Camping heat, gas or diesel????

[milfredo]

Wow what a lovely install!

 

[K@rlos]

I’ve got a 2kw diesel heater from eBay in my westy. Works great and keeps it nice n toasty even with the pop top up.

 

[wklail]

Any preferences regarding 2KW or 4KW Chinese diesel heaters? It gets pretty cold here in northern New Mexico so I’m exploring the advantages/disadvantages of either. We got over a foot of snow in the past couple of days. Yes, it gets cold in the high desert.

 

[ozziedog]

Any preferences regarding 2KW or 4KW Chinese diesel heaters? It gets pretty cold here in northern New Mexico so I’m exploring the advantages/disadvantages of either. We got over a foot of snow in the past couple of days. Yes, it gets cold in the high desert.

Liking your new van with that high top roof on !!!
I’ve got an 8 KW that I’m just about to fit and I’ve heard from others that the 2KW is more than up to it and whatever one you order, you’ll still get a larger one as they only have larger ones in stock. My heat exchangers are quite good at keeping the van warm, and I mean warm , not toasty like modern type cars and heaters. One trick I used to do was to put up a cab divider made of just a polythene sheet held up with masking tape from the roof cut out to the floor and that made a fantastic difference, th4n pull it down come warm weather and camping season.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,reduces are to heat

 

[wklail]

I installed new heater boxes when I had the engine and tranny out this summer. But the heat output feels like warm breath on frosty glass. Not very effective. I think I’ll try for a 2W unit from Amazon. I really like the idea of routing it through the original ducting. This would help with defrosting the windshield as well.

 

[K@rlos]

Liking your new van with that high top roof on !!!
I’ve got an 8 KW that I’m just about to fit and I’ve heard from others that the 2KW is more than up to it and whatever one you order, you’ll still get a larger one as they only have larger ones in stock. My heat exchangers are quite good at keeping the van warm, and I mean warm , not toasty like modern type cars and heaters. One trick I used to do was to put up a cab divider made of just a polythene sheet held up with masking tape from the roof cut out to the floor and that made a fantastic difference, th4n pull it down come warm weather and camping season.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,reduces are to heat

An 8kw is waaaay too big. You’ll never have it running proper hot, it may well soot up and cause issues. My 2kw keeps my bus toasty with the pop top up and even takes the edge off in the awning

 

[ozziedog]

I installed new heater boxes when I had the engine and tranny out this summer. But the heat output feels like warm breath on frosty glass. Not very effective. I think I’ll try for a 2W unit from Amazon. I really like the idea of routing it through the original ducting. This would help with defrosting the windshield as well.

Sounds good. Maybe go slightly bigger and go for the 2KW as I think the *2W* might be a tad underpowered. With your heater boxes / heat exchangers, try and keep your eyes peeled for some genuine original ones as they’re at least twice as good as modern reproductions which in my experience have just a lot less ‘ fins ‘ inside that actually exchange the heat. So just keep looking at parts for sale ads etc. Get a decent pair and put them to one side for the next time you are tidying up your noisy cupboard. That and ensuring the pipe work is continuous and gap free all the way from the fan shroud to the totem pole, and that’s always worth a clean out too. Try the polythene sheet cab divider too, it’ll cost you less than a dollar to fix up.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,Hard to imagine it cold there without those pictures.

 

[wklail]

Ah em … yes, 2KW! 2W is what it feels like now! I’ll take your advice and be on the lookout for some OEM heat exchangers.

 

[ozziedog]

Ah em … yes, 2KW! 2W is what it feels like now! I’ll take your advice and be on the lookout for some OEM heat exchangers.

Great idea. I was writing that above ^^^ and then afterwards I thought about it, I’ve never cleaned the totem pole or the vents on mine so there could be fifty plus years of dust down there or pens and pencils or snack wrappers or even windscreen glass. I’ve got an old vacuum in the garage that I’m gonna put an old bit of hosepipe on , about two foot with some gaffer tape and have those screen vent trims off and see if I can get the hose down there first then vacuum it out. Bet I fish something out even if it’s old parking receipts.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,that’ll be two hundred and seventeen on the tooo dooo list

 

[SteveW4130]

It’s interesting reading this, I have a Webasto petrol heater fitted in my T3 and it’s great but is noisy at night. With my early bay Westy I haven’t ruled out a ‘fuel’ heater but so far I’ve used a little electric radiator as we’re normally on a campsite with electric. It has worked a treat so far and no noise at all. Having a thermal wrap around the poptop has been a revelation too, made such a noticeable difference in keeping them warmth in.

 

[wklail]

What type of thermal wrap are you using on the top? Is it difficult to install once you pop the top?

 

[ozziedog]

I’ve got a thermal wrap made for me by Rainbow. I’ve got the wrap for my pop top that’s a late model Devon, I also have the thermal wrap for the two front cab windows and screen all in one plus one for the tailgate glass. Yes it does make a lot of difference but I just don’t get it out if it’s looking wet too. As a matter of fact, I rarely go camping if it’s gonna be Fffffreeezing anymore. But I’ve got my own version of thermal magnetic curtains that work really well but just adds to the Pffaff when you’re setting up and just wanna get a beer out. There’s lots of thing’s available but as it’s just me usually/ mostly I opt for the least hassle.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,but I am pondering on a diesel heater for the Mrs

 

[Ben72Bay]

I’ve got a thermal wrap made for me by Rainbow. I’ve got the wrap for my pop top that’s a late model Devon, I also have the thermal wrap for the two front cab windows and screen all in one plus one for the tailgate glass. Yes it does make a lot of difference but I just don’t get it out if it’s looking wet too. As a matter of fact, I rarely go camping if it’s gonna be Fffffreeezing anymore. But I’ve got my own version of thermal magnetic curtains that work really well but just adds to the Pffaff when you’re setting up and just wanna get a beer out. There’s lots of thing’s available but as it’s just me usually/ mostly I opt for the least hassle.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,but I am pondering on a diesel heater for the Mrs

A thermal wrap for the pop top is on my list - must be bulky to store in the bus though?

 

[SteveW4130]

What type of thermal wrap are you using on the top? Is it difficult to install once you pop the top?

I’ve got the poptop thermal and thermal front windscreen cover, both came from NLA vw and they are really nice quality.

 

[SteveW4130]

A thermal wrap for the pop top is on my list - must be bulky to store in the bus though?

No it’s not too bad actually. Doesn’t weigh much either.

 

[ozziedog]

A thermal wrap for the pop top is on my list - must be bulky to store in the bus though?

I honestly wouldn’t bother mate. If it’s that cold, do you really wanna go camping ? If you’re on your own, don’t put the roof up for a night. If there’s loads of you, that’ll be more body heat with more people. Get a little Chinese diesel heater if you’re really concerned and that’ll take up less space. As for size, think of a sleeping bag rolled up size but not quite so fat but about half as long again. Mine was custom made for the later style Devon roof or you could try mine out. Yours will have flat edges whereas the later Devon roof has the curved edges front and back under the pop top and the roof curve . Yours with that large plinth is flat and your roof is virtually flat. I got all three from Rainbow, all very nice but I doubt I’ll use the stuff again. The screen cover is great and roughly the same size as ^^^ and the rear one is a much smaller package. Big problem is they get soaking wet and a pain to put away. Either the rain or the dew wets them.

Ozziedog,,,,,.,,.might go pop them up for sale on the LateBay

 

[ozziedog]

I honestly wouldn’t bother mate. If it’s that cold, do you really wanna go camping ? If you’re on your own, don’t put the roof up for a night. If there’s loads of you, that’ll be more body heat with more people. Get a little Chinese diesel heater if you’re really concerned and that’ll take up less space. As for size, think of a sleeping bag rolled up size but not quite so fat but about half as long again. Mine was custom made for the later style Devon roof or you could try mine out. Yours will have flat edges whereas the later Devon roof has the curved edges front and back under the pop top and the roof curve . Yours with that large plinth is flat and your roof is virtually flat. I got all three from Rainbow, all very nice but I doubt I’ll use the stuff again. The screen cover is great and roughly the same size as ^^^ and the rear one is a much smaller package. Big problem is they get soaking wet and a pain to put away. Either the rain or the dew wets them.

Ozziedog,,,,,.,,.might go pop them up for sale on the LateBay

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,P.S. bought when I had more money than sense

 

[Ben72Bay]

I honestly wouldn’t bother mate. If it’s that cold, do you really wanna go camping ? If you’re on your own, don’t put the roof up for a night. If there’s loads of you, that’ll be more body heat with more people. Get a little Chinese diesel heater if you’re really concerned and that’ll take up less space. As for size, think of a sleeping bag rolled up size but not quite so fat but about half as long again. Mine was custom made for the later style Devon roof or you could try mine out. Yours will have flat edges whereas the later Devon roof has the curved edges front and back under the pop top and the roof curve . Yours with that large plinth is flat and your roof is virtually flat. I got all three from Rainbow, all very nice but I doubt I’ll use the stuff again. The screen cover is great and roughly the same size as ^^^ and the rear one is a much smaller package. Big problem is they get soaking wet and a pain to put away. Either the rain or the dew wets them.

Ozziedog,,,,,.,,.might go pop them up for sale on the LateBay

to be honest it's never going to be me sleeping up there!
I'm half way through the diesel heater install so I think that should be enough. But won't be finished plumbing it all in until the end of the year.
Reckon I'll get that going and then see how many complaints I get about the cold!