Remove stock heaters, or not?

[MikeyBskunk]

Hey there im at the point where my floors are out and i need to start preping my metal floor, now i have noticed that some people have taken out there stock heaters in the back of there busses. What really is the point of doing this?

Does this really help with building that?
I plann to put a wood stove in my bus shortly, but they would be nice to have when driving in the cold
I just dont really know if i should remove mine or not?

please get back

Mike

[opus]

We kept them all. I dont understand why anyone would want to remove them, unless they didnt live in the cold.

[Diesel Dan]

I agree with Opus. No reason I can think of to lose the stock heaters. That's free heat when travelling. Why pay for propane or run a genny to make electric heat when you have free heat from your engine? I live in central Texas, but it gets cold enough even here that I will run heat when driving in the winter. I could see losing the rear heater if you really can't afford the floor space for it, but I would never eliminate the front heaters, especially since they defrost/defog the windshield! I kept all my heaters though, and have the rear heater set up so it can be used either to warm up passengers or to vent the heat out a back window to cool down the engine if it starts getting hot on long hills, hot days, heavy load, etc.

[lornaschinske]

We are keeping ours. Just moving the rear heater. But our bus will be used for full-time living.

[Stuff]

id keep and put them where you want them. floor is bare right?

also i dont recommend a wood stove going while your on the move..

[Josef]

A factor in my deciding to remove mine in addition to space issue was concern over what to do if they two hoses ever began leaking, and everything was built around them making them inaccessible. If you keep them you might consider keeping the hose accessible somehow and/or installing new hoses.

[MikeyBskunk]

Thanks everyone i think i have decided to keep one of my heaters in, and remove the other for space.

man i love this site!

[zim]

I took mine out because they were in the way of doing a full floor pull, and because I don't really drive anywhere in the winter. The plywood around them was basically destroyed from water damage, though a good bit of that came in through the windows and not from the heaters. I just looked at them as another couple of dozen potential leak points between all the couplings and connectors and such. I suppose if I was on the road with it during the winter, I'd have left the one by the driver seat. I plan on putting some electric radiant floor heat down, which should be able to run off an inverter when going down the road.

[Stuff]

make sure for that heater core you can shut it off like smitty said but also have a bypass with a valve there so that you can circulate the water and not have potential problems with the cooling system of the bus.

[opus]

Originally Posted by SteveA

I removed mine purely on a space issue. They took up a lot of room that I wanted to have open

So what are you doing for heat running down the road?

[PerfectHarmony]

So, I have a 1991 Ford B600 with the stock heater in the back. I too plan on putting in a wood stove but would like to keep my stock heater...be kind if this is a silly question, but does heat actually come out of the stock heater or does it come out of the vents on the side?
Can I cover the heater?(it's where I plan on putting the bed)
How much can I cover the vents behind the driver seat? (where the counter is going to go)

Here's photos for referance!

[PerfectHarmony]

Oops, didn't attach. Apparently I don't know how to convert a bus or post on a forum hahaha

[Lesbihonest]

Originally Posted by Diesel Dan

I agree with Opus. No reason I can think of to lose the stock heaters. That's free heat when travelling. Why pay for propane or run a genny to make electric heat when you have free heat from your engine? I live in central Texas, but it gets cold enough even here that I will run heat when driving in the winter. I could see losing the rear heater if you really can't afford the floor space for it, but I would never eliminate the front heaters, especially since they defrost/defog the windshield! I kept all my heaters though, and have the rear heater set up so it can be used either to warm up passengers or to vent the heat out a back window to cool down the engine if it starts getting hot on long hills, hot days, heavy load, etc.

How did you do that?