RV heater ???

[Vanman]

Saw this today http://www.gizmag.co...-stove/14952/ ,

Would make a fine Toy heater?? Big enough??

[Maineah]

I think you're still stuck with the by product of combustion. I don't believe it was intended to be used as a space heater.

[Totem]

not to mention there is no stack, flue or liner to exit the truck.

as far as the TEG inside that thing that charges batteries I am working on a better solution. Timmy also has one on deck. for outside use only that stove is.

[Maineah]

I have one sitting on my wood stove right now it's output is running a fan.

[Vanman]

Well with this,

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2013/how-to-treat-heat-like-light-0111.html

Who needs propane anyway? Coming to a heat pump near you in 2017.

[Derek up North]

That link didn't work, but perhaps this one will:-

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2013/how-to-treat-heat-like-light-0111.html

[linda s]

That is a very tempting set up Karen. Looks pretty awesome too. Now you got me thinking about all the room I'd have with the furnace and heater gone. I do love my propane fridge but those super efficient ones can run off of solar and batteries for a long time. Definately got me thinking

Linda S

[zero]

I am in the process of changing out the heater in my RV from propane to diesel. Actually it is not just a heater, it is also a cook stove and the company is looking at making a heating coil so it can heat water too. Wallas Nordic DT Ceramic Flush Mount Diesel Stove/heater. It is made in Finland and has very low power consumption on the 12 volt fan for that is in the stove lid which distributes the heat. Quiet too. It also adjust the btu output to the desired room temperature.

My wife sometimes cooks with a fuel-oil stove in our house. They were very common in the US for summer cooking back when wood cooking was the norm. Obviously a kitchen gets too hot to work in during the summer with a wood-fired kitchen stove and thus why fuel oil was often the summer choice. The one you're looking at is much more high-tech then the old ones and no wicks needed (as far as I can tell). One of my RVs is diesel powered and I've considered putting in a diesel-fired heater and refrigerator. The high cost is what stops me. In my case though - my rig is diesel anyway and it has a 45 gallon diesel tank. Fuel-oil (AKA diesel) refrigerators are very pricey.

In your situation - I don't see the big gain over using a simple Coleman cook stove. It does not use a dedicated vent but who cooks all the time inside an RV? We use one inside and fumes have never been a problem with a window cracked open. Dual-fuel Coleman runs on conventional gasoline or "Coleman" fuel. Puts out twice the BTUs as the Wallas oil stove. We've cooked inside many times and had a CO detector and it never went off. We did however have some venting.

Looks like one of the best fuel oil heaters I've seen. But at a max output of 6400 BTUs - seems it cannot keep an RV warm if any truly cold camping is planned.

[WME]

http://www.webasto-outdoors.com/comfort/diesel-cooker-x100.html

Also a diesel stove top

[zero]

I can use the diesel fuel that cars use in it. I am not limited to using heating oil only.

Diesel fuel used in cars and trucks is basically just #2 heating/fuel oil with extra taxes added for highway use. Kerosene is basically #1 diesel fuel. I assume your new stove works fine with #1 or #2 and it makes no difference if it's farm fuel, off-road diesel, heating oil, highway diesel, or kerosene. Kerosene just has a bit less heat energy in it.

If you don't need a lot of heat it sounds like a great idea. Where we camp at times - no way could we stay warm without something with twice the output.

We've got the Coleman stove that runs on unleaded gasoline or Coleman fuel. I love those things.

I agree with you about the hassle of propane in certain conditions. We camp often in the woods on cockeyed ground. Often near impossible to get the camper level enough for the propane fridge to work correctly. I much prefer the electric for what we do. Propane is a pain on cockeyed ground, cannot be use in many states when driving and is very inefficient when used in DC electric mode. We do use propane for heat since it's so convenient. On my diesel RV I'd like to get rid of the propane heater and install a diesel fueled heater. Just haven't found a good buy on one yet. I'd love to make the diesel RV a "one fuel" rig.

You mentioned you got a "2 way" refrigerator. That can mean several things. There are two-way AC-DC electric compressor refrigerators and also two-way propane that are propane or AC and use the AC to make heat to make cold Again, inefficient.

[zero]

I will be using a top loading 12v / 110 fridge.

Eventually I want to put in solar panels and a second house battery. With the propane tank gone I could use that space for a house battery as that is a vented compartment. That would be a real labor and time savings not to have to do any structural changes to my rig. The power converter is right next to that compartment.

This Wallace Nordic DT stove/heater does require the rig to be within 5 degrees of level to run properly. The Wallas company makes diesel furnaces too.

Sometimes you can find diesel furnaces in the used marine supply stores. I know I have seen them around this area.

On one boat I owned about 10 years ago there was a large, old fashioned steel, fuel oil stove in the cabin for cooking and heating. That boat showed up a few years ago moored on the same dock where my friend has his boat. The stove was no longer in it. It was a big space hog of a stove and I don't even want to guess what it weighed.

My friend's boat has a Dickenson diesel fueled fireplace in it and he has a diesel furnace as well. But the Dickenson diesel fireplace has a lot of issues, it requires constant cleaning or it becomes clogged with soot. It does not have a built in blower so you need to use one of the magnetic, metal based fans stuck to the top of it for heat distribution. Also you have to use stove pipe and vent it through the roof. Having been around that unit for the last 10 years I did not consider it to be a viable option for my RV heat source.

Espar and Webasto are the big names now for diesel heaters. Getting very common in big-rig sleeper cabs since it's illegal now for them to leave their engines running all night in most areas.

On my Chinook - I also want to use the propane tank compartment for batteries. It's vented and the perfect size for a pair of deep cycle batteries.

I guess you already know this but the top-loading DC refrigerators are the most efficient on the market. We have a 5.8 cubic foot Sundanzer that runs on solar power and I'd love to get a smaller one for one of my RVs. Money is the limiting factor and I'm cheap.

Here's a picture of a nice looking Sunrader with tilted solar on the roof. Seems though it's always going to have to pointing due south to work though.

[zero]

I do not believe there is any cost-effective way to mount a solar panel on the roof of an RV and have the ability to capture the "best sun" regardless of where parked. A roof mount is likely to be a compromise - just as many household installations are. There are sun-tracking mounts available factory made. They sense where the best sun is and automatically point the solar panels in the correct direction. Those are rare here in the northeast because they are not cost-effective on this end of the country. Not enough change here in daily sun angle to make a tracker worth the expense. Most panels here in the NE want to be pointed due south and have two annual positions . . winter mode and summer mode. The cost effectiveness of a an auto-tracker on a solar panel has a lot to do with what latitude it is used at. There are passive and active trackers available.

If I wanted solar on the roof of an RV (and I don't), I'd mount panels at several angles as a compromise. That way, regardless of direction parked, or time of day - you'd get something. Probably the ulitmate for an RV would be a fold-away rack that got set-up when parked - and perhaps THAT with an autotracker.

The photos of the solar on the roof of the cabin I built have two separate angles. It is deep woods there and there are two phases of sun during the day. Morning sun (hits the upper roof) and afternoon sun (hits the front wall mounted panels).

[stamar]

or .... unisolar stick em panels covering the cabover bump. and the roof.... posssibly the sides.

absorbing sun from different angles and also not increasing air drag. unbreakable

requiring no construction projects. literally sticking on whatever surface you want, could even be at an angle just put an angled backing behind them.

I wonder if thats a better idea or not sticking a panel on your roof the or creating a concraption to hold them.

also cheaper per dollar or competitive with most other online sources at least while they are still available.

the main drawback is that they are very large. Never been a more perfect rv solar panel and possibly never will again.

[hawk]

A couple of thoughts about both the heater issues here and the solar. I live in a very dry and in the winter, cold climate. In my 50's, I lost my house and lived in a camper on the back of my Toyota truck for three years. I found that one of the small Coleman propane heaters worked very adequately in keeping me warm until I climbed into my down bag. I had a carbon monoxide alert that never once went off. Most vehicles have a fair amount of air leaks that purge the toxic gases. I cooked, using propane on the four burner stove in the camper. It's quite similar to my current Toy/Winnie.

On the solar panel issue; around here, in the high desert where a lot of folks, young and old are living on the land in various kinds of vehicles, mostly I see solar panels on the ground, feeding into whatever vehicle there is. One old converted midsized school bus has several two feet by three feet panels on the ground, running a number of appliances, including a quite sophisticated computer/ music/tv system. I'm not tech savvy enough to know what the fellow did, but it sure works slick. When he moves, he just places them inside and drives away.