside, the open flame and my clumsy dog might not be a good combination inside the van, but it is in the boot and one day if I get desperate I may try it. The big problem I found was sourcing fuel - my daughter bought it for me for Christmas a few years ago but said "it cost a lot so I couldn't afford the fuel as well" :( . I tried all over our town without success and ended up having to buy 6 bottles off Amazon.
 
That's got to be one ofthe most expensive ways of heating- even more so than Camping Gaz!
Also horrifically risky in terms of fire if you have a flame big enough to do any heating.
Throw in the condensation, oxygen depletion and probably Carbon Monoxide to have a solution far worse than putting on a jumper and down jacket 😀
 
A Gaslow 2.7kg bottle is 100mm taller (to top of fittings) than a bare 907 bottle - so probably c50mm more overall.
You might get a refillable in a 907 sized locker?
 
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