Anyone got a Calorifier in thier van

[walkingsoul]

We are thinking seriously now about fulltiming in the van.
We have a gas water heater but feel as we will be moving everyday to get to work or even to go to shops a calorifier may serve us better.
Does anyone know how these are connected to the engine?
thanks.

 

[AndyC]

I fitted a calorifier in our van. It was relatively easy because there was a Webasto Thermo 90 (wet heating system) already installed which was plumbed into the engine cooling system.

I did find that I needed an additional circulating pump for the calorifier as it's right at the back of the van and only got lukewarm with the engine running. Now we have a tankful of hot water after about an hour's run. It's useful having the immersion heater too so we get hot water when on hookup.

Basically you just need to supply the calorifier from the pipes feeding the van's cab heater by fitting t-pieces into the flow and return pipes. If you have a pressurised water system you also need to fit an expansion vessel.

I used a Surecal 22l horizontal tank, you can buy direct from Surejust | Manufacturing equipment for the marine industry for over 25 years and they are very helpful with advice.

You may need to be careful about the plumbing if you plan to retain your gas water heater. Some are OK with being fed with pre-heated water, others without proper temperature regulation may boil if fed with hot water rather than cold. One way round this is to fit a changeover valve so that your hot taps are fed either from your gas water heater or from your calorifier.

AndyC

 

[walkingsoul]

Thanks for that Andy I will have a good look into that 22l and the expansion tank.
I have never used the immersion heater on hookup and have thought about taking it out because of the weight as I could always heat a kettle on the stove if need be.
Do you know if a small radiator even a fin rad could be installed in line to the calorifier?
thanks again.

 

[AndyC]

Thanks for that Andy I will have a good look into that 22l and the expansion tank.
I have never used the immersion heater on hookup and have thought about taking it out because of the weight as I could always heat a kettle on the stove if need be.
Do you know if a small radiator even a fin rad could be installed in line to the calorifier?
thanks again.

The weight saving would be minimal if you took the immersion heater out, ours is 1kW so only draws around 4A on hookup. Wouldn't be without it.

No reason why you shouldn't have a radiator in line, we have little heater matrixes with built in fans as part of the Webasto system. They certainly help to keep the van warm when travelling in cold weather.

AndyC