Direct vent wall heater

[ism minerals]

Winter is coming shortly Has anyone used a direct vent wall heater in their bus?
I am looking Something like the cozy heating systems or similar. I am thinking 25-30KBtu's unit and two 100 lbs tanks when at camp or use the two 30lbs tanks when/if winter traveling.



The units should not need power to stay on ie pilot light. I would like an optional thermostat and blower.

[s2mikon]

I would not use propane for heat. I have a trailer that used a propane furnace and 2 100 lb tanks. The LPG industry is a PITA to deal with. I now heat it with a couple Chinese diesel heaters and a 30 gallon fuel tank. I use 5 gallon cans to refill it.

[ol trunt]

I use a "direct vent" propane heater in my bus and am quite happy with it. I believe these heaters are called gravity heaters--or at least they were. They get combustion air from outside and vent their exhaust to the outside.

I changed the gas valve on mine so I could use a thermostat and I added a small computer fan directed at the heater surface and helps move the air around the bus. I lately added a bar-b-q spark lighter to light the pilot and wish I had done that ten years ago.

Jack

[ism minerals]

Yes the same as a gravity heater using fresh air from outside and venting directly outside...I am trying to find out how hard it is to get the 100lbs tank refilled. I really do not want to transport them in my truck too far..but the propane truck is not going to come up my camp driveway. I think the diesel heater require electric...I want an electric free solutiin.

[cadillackid]

direct vent heaters are nice but they arent real efficient, ive never heated a bus with one but dont see wy you couldnt.. i used to install them all the time for people in garages and shops. the exhaust temperature is pretty high but going throigh a metal bus wall you should have no issues..

[LargeMargeInBaja]

With our excessively obsessive insulation, we rarely fire the Wave 3 catalytic heater above about 40°f/4°c.
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We use five-gallon twenty-pounders because they are easy to carry by the smallest among us.
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A hundred gallons of propane sounds awfully darn heavy... plus the weight of that massive bottle?
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OurHeatingSystem® is a stand-alone, nothing required except fuel and ventilation.

[ism minerals]

Thank you for all the replies, the 100 lbs tanks will just be for when it parked at camp, then we will use either the 20lbs or 30lbs tanks while traveling.



Haas anyone used an oil drip stove, they seem they do not consume electric, but i do not know if they are still made.


https://www.kumastoves.com/Store/ProductDetails/arctic

[s2mikon]

Here is a video of a narrow boat heater that runs on diesel #2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvoFMHUZG60

Narrow boats are close to what we do with skoolies as far as heating and layout. Yes one is in my future.

[Bfg50]

The heat a boat really good they’re cast-iron and heavy and they’re a drip type stove. Really fuel-efficient.

[s2mikon]

The only thing more fuel efficient is a kerosene heater. Most run at 98-99 % efficient. They don't vent outside, and they use inside air for combustion. But, you can't sleep with them on. It may induce a dirt nap.

[ism minerals]

Growing up we had a kerosene wick heater in the house. For the bus it will have to be a direct vent one. I think i may go with the propane, as I think it has a pilot light and I can use a thermostat to control the temp. it would be nice to set it to 40F just to keep everything from freezing up. But the drip heaters do look very neat and it would be nice to just pull some fuel out of the tank to keep it going.

[cadillackid]

I remember kerosene heaters as a kid.. the headaches yeah so glad those things went by the wayside..


as for drip stoves i thught the only way to get real efficiency is to have a fan nduced combustion airflow as opposed to the non electric type which if the drip isnt absolutely perfect.... and can be a PITA to adjust based on the fuel used and the ambient temp, can result in overfueling which is inefficient at best and dangerous at worst

[s2mikon]

Marine drip style stoves require a good flue to work properly just like a wood stove. Maximum efficiency happens at about 50% capacity. You should have an outside air intake also. Father in law had a fishing boat with one and I can say that once you got the hang of using one it was fine. Nice dry heat and a lot of it. I do remember if you wanted more heat you had to bring it up slow otherwise it would over fuel. I thought it was kind of nice.