Who drives without stock heaters?

[thetp23]

I'm at the point where it'll be so much easier to remove my two front heater cores. They have just been such a headache and it'll save so much time, space, and stress to remove them and loop coolant line from thermostat straight back to the water pump. I have fomo on getting that "free" heat though while driving.
My bus is very well insulated. 2 inch foam board on the floor, including the driver area, and 3 inch spray foam on walls and ceiling. I have two fans in the dash I can point at the windshield if need be.
My question is can I be warm driving with this setup relying on the deisel heater instead of the heater cores?

I've also seen people mention running the heaters to keep the engine temp down in the summer. Does that matter if the line is just looped back to the pump?

 

[Timeline]

I'd for sure keep the core that supplies the defroster.

 

[cadillackid]

I havent driven without stock heaters because I refuse to be bundled uo like a cocoom while i drive...



keepo the front heaters or replace them... Jegs makes nice ductable heaters..


you are taking a metal tube and hurling it 70 MPH.. theres wind.. lots of it created by the bus speed .. even the best insulated bus on the highway is gonna leak a lot of cold air into the driver compartment on the highway.. the little diesel heater will keep someone warm sitting on top of it.. maybe.. at least their feet.. fans.. those will make you even colder as they cool the air being blown at the glass and reflected back on you..

 

[thetp23]

Grrrrr. Makes sense. I was figuring this is the answer but I was really hoping someone would be like "We took ours out and it's been great!!" Guess I have more headaches to endure.

 

[musigenesis]

I went the last two winters without my heaters or defroster working and it was absolutely miserable (temps where I live only rarely dipped down into the 20s, and I almost never drive the bus when it's below freezing). The cab heats up eventually from the engine but it takes a half hour or more before it's comfortable, and not having a defroster means your windows steam up.

On my last PM visit the mechanics replaced the heater loop valves in the engine compartment, which were blocked from rust and the source of my lack of heat, so it's nice to have all that working again.

 

[cadillackid]

Grrrrr. Makes sense. I was figuring this is the answer but I was really hoping someone would be like "We took ours out and it's been great!!" Guess I have more headaches to endure.

if the units installed dont work, replace em.. I replaced my rear heater with a Jegs unit.. 3 round oputlets that sre ductable to the defrost and floor vents of your choice..


I gutted my main driver unit and installed a frigiking chassis unit that has heat and cool in it .. closeable vents allow me to close the floor vents and blow my cold air on my face... switch em in winter and warm air on my feet and not my face..



the right side system I left original as it was still in good shape.. that extra hot air bloiwing into the stair well is really nice..

 

[thetp23]

Do you have a link to the fridgiking you put in?

 

[thetp23]

Thanks for sharing. Will figure out best way to keep heat up front

 

[thetp23]

if the units installed dont work, replace em.. I replaced my rear heater with a Jegs unit.. 3 round oputlets that sre ductable to the defrost and floor vents of your choice..


I gutted my main driver unit and installed a frigiking chassis unit that has heat and cool in it .. closeable vents allow me to close the floor vents and blow my cold air on my face... switch em in winter and warm air on my feet and not my face..



the right side system I left original as it was still in good shape.. that extra hot air bloiwing into the stair well is really nice..

Do you have a link to the fridgiking you put in?

 

[cadillackid]

Do you have a link to the fridgiking you put in?

frigiking was ProAir LLC and is gone now.. theres still lawsuits flying to as far as who will or may take over the hardware business..



the Jegs hotrod heaters like this


https://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS+Perform...3yQRYQFyah1FHy2bzKMBY0moVYoDXSMkaAmINEALw_wcB






are good for heat only.. I have used these for years.. I have one as a rear heater in my DEV bus.. they work well. on high fan they do require a good flow of water .. so I would run them as parallel configuration if you use more than 1 up front.. vs a serial config..



comfortairmfg still lists a ton of proair stuff.. no idea if they are just stale in their website or if they bought out all the inventory or even made it for proair.. I know the TxV's switches, and motors inside the frigiking units are all standard easily sourced parts from other places.. nothing special there so I dont worry about running those units still..



the proair control panels are an issue as they dont last super long.. luckily i had a few spares so I was OK when I lost 2 of them in 2023... they ;atesed 5 years.. its prob worth contacting comfortair to see what they say ...


danhard makes a bunch of customizable gear too.. I used to work on them when I maintained A/C in limousines for a couple friends.. they were decent units and have designs for heat and cool..



I add good heat and air into every bus i get.. I dont do the sweat rags in summer or bundle up thing in winter.. and despite my best efforts to chase nice weather.. i always end up in the opposite weather.. ie texas in summer or minnesota in winter... so to say i dont need the systems is just wrong.. plans change... life changes...

 

[thetp23]

frigiking was ProAir LLC and is gone now.. theres still lawsuits flying to as far as who will or may take over the hardware business..



the Jegs hotrod heaters like this


https://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS+Perform...3yQRYQFyah1FHy2bzKMBY0moVYoDXSMkaAmINEALw_wcB






are good for heat only.. I have used these for years.. I have one as a rear heater in my DEV bus.. they work well. on high fan they do require a good flow of water .. so I would run them as parallel configuration if you use more than 1 up front.. vs a serial config..



comfortairmfg still lists a ton of proair stuff.. no idea if they are just stale in their website or if they bought out all the inventory or even made it for proair.. I know the TxV's switches, and motors inside the frigiking units are all standard easily sourced parts from other places.. nothing special there so I dont worry about running those units still..



the proair control panels are an issue as they dont last super long.. luckily i had a few spares so I was OK when I lost 2 of them in 2023... they ;atesed 5 years.. its prob worth contacting comfortair to see what they say ...


danhard makes a bunch of customizable gear too.. I used to work on them when I maintained A/C in limousines for a couple friends.. they were decent units and have designs for heat and cool..



I add good heat and air into every bus i get.. I dont do the sweat rags in summer or bundle up thing in winter.. and despite my best efforts to chase nice weather.. i always end up in the opposite weather.. ie texas in summer or minnesota in winter... so to say i dont need the systems is just wrong.. plans change... life changes...

EDIT: Nevermind. I read other forums you were on and see there's way more to it.
I saw the jegs and was considering that. I would love to have air too but whenever I read up on that I get confused and overwhelmed by potential cost. I'm assuming it is not as simple as hooking the coolant lines to the device and then I can get both heat and air. What is the setup process like for something like this?

https://www.comfortairgr.com/product/evaporator-902-frigiking-50001311/

 

[cadillackid]

that unit is a 9000 BTU cooling it is designed for a car... it wont do much for cooling the driver area of a bus on the road..



but the gist of having both heat and A/C is there are 2 coils inside those units.. one that takes coolant lines for the heater, and one that takes freon for the air conditioner..



to have air conditioning is much more complex yes.. as you need a condenser (usually mounted under the bus with its vent in the skirting).. and you have a compressor that gets bolted to the engine and driven with a belt. yes it can get expensive to build out, although you can often find some used parts cheap or next ot nothing when some people dont want A/C in busses that came with it pull it out.



I used all brand new parts in my DEV bus.. I installed 2 frigiking units in that bus.. one for the driver / dash area thats 19,000 BTU cooling and i think 25,000 BTU heat.. then I installed a 50,000 BTU unit in the middle of the bus.. I run them off of the samne high capacity compressor and use an underbody skirt condenser thats got 3 fans on it... 2 electronic controllers.. that system ran me a few grand in parts..


ProAir had sold me a couple kits that included wiring and hose and fittings to put it all together.. they sent me so much wiring harness that I ended up never needing to buy wire again for any part of that bus build.. (that was just lucky)..



doing heat only is very simple.. you just run the coolant lines in and back out of each heater..



I spend a lot of time on the road in summertime, so i wanted good air conditioning.. I drove the bus from florida to ohio in late may when i first got it before i put the A/C in and about passed out at the wheel because i was in a heat wave and it was hotter than hot with the engine heat.. I had already ordered the smaller A/C system.. at that point is when i changed plans to install 2 .. (eventually I went to 3 units and 2 compressors which keep it 74 in 105 degree texas heat in august)..



if you dont plan to spend a lot of time on the road in hot summer A/C may be a non issue.. if you are installing a minisplit or 2 for living quarters A/C when parked and build your system such that you can run them on the road.. they will help take the heat out (even if they dont make you nice n coolwhile driving)..


to heat that bus i have a 16kw diesel heater I can run when im parked.. I set the coolant lines up where I valve off the engine and heat just the interior when parked.. i use the bus heaters to heat the insides... that bus has no glowplugs for cold weather so If I end up parked someplace overnight and the bus sits cold in minus 15 degree weather it would never start in the AM.. that diesel coolant heater can preheat my engine so it will start with ease..

 

[frxmoney]

Removing them might be a game-changer for space and stress. I did something similar in my setup, looped the coolant line, and haven't looked back. The diesel heater keeps things toasty, especially with good insulation. I don't miss the front heater cores at all.

 

[thetp23]

Removing them might be a game-changer for space and stress. I did something similar in my setup, looped the coolant line, and haven't looked back. The diesel heater keeps things toasty, especially with good insulation. I don't miss the front heater cores at all.

Oh interesting. Toasty during driving or just when parked? I'll keep this in mind. I think I figured everything out to keep them in so now it might be more a headache to get rid of them Ha but will keep in mind if we really want that space when we start building out the inside.

 

[thetp23]

that unit is a 9000 BTU cooling it is designed for a car... it wont do much for cooling the driver area of a bus on the road..



but the gist of having both heat and A/C is there are 2 coils inside those units.. one that takes coolant lines for the heater, and one that takes freon for the air conditioner..



to have air conditioning is much more complex yes.. as you need a condenser (usually mounted under the bus with its vent in the skirting).. and you have a compressor that gets bolted to the engine and driven with a belt. yes it can get expensive to build out, although you can often find some used parts cheap or next ot nothing when some people dont want A/C in busses that came with it pull it out.



I used all brand new parts in my DEV bus.. I installed 2 frigiking units in that bus.. one for the driver / dash area thats 19,000 BTU cooling and i think 25,000 BTU heat.. then I installed a 50,000 BTU unit in the middle of the bus.. I run them off of the samne high capacity compressor and use an underbody skirt condenser thats got 3 fans on it... 2 electronic controllers.. that system ran me a few grand in parts..


ProAir had sold me a couple kits that included wiring and hose and fittings to put it all together.. they sent me so much wiring harness that I ended up never needing to buy wire again for any part of that bus build.. (that was just lucky)..



doing heat only is very simple.. you just run the coolant lines in and back out of each heater..



I spend a lot of time on the road in summertime, so i wanted good air conditioning.. I drove the bus from florida to ohio in late may when i first got it before i put the A/C in and about passed out at the wheel because i was in a heat wave and it was hotter than hot with the engine heat.. I had already ordered the smaller A/C system.. at that point is when i changed plans to install 2 .. (eventually I went to 3 units and 2 compressors which keep it 74 in 105 degree texas heat in august)..



if you dont plan to spend a lot of time on the road in hot summer A/C may be a non issue.. if you are installing a minisplit or 2 for living quarters A/C when parked and build your system such that you can run them on the road.. they will help take the heat out (even if they dont make you nice n coolwhile driving)..


to heat that bus i have a 16kw diesel heater I can run when im parked.. I set the coolant lines up where I valve off the engine and heat just the interior when parked.. i use the bus heaters to heat the insides... that bus has no glowplugs for cold weather so If I end up parked someplace overnight and the bus sits cold in minus 15 degree weather it would never start in the AM.. that diesel coolant heater can preheat my engine so it will start with ease..

We do plan on driving a lot during summers, both the wife and I are teachers so we'll be doing a lot of summer travel. But getting a/c up there might be something we have to budget out for the future. Investing in that now will delay the completion a good bit and I'm so anxious to get the thing done. Thanks for all the input though. I feel like I have a solid understanding of how it all works and will feel good when/if I go to upgrade that component of the build.

 

[Booyah45828]

Zero reason to loop the heater line with no heaters in use. Remove the nipples and replace with plugs and never deal with the headache again. Putting a loop like that can exacerbate an overheat fyi, so if the heater is removed, no sense in having a loop.

Road going vehicles need a defrost setup, and no, your diesel/air bunk heater doesn't qualify. Most of your factory systems will pull fresh air for defrost, which helps a bunch with defogging, FYI

 

[nikitis]

Zero reason to loop the heater line with no heaters in use. Remove the nipples and replace with plugs and never deal with the headache again. Putting a loop like that can exacerbate an overheat fyi, so if the heater is removed, no sense in having a loop.

Road going vehicles need a defrost setup, and no, your diesel/air bunk heater doesn't qualify. Most of your factory systems will pull fresh air for defrost, which helps a bunch with defogging, FYI

If I just want my front heater, and cut the lines and loop them right after the front console (So the front console heater is still in the loop), will this increase temps some because the line isn't strung out as long going to the back and losing some heat to the length? You mentioned a possible overheat.