Gas fire of blown air heating

[angelaa]

We have a traditional gas fire in our autocruise stargazer. Thinking of changing our van, but find most dont have the fire, just blown air. We only ever wild camp and wonder how long you could run these for, without draining the battery too much. (presume it uses battery for the fan to circulate). Can anybody enlighten us.

Angela

 

[Firefox]

It depends on the heater model and your battery capacity. Modern propex models draw less than 2 amps to run the fan motor, so on that basis you could run for about 20 hours off a 80Ah battery assuming some usage of LEDs and TV and that you don't want to cane your battery more than 50% discharge or so.

 

[ivecotrucker]

Hi Angela,
We have had 2 Eberspacher diesel heaters in two different vans, including our current one. The igniter takes about 10A but only runs for a few seconds; failure to ignite will be the first indication of low battery levels (assuming there isn't another fault, generally we have found the Eber. very reliable). The fan takes about 2-ish Amps but depends on the thermostat heat setting; once the vehicle is warm inside (15-20 mins max) you can turn it right down. We find less smell than from some open gas heaters in other peeps' vehicles. There is some noise, until operating temperature is reached, but this is mostly outside. The last time that I saw a fuel cost comparison chart, diesel still cost a lot less per KwH of heating than bottle gas, the only cheaper heat is from mains electric, not generally available on wildcamping sites. (I have toyed with designing an inductance coil that you could throw over an overhead HT line but prob not a good idea).

 

[Northerner]

I don't really have an answer to the electricity-draw question as I have an extra leisure battery and large solar panel, so I've never had a problem with mine. However, having had both (my previous 'van was a traditional gas fire with blown heating as well as it happens) I would go for the blown-air type every time. Mine is superb, there are outlets all over the place, even into the cab and the 'van gets really warm very quickly. Mine's a Truma Combi Model 6 I think and it works off both mains and 12v, some are only 12v, which shouldn't bother you if you never use EHU.

Another advantage is that it's in the garage where it's combined with the water heater, so it's not taking up precious space in the habitation area.

 

[Harmergeddon]

We have a traditional gas fire in our autocruise stargazer. Thinking of changing our van, but find most dont have the fire, just blown air. We only ever wild camp and wonder how long you could run these for, without draining the battery too much. (presume it uses battery for the fan to circulate). Can anybody enlighten us.

Angela

The propex hs2000 draws 1.4amps if left on continously. I have the HS2900 (1.9amps) in my van and found this winter whilst i was camping in the french alps at -20 i only had it running about 2hrs/day total (my van is very well insulated). So i was using about 4 amps/day on it.
How often you need to use it depends mostly on how well insulated your van is.

The morning after one such night.

 

[vindiboy]

The advantage of the Truma blown air for me is that I get a tank full of hot water by just running the heater on space heating, the blown air is great as it distributes the warm air evenly, where as when we just had a gas fire in a previous van it was very much hot spots.The fan does use power but I have never had any problem with that , I never use it over night as our van is never that cold, it does cycle on and off in use so if you did use it over night and were a light sleeper it could bother you. I once parked next to a van that had Diesel heating Ebspacher I think and I had to move my van else where as it was so noisy.

 

[angelaa]

Thanks everyone for the advice. It opens lots more possibilities in layouts without a fire. Just need to sell ours ready to purchase one or part ex.

 

[oldtech]

an inductance coil that you could throw over an overhead HT line but prob not a good idea.

On the contrary , Ivecotrucker .... I think it's an EXCELLENT idea ! ... although there may be some
practical difficulties to overcome !
And definitely NOT recommended for the " Hard of Thinking" ...ha ha !

I've got visions of crispy , charred wildcampers dotted around the countryside.

It makes me think of Homer Simpson trying to recover his six-pack of beer from the power line :scared:

Did you ever read about Nikola Tesla's genius plan for "broadcasting" electric power ( ie no wires ) ?
.... well your scheme reminded me of that !

Oldtech

 

[n brown]

years ago i read of a guy in canada who put up a sizeable induction thing,can't remember the specifics but it ran his house then he was done for nickimg power off the national grid.if you moved often you may beat them. i think the story may have been in mother earth magazine

 

[oldpolicehouse]

We have a traditional gas fire in our autocruise stargazer. Thinking of changing our van, but find most dont have the fire, just blown air. We only ever wild camp and wonder how long you could run these for, without draining the battery too much. (presume it uses battery for the fan to circulate). Can anybody enlighten us.

Angela

Hello
Yes your suspicions are correct. The draw on the battery is pretty hefty with a blown air heating system.We have a 2 year old Rapido and if its particularly cold say first thing in morning it belts out plenty of heat. I have checked the battery draw when its in this mode and the control panel indicates -8/9 amps. The gas usage does not bother me as we have a large capacity but the draw on the leisure batteries does.

Blue Skies

 

[Northerner]

One of the most popular hot water/heating systems is the Truma Combi series. Here'a a link to the specifications of the model that I have. Click on 'Technical details (comparison)' just over the image.

Truma - Gas-electric heating systems

Power consumption using 12v is between 0.2 amps and a temporary maximum of 5.6 amps, with an average over a period of 1.3 amps. When it first starts it blows like mad, which is when it's using the most power, but this lasts a very short time as the 'van heats up quickly. It then settles down to a much lower fan speed with much less battery consumption.

 

[Harmergeddon]

I have checked the battery draw when its in this mode and the control panel indicates -8/9 amps. The gas usage does not bother me as we have a large capacity but the draw on the leisure batteries does.

What type do you then as that is a very high current draw and certainly not typical. Does it draw that much constantly or just on start up?

 

[al n sal]

we have an ebby too, I love it heats van up to 20 degrees in a few minutes when -10.5 and keeps the temp there almost no fuel used all night. BUT, can be noisy when starting up so if wilding and not wanting anyone to know your there could be a prob, we once sat very cold in our van in a car park quite late at night, not wanting to put the heater on cos, scary peoples were on the edge of the car park might hear it, and they might of got us....:ninja: