Heating in the van

[fregt25]

We have a t25 and are looking at heating the van in winter whilst wild camping, what are the best options? we have a leisure battery but i dont want to use it too much.
We have solar panels but haven't used them much yet.
Any advice would be welcome.

 

[n brown]

a leisure battery will never hold enough power to heat a van,even with solar panels ,you best bet ,cheap to dear , is a s/hand Carver heater, a Propex gas heater,or an Eberspacher or Webasto diesel heater

 

[QFour]

At the overland show last year, there was a guy demonstrating a hob that was also a heater.
I am sure it worked on diesel with a fan to circulate the air, it was very good.
Not sure of the name, but someone else could add that.
It was not a cheap option.
John

Its one they use on boats and you are correct .. NOT CHEAP ..

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[pughed2]

heating/cooking

it depends how much space you have, you could use little camping gaz bluet 206 single ring cookers, or you can get larger 2 ring stove with grill, and say 3.9kg calor gas bottle, but generally, especially using grill in van, which is good for heating, best get a digital carbon monoxide detector, and when it starts to read say 50ppm, open a window or two.........or `go outdoors` have small purpose built heaters for £20 extra cylinders are extra.........good luck, steve bristol

 

[mark61]

At the overland show last year, there was a guy demonstrating a hob that was also a heater.
I am sure it worked on diesel with a fan to circulate the air, it was very good.
Not sure of the name, but someone else could add that.
It was not a cheap option.
John

Yes, they looked very nice. As you say, not cheap though.

Wallas | Nordic Dt |

 

[Fazerloz]

Get a Eber or Webasto diesel heater fitted and fit it underneath your van on the outside, its where ours was on the last van and it was great. Totaly transformed the van making it far more pleasant to use. Not a cheap option but worth every penny and doesn't take any space up out of your van.

 

[maxi77]

Most boats with heating use one of the several diesel fuelled hot air systems. Bought new they are expensive but on red diesel they are cheap to run. Many buy them secondhand recycled from Post Office vans. There are also gas systems but for boaties obtaining gas is sometimes problematic, and if you are on camping gaz expensive too. Some also have solid fuel or diesel fuelled stoves in the saloon but they are few and far between.

On the other hand many boaties are tough and just put on anther sweater

 

[Fazerloz]

These did ours GT Campers Volkswagen Transporter T4 T5 Conversions They specialise in T4 and T5s. Completed on time and to price.
Ours was fitted in a Renault Master so the don't only work on VWs.

 

[QFour]

it depends how much space you have, you could use little camping gaz bluet 206 single ring cookers, or you can get larger 2 ring stove with grill, and say 3.9kg calor gas bottle, but generally, especially using grill in van, which is good for heating, best get a digital carbon monoxide detector, and when it starts to read say 50ppm, open a window or two.........or `go outdoors` have small purpose built heaters for £20 extra cylinders are extra.........good luck, steve bristol

That sounds like a recipe for a disaster .. Especially if the CO2 detector stops working because the battery is flat. You should never use these sort of appliances for heating they are designed for cooking.

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[Firefox]

CO meter should have low battery alarm.

Cook a nice long slow hotpot for a few hours. Then you are cooking not heating

But you will need good ventilation, and that defeats the purpose as it lets the heat out. Better off with a Propex. It's cheaper to buy than diesel heaters.

 

[n brown]

That sounds like a recipe for a disaster .. Especially if the CO2 detector stops working because the battery is flat. You should never use these sort of appliances for heating they are designed for cooking.

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not to mention the extra moisture they add to the air, mouldy clothes and condensation !

 

[Longbow]

We have just had a week in West Scotland and would have been lost without our eberspacher, had it on continually for 3 nights. It gets its power from our leisure battery, but as we moved daily, topping up the battery wasn't an issue.
It was fitted by a man who specialises in van heaters, fitting a lot in the VW T4/5 community.
He also fits warrantied reconditioned units.
I'm sure he would be happy for me to pass on his details, but I will check first if your interested

Tim

 

[andy63]

I have a eberspacher hydronic heater in the van and think its a great bit of kit . im sure the webasto htrs are just as good.
it supplies a eberspacher combitronic system which basically comprises a hot water calorifier , and a blown hot air heat exchanger.
the hot water calorifier and blown air unit both have the ability to be run on 240v as well as the diesel htr, or even both if 240v is available for a speedy warm up.
the control unit can be timed to bring on hot water and heating. an eco switch which is 240v only will keep van comfortably warm all night and again a frost stat to prevent freezing if on 240 v is available.
the diesel heater is also engine plumbed so when travelling the engine is doing the same job as the diesel heater and you can have the heating on in back , and arrive with hot water..
just some idea of what you can have, and I think you can have a gas heater that does all this (with the exception of the engine plumbing bit)...
really comes down to what you can source and want to spend..
ta andy