heating

Arnold

Full Member
Posts
67
Likes
28
Hi
Anyone have a suggestion or recommendation for a non electric heater to use when we are in the van? Is a high top camper van. Sadly not enough space to install a wood burner so was looking for other options so we can still use it in winter.
Thanks.
 
Sometimes when on the boat I heat up a couple of bricks on the hob, overnight they release the heat slowly, just like a storage heater really.
 
what van is it,i've made woodburners from fire extinguishers,had one myself hung off a cupboard.they don't have to take up loads of room
 
woodburner.jpg

North Americans have woodburners all sewn up
 
Wood burns best hot and fast so if you were looking for a heating solution for overnight then some sort of storage system would be ideal, like the idea of bricks on the stove very low tech and I can see it working. We have a large "Russian" or Baltic" stove in the cafe at work which is just that, a wood fired storage heater, but much too big for a van:dance:
There are other fuels you could consider if you went down the stove route though that burn long and slow and aren't millions of years old and dug out of the ground, but all have a cost and storage issues. I think you might want to look at catalytic heaters such as this one Calor Catalytic Portable Heater | Calor Gas although it might be too big at 3.4kw.
 
Catalyst gas heater

Catalyst gas heater, they don't produce the bad gases and provide a lot of heat!
 
fitted a couple of these catalytics,just cut the back off and they're only about 4 inches deep,with a flexi hose you can mount them on the bog door,bit juicy but warmyou up quick!
 
Heater

Arnold said:
Hi
Anyone have a suggestion or recommendation for a non electric heater to use when we are in the van? Is a high top camper van. Sadly not enough space to install a wood burner so was looking for other options so we can still use it in winter.
Thanks.
Click to expand...

I fitted a Propex HS2000 to my self build Hi top MWB Transit. Just came back from a one month trip to the Alps with skiing and night tempsdown to -15 degrees. Expensive at £425 but quite good on gas. We took 6kg propane / 7 kg butane with a 4.5 kg backup. Used van for 3 weeks in the cold and brought about 7 kg gas home. It is a blown air system so some noise when working and uses about 1.4 amps so need a good leisure batt. We have a cheap 40w solar panel from Maplins.

Hope that helps!
 
Robmac:173118 said:
Sometimes when on the boat I heat up a couple of bricks on the hob, overnight they release the heat slowly, just like a storage heater really.
Click to expand...

Do I just put a normal brick directly on top of the open gas flame?
Thanks for the tip.
 
n brown:173119 said:
what van is it,i've made woodburners from fire extinguishers,had one myself hung off a cupboard.they don't have to take up loads of room
Click to expand...

It's a Mazda e2000. Do you have any pics? I love the idea of a mini woodburner if I could do it safely.
 
Arnold said:
Do I just put a normal brick directly on top of the open gas flame?
Thanks for the tip.
Click to expand...

I used blue bricks and either left them near the fire if we had one on the bank, or put one in the oven whilst cooking. I wouldn't put one on an open flame ,unless on a baking tray.

Perhaps somebody else may know if they can go on a flame (don't see why not, my fireplace is made of bricks!)

Rob
 
Further to that it is important that the brick is dry otherwise it may explode!!!:scared:
 
just to mention bricks come out of very very hot ovens,especially engineering bricks! i wouldnt worry about putting them on a flame,its stones that can be dangerous.no pics of the burner,i made one from an extinguisher about the same size as you'd see in a garage,i've also used air tanks off lorries and basically any metal chamber of reasonable thickness that i can put a door on the front and a flue on the top.the burner can be within an inch or so of any woodwork if done right.funniest i saw was a desperately poor guy in a van with no way of buying diesel to escape had hacked a hole in an old electric cooker,put a bit of ventilation duct in for a flue and the oven was the burner.smoky and dangerous but kept him warm!
 
Transit Man said:
I fitted a Propex HS2000 to my self build Hi top MWB Transit. Just came back from a one month trip to the Alps with skiing and night tempsdown to -15 degrees. Expensive at £425 but quite good on gas. We took 6kg propane / 7 kg butane with a 4.5 kg backup. Used van for 3 weeks in the cold and brought about 7 kg gas home. It is a blown air system so some noise when working and uses about 1.4 amps so need a good leisure batt. We have a cheap 40w solar panel from Maplins.

Hope that helps!
Click to expand...

I have the propex HS 2800 and GAS IT refillable bottle system they work well and I find that the heater uses litte battery power ....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who viewed this discussion (Total:0)

Back
Top