Diesel heaters (1 Viewer)

[GWAYGWAY]

I have a Chausson with gas heating which I find is OK and not too dear to run. However I am considering buying a new 610 and find it has diesel heating which run from the vehicle tank.
Question is as the van has only one leisure battery will the constant off/ on of the preheater glowplug in the diesel heater flatten the one battery overnight when it is cold. We had a fleet of artics which were fitted with Eberspeicher diesel cab heaters and several driver flattened the batteries (24V) overnight and when parked up for the weekends away in Europe.

 

[jonandshell]

Newer heaters don't switch on and off continually. Ours just ticks over at a lower heat output.
The fuel delivery is changed to suit the heat required.
If you look at the specs, there is very little difference between gas and diesel combi heaters with respect to their 12v power requirements.
The diesel doom mongers on here generally have experience of ancient lorry cab heaters or themselves have crap batteries or poor wiring!

 

[MichelleRyall]

We have the Eberspacher and use it all night with no problems. We start it off on high to get the van warm and then turn it down to a comfortable temperature overnight. Took us a while to get it the temp right but now we have sussed it out we are never cold.

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[DBK]

We have the Webasto dual top heater and have just heard from a discussion on the Murvi club site of someone who ran one more or less continually in cold weather and found it died in the early hours of the fourth night when the two 110Ah batteries gave out. I think this is pretty good and I wouldn't like to chance it beyond two nights. This is of course with two batteries so I guess with one you should be fine for one night. The Webasto seems to draw less current than the Eberspacher by all accounts.

What I do find surprising is that new MHs are being sold with only one leisure battery - I would have thought two was the norm these days.

 

[ASel]

Diesel heaters will use more electricity as the ignition process is longer and more complex than gas. They do shut down when the thermostat detects the correct temperature has been achieved.

They also require more maintenance as diesel produces soot when burned.

If they take fuel from the vehicle fuel tank it will cost more than gas to run.

You also need to ensure you have plenty of fuel in your tank.

 

[jonandshell]

Diesel heaters will use more electricity as the ignition process is longer and more complex than gas. They do shut down when the thermostat detects the correct temperature has been achieved.

They also require more maintenance as diesel produces soot when burned.

If they take fuel from the vehicle fuel tank it will cost more than gas to run.

You also need to ensure you have plenty of fuel in your tank.

Not in our experience! I am not sure which product you have used to form your negative opinions.

As cold weeks skiing can take up to 3x13 kg Calor bottles using a Truma combi.
Our Webasto Duatop does about 2/3 of a tank, or currently £60.
Ours does not shut down and reignite to maintain temperature, it is more intelligent than that. Heat output is maintained without restarting by operating at a low heat output.

We'll stick with our Webasto!

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[jonandshell]

Of course, not carrying so much gas means more free payload for beer!

 

[Forestboy]

Not in our experience! I am not sure which product you have used to form your negative opinions.

As cold weeks skiing can take up to 3x13 kg Calor bottles using a Truma combi.
Our Webasto Duatop does about 2/3 of a tank, or currently £60.
Ours does not shut down and reignite to maintain temperature, it is more intelligent than that. Heat output is maintained without restarting by operating at a low heat output.

We'll stick with our Webasto!

More than that if the van insulation isnt great. We have 44 litres in the Alugas and always take 2 x 13kg bottles for emergencies when skiing. Because our van is so well insulated and has underfloor heating we've never needed the spare bottles but have loaned them to others a few times. For skiing or extreme cold camping diesel heating makes sense to me along with a decent bank of traction batteries.

 

[Chockswahay]

Even a standard Truma gas heater will give the battery a right hammering if left on 24 hours a day. We have 2 domestic 90a batteries and if not on EHU then we are pretty well limited to 3 nights max before moving on to charge up the batteries.

Average drain with Truma is 1 amp per hour after initial warm up. I am of course referring to the energy used by the electric fan. As for gas well if it is below zero outside we get through about 4 to 5 litres a day (although this was before we bought a Silverscreen which does make a difference to comfort so maybe use a little less gas now?)

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[Ralph-n-Bev]

Get rid of the leisure batteries buy traction. A must if you don't use hook up , like us.

We wouldn't be without our Webasto. So much so we are paying a small fortune to have the system fitted to our new pvc.

Soot ? Never had a problem with that. I know the system self services itself every now and again.
Ralph knows more tech stuff about it than me.
All I can say is we've never been cold in our Motorhome. The coldest we've wild camped at is -17 .
Even when driving the whole Motorhome is warm. There are no cold spots in the hab.
You need a good traction battery bank. You need a good traction battery bank. You need a good traction battery bank........................

 

[Forestboy]

Get rid of the leisure batteries buy traction. A must if you don't use hook up , like us.

We wouldn't be without our Webasto. So much so we are paying a small fortune to have the system fitted to our new pvc.

Soot ? Never had a problem with that. I know the system self services itself every now and again.
Ralph knows more tech stuff about it than me.
All I can say is we've never been cold in our Motorhome. The coldest we've wild camped at is -17 .
Even when driving the whole Motorhome is warm. There are no cold spots in the hab.
You need a good traction battery bank. You need a good traction battery bank. You need a good traction battery bank........................

Absolutely we use our van all year round in some of the coldest conditions high altitude and minus 20 at night and never have a problem with cold or systems freezing heating on 24 hours. Usually 12 or 15c when in bed 18c when van empty and 23c in the evening when relaxing.
3 x 125 amp traction batteries
2 x solar panels only need blue sky not heat work well in high mountains
Ctek charger direct to traction batts and can be run off onboard chassis mounted gennie while driving as well as parked.
We can watch tv shower cook do all the usual things and even in the above conditions only need to run the charger for about an hour or so every 3 or 4 days. In Summer and Spring we can go months without ehu.
Battery power is the answer and traction batteries for me everytime I will never waste money on a so called leisure battery again.

 

[jonandshell]

I'll echo the above!

We never have a shortfall of available 12 volt power and never need to worry about being cold, even at extreme low temperatures. The diesel heating is very liberating. You use as much as you need and there is always more at your nearest fuel station. The same can't be said of LPG, which is harder to find.
Its always T-shirt weather inside our van even when it is -20 outside! We always sleep with a window open to avoid condensation.
It just works! Anyone who says it doesn't needs to get out of their armchair and try and camp where we do!

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[Chockswahay]

Funnily enough, a thread on FUN right now refers to Ambulances and I have said there that they make a dubious purchase for conversion............... however............ the Eberspacher diesel heaters which they use are very reliable. I think it is because they are nearly always on so are working at optimum temperature.

 

[ludo]

Get rid of the leisure batteries buy traction. A must if you don't use hook up , like us.

We wouldn't be without our Webasto. So much so we are paying a small fortune to have the system fitted to our new pvc.

Soot ? Never had a problem with that. I know the system self services itself every now and again.
Ralph knows more tech stuff about it than me.
All I can say is we've never been cold in our Motorhome. The coldest we've wild camped at is -17 .
Even when driving the whole Motorhome is warm. There are no cold spots in the hab.
You need a good traction battery bank. You need a good traction battery bank. You need a good traction battery bank........................

Where do you put your traction batteries in your PVC please?

 

[Ralph-n-Bev]

Where do you put your traction batteries in your PVC please?

Ralph hasn't even started converting the New lwb pv yet. We pick it up from the dealers on Friday .
I don't know where he's putting them. At the moment we have two trojan batteries in an airtight box that's under a bench seat, vented to the outside. As I said he's the tech man. I just expect to be warm, able to use my hairdryer , straightners, take a shower whenever etc.
Without being on hook up. All year round without hookup .Whether there's enough sun, or there's snow on the solar .

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