Gas usage. Blimey!!

[Nabsim]

Is it not a humongous job to replace the Truma system with a diesel system? When it finally knackers itself maybe which of course it most definitely will.

Would be an expensive job Barry, keep what you have and get a diesel heater fitted as well. Its usually the heating side that gulps the gas not the water heating

 

[mistericeman]

Would be an expensive job Barry, keep what you have and get a diesel heater fitted as well. Its usually the heating side that gulps the gas not the water heating

Spot on.....

I'm happy with our gas water heating and cooking...

Was deff only the fire that gobbled it.

 

[colinm]

You don't need 1200 replies and 100 pages for this one Barry

Yuh think!

 

[Fisherman]

Would be an expensive job Barry, keep what you have and get a diesel heater fitted as well. Its usually the heating side that gulps the gas not the water heating

Yes Nab spot on, that’s what I found.

 

[barryd]

Would be an expensive job Barry, keep what you have and get a diesel heater fitted as well. Its usually the heating side that gulps the gas not the water heating

How would that work though? The current system is all blown air through many outlets including the presidential bathroom suite. One good side of the heating is it does actually heat the water as well. In fact its excellent. Just very thirsty it seems. Actually its probably not. Its just the gas supply is pathetic.

 

[YeoBlade]

Is it not a humongous job to replace the Truma system with a diesel system? When it finally knackers itself maybe which of course it most definitely will.

That's good to hear, could you just talk me through it please

 

[Boris7]

How would that work though? The current system is all blown air through many outlets including the presidential bathroom suite. One good side of the heating is it does actually heat the water as well. In fact its excellent. Just very thirsty it seems. Actually its probably not. Its just the gas supply is pathetic.

The Truma diesel unit is not cheap, but it is great and so much less hassle. If you’ve invested in Lithium and solar then finish the job and stay independent from sites as long as you like.

 

[YeoBlade]

I found the same on my last van Barry, hence why I went for diesel on this van.
It seems to use hardly any fuel, and heats the van quicker than the Truma gas boiler we had on our last van.

Diesel fuel has a higher BTU content per gallon than LPG (propane). A gallon of diesel fuel contains approximately 137,000-140,000 BTUs, while a gallon of propane contains about 91,000-92,000 BTUs. This means diesel is more energy-dense, making it more efficient for heating and other applications that require more heat per volume of fuel.
But diesel costs about 30% more so pretty equal in cost but LPG less convenient to use/fill

 

[runnach]

This company has a good rep.

https://www.aclsretail.com/vehicle-diesel-heating

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Some of the self build lads swear by these.

https://amzn.eu/d/dyFuw2f

 

[barryd]

That's good to hear, could you just talk me through it please

Errr no, which is why I asked the question.

 

[barryd]

The Truma diesel unit is not cheap, but it is great and so much less hassle. If you’ve invested in Lithium and solar then finish the job and stay independent from sites as long as you like.

Looks to be about £2500-£3000 installed. I would want the 6000w system not the 4000w I think for a large van. Add in a shed load more solar, Lithium and a compressor fridge for good measure. I presume it feeds off the vans diesel tank? Worth looking at down the line but Im not convinced about Truma for reliability.

 

[Fisherman]

Diesel fuel has a higher BTU content per gallon than LPG (propane). A gallon of diesel fuel contains approximately 137,000-140,000 BTUs, while a gallon of propane contains about 91,000-92,000 BTUs. This means diesel is more energy-dense, making it more efficient for heating and other applications that require more heat per volume of fuel.
But diesel costs about 30% more so pretty equal in cost but LPG less convenient to use/fill

You are assuming I have a refillable gas system, we use Calor gas and it’s a lot more expensive than diesel. Our gas use is now negligible. We only use it for our gas oven, and our fridge when offline. We have an inverter so boil water for coffee and tea using the inverter. When using gas in winter to heat the van we would use a 13kg Calor costing £48 a week. I could buy 34 litres of diesel for that enough for a month.

 

[mistericeman]

Some of the self build lads swear by these.

https://amzn.eu/d/dyFuw2f

Not suitable for inside installation IMHO

Far better off with a proper install

 

[YeoBlade]

You are assuming I have a refillable gas system, we use Calor gas and it’s a lot more expensive than diesel. Our gas use is now negligible. We only use it for our gas oven, and our fridge when offline. We have an inverter so boil water for coffee and tea using the inverter. When using gas in winter to heat the van we would use a 13kg Calor costing £48 a week. I could buy 34 litres of diesel for that enough for a month.

Ah yes, on a par with LPG systems, thrice the price with calor refills. That's why barryD isn't allowed to use the calor gas bottle

 

[Fisherman]

Ah yes, on a par with LPG systems, thrice the price with calor refills

If I was offered a gas refillable system, or a diesel heating system, I would not hesitate to go for diesel. Even if the diesel was more expensive. The way things are heading things are getting more difficult to acquire LPG. We use our van a lot 12 months of the year. In the last year we have spent £70 on gas, and about £80 on diesel. Our heating costs are of minor concern to us.

 

[barryd]

You are assuming I have a refillable gas system, we use Calor gas and it’s a lot more expensive than diesel. Our gas use is now negligible. We only use it for our gas oven, and our fridge when offline. We have an inverter so boil water for coffee and tea using the inverter. When using gas in winter to heat the van we would use a 13kg Calor costing £48 a week. I could buy 34 litres of diesel for that enough for a month.

Don't you do a lot of off grid camping though Bill? Surely the fridge uses a fair bit. Even if we don't have the heating on in summer we still get through a single 6kg Gaslow in two weeks because of the Fridge. Well showers as well I guess. The ultimate solution is diesel heating and a compressor fridge but I just can't get my head round the power consumption for our style of parking up sometimes for weeks on end. All for the future I think. Ill only install it in dribs and drabs when stuff fails.

 

[molly 2]

The 6kg is the most expensive calor bottle to run , ouch

 

[Fisherman]

Don't you do a lot of off grid camping though Bill? Surely the fridge uses a fair bit. Even if we don't have the heating on in summer we still get through a single 6kg Gaslow in two weeks because of the Fridge. Well showers as well I guess. The ultimate solution is diesel heating and a compressor fridge but I just can't get my head round the power consumption for our style of parking up sometimes for weeks on end. All for the future I think. Ill only install it in dribs and drabs when stuff fails.

Yes that sounds about right in summer Barry, but we don’t go away for as long as you Barry. Our longest trip to date was three weeks, but we spent about a week in campsites. In winter a 6kg bottle of gas would last even longer. In the past year I have used two 6kg and one 13kg cylinders. That’s about £100. Trying to work out diesel use is difficult, but it’s very low. I think in a winters day maybe 1.5L in the rest of the year it’s negligible. Diesel is far better, easier to get, and cheaper. We only have a PVC so the 4kw is ample, but I reckon you need a 6kw Barry. Bottom line what we spend in a year is not much. I reckon it’s probably no more than £200 for gas and diesel. But it’s really hard to know how much diesel we use Barry, but from the fuel gauge it’s very little, even in winter.

 

[undertaker]

Haven't had a winter with our diesel truma set up in our PVC yet but impressed to date with the heat output and water heating. Whilst the burner isn't noisy or smelly (after initial fire up) the pump is a bit noisy. (Not sure if that needs checking out). However, I prefer it to the gas system because now I don't get gas level anxiety, always plenty of diesel in the van tank and if I'm low it's easy to get a fill up. Would definitely choose diesel over gas in future.