Help needed! What water heater & air heater would you recommend?

[Bubb73]

Hi everyone,

Me & Hubble have bought an ldv convoy minibus to convert. I have been scouring the world of air heaters and hot water heaters trying to find a reasonably priced one. I'm more confused now than ever
We'd like it to run on 12v/gas, maybe diesel heating.

There seems to be several different types of gas, some water heaters look great, then need a hot air connection to heat the water! Some look like they can only be used outside!

I'm a total novice and would appreciate any help from anyone about what heaters you recommend, if the cheaper Chinese ones are worth looking at and are 2nd hand ones a good option, we're on a very tight budget so can't afford the lovely yet expensive truma combi I've seen.

Thanks xxx

 

[Mikeco]

I fitted the Truma gas/electric water heater and the Propex HS2000 gas air heater, both have worked fine for 6 years but I did build in a 2kw fan heater for use when hooked up.

 

[tonyidle]

You have a small choice of types and a larger choice of manufacturers. I suggest you look at what motorhome converters are using in most of their vehicles. My own choice having spent the past few months incredibly impressed by it would be Alde heating / hot water.

 

[Allanm]

By Chinese heaters, are you looking at Heny’s! If so, speaking from personal experience, they are ( can I say crap on here? no?, thought not ) not very good.

 

[pappajohn]

Gas is by far the most popular, many with an additional 230v electric option.
You won't find a 12v only version but all need a 12v supply to run the control panel/circuit board, even the diesel heaters.
The majority of gas models are combined blown air heating and hot water in one unit and are fitted by most manufacturers.
Whatever you decide on they need careful thought as to installation and reasonable DIY skills.... They aren't something you just stick in a corner and turn on.
And, like motorhome fridges, they cost many hundreds of pounds.

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[Paul an Jane MK]

I love our Alde wet heating but not sure I would want to install one myself and I fully kitted out a conversion with everything including a shower.

We have had a Propex blow air heater, very compact and a Propex Malaga water heater. Both worked well and the Uk Distributor was very helpful when the water heater exploded full of ice (Rookie mistake, had a carver before with big drain plug and external water so on new wagon drained on board tank not realising heater still full of water - oooppps.)

Propex were great and supplied half the tank casing and seal for about £100 pound.

Been a few years ago so might be best to check they are still about.

All water boilers will need to be fitted to an external wall with an outside vent through the wall. The Propex blow heater just sucked in air through a small hole in the floor.

 

[Bubb73]

Thanks everyone,

It's giving me a right headache trying to figure it out but i'll look up the Alde ones.

@Allanm the chinese one i'm looking at says its a Planar selling on ebay and amazon, its red & black 5kw 12v diesel air heater, i've not heard of the one you mentioned.

Hiho hiho its off for more research i go!

 

[tonyidle]

I love our Alde wet heating but not sure I would want to install one myself and I fully kitted out a conversion with everything including a shower

I haven't installed one but I have examined the installation in my mh in some detail.

The boiler is a simple cube shape.
Power source connections to it comprise 230v, gas, 12v
Control connections comprise a single plug-in cable from the remote panel

Heating connections:

from the Flow connection a pipe travels around the van passing through each radiator in turn until it arrives back at the boiler and connects to the return.

cold water from the mh pump is connected
hot water to the taps is connected

a small header / filling tank is mounted higher than any radiator & the boiler. Usually in the wardrobe.

If you consider that the connections highlighted in red are the same for any heater (substitute Diesel for gas for some) then the major difference is that 25mm (guess) pipes as opposed to 80mm (guess) tubing supplies heat. Radiators other than a towel rail are a continuation of the 25mm tubing with fins installed and are mounted behind lockers rather than passing through to the front as with blown air.

To my mind the only downside compared with blown air is cost.

 

[Nostrovia]

Expensive, but many pro build vans have a. These are available as deisel or gas, and can have a 240v element depending on what you want. They heat the water and provide heat for blown air ducting.

 

[Gromett]

I have a truma combi in my current one which I built 8-9 years ago.

Next vehicle hopefully starting next year will be a 7.5T truck. Will be putting in multi fuel heating.
1) Diesel heater with separate diesel tank so I can use Red Diesel. (Cheap chinese jobby initially)
2) Propex HS2000
3) Some very low power 3-400watt convection heaters.

For water.
1) Initially a Malaga water heater which has 13 litre tank which is bigger than the 10 litre tank on the truma
2) Will be adding a diesel water heater later, this will be linked to a calorifier and the engine in a 3 way system. Will allow me to heat the engine prior to starting in winter. will also allow the engine to heat the hot water tank plus combinations.

I want to end up with 2+ sources of both hot water and heat using different fuels so I can operate on the cheapest/most convenient fuel.

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[ttw20]

ive just fitted a Chinese planer heater and found it easy to install and its working great its a 5000kw one 150 pounds

 

[Terry]

Fitted a few vans with combi heat/boiler but prefer to fit separates ...my own preference are Truma 14 ltr gas electric hot water and the Truma gas heater rather than the propex ...last van I fitted a Eberspacher Hydronic which was great but expensive to buy

 

[56193]

ive just fitted a Chinese planer heater and found it easy to install and its working great its a 5000kw one 150 pounds

Have you got any more details about that heater, sounds interesting ...!

 

[Terry]

Have you got any more details about that heater, sounds interesting ...!

Just have a search on ebay there is also a FB page on them giving tips etc for when they go wrong

 

[mitzimad]

Thanks everyone,

It's giving me a right headache trying to figure it out but i'll look up the Alde ones.

@Allanm the chinese one i'm looking at says its a Planar selling on ebay and amazon, its red & black 5kw 12v diesel air heater, i've not heard of the one you mentioned.

Hiho hiho its off for more research i go!

there is a facebook group dedicated to the chinese deisel heaters very mixed reviews. They are copies of eberspachers which are five times the price they only do space heating althogh i did hear there was a water heater available to attach to the outlet pipe
eberspacher also do a deisel water heater that you run a calorifier with and fans coils for space heating these can also be plumbed in to use engine heat

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[Terry]

there is a facebook group dedicated to the chinese deisel heaters very mixed reviews. They are copies of eberspachers which are five times the price they only do space heating althogh i did hear there was a water heater available to attach to the outlet pipe
eberspacher also do a deisel water heater that you run a calorifier with and fans coils for space heating these can also be plumbed in to use engine heat

Yep that's the Hydronic

 

[mitzimad]

Yep that's the Hydronic

that was the word i was searching for

 

[Garratt]

I would suggest watching this video, as it gives a very clear explanation of how these systems work. Incidentally, the rest of the videos in the series are the best ones I've come across so far.

 

[cts1975]

I would suggest watching this video, as it gives a very clear explanation of how these systems work. Incidentally, the rest of the videos in the series are the best ones I've come across so far.

The Youtuber above is very talented and an absolute perfectionists. I would agree his videos are the best on Youtube at the moment. I was planning on buying a prebuilt Wildax etc but his videos have really got me considering self build.

 

[VanManUK]

Good video on heaters here

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[Misterg]

just fitted a Chinese planer heater and found it easy to install and its working great its a 5000kw one 150 pounds

Just seen this, sorry - Planar are not Chinese. They are Russian made, all black, cost ~£400 - £500 and have a decent reputation. Available with full UK warranty from:

https://www.pfjones.co.uk/autoterm-heating-systems/planar-air-heaters.html

The ~£150 ones on ebay are Chinese (usually red and black) and are most definitely not the same as Planar, Eberspacher or Webasto air heaters. - You pay your money and take your choice; there are a lot of glowing reviews on Youtube.

We have a Planar D2 air heater which works very well, and looks and feels equivalent quality to the Eberspacher 2kW heater we had previously.

Went with a Truma Ultrastore for the hot water which also seems to be OK, but gets quite warm around it.

 

[Bubb73]

Thanks Garratt and cts1975, i've looked at his videos, very well done, looks like i'm saving my pennies for the truma system just finished insulating, so next floor & electrics - watch out for more help posts

 

[cts1975]

I've been keeping up to date with Gregs European travels on his YouTube channel - it's amazing what problems have cropped up even on such a professional ad well researched build like Gregs

 

[Loveshack]

Hi everyone,

Me & Hubble have bought an ldv convoy minibus to convert. I have been scouring the world of air heaters and hot water heaters trying to find a reasonably priced one. I'm more confused now than ever

I'm a total novice and would appreciate any help from anyone about what heaters you recommend,we're on a very tight budget so can't afford the lovely yet expensive truma combi I've seen.

Thanks xxx

Hi Bubb73, I know how you feel.
We had our van converted about 9 years ago, and I based the water and heating system on a La Strada, don’t think the converter used the same products tho’, So....
We’ve just had the plumbing and heating redone, and the guy who did the work was good, and explained things really well.

Things change in 9 years, and I’m expecting a real improvement.
We’ve had a Truma Combi fitted to replace the Malaga V and Propex HS2000 (I think).
We had an 80litre freshwater tank taken out and replaced with a 40Litre tank, to save space and payload. We’ll use a caravan type “Waterhog” or similar when on sites.
I was never happy with the Malaga, it just didn’t have sufficient throughput, and we rarely had showers in the van.
I would just advise that you think carefully how you will use your van as the plumbing and heating systems are the most expensive, and easiest to get wrong.
I’m still wondering how often we’ll use the shower, but at least we’ll be able to use some of the sites we’ve passed by up to now.
Good luck

 

[Bubb73]

Hi Bubb73, I know how you feel.
We had our van converted about 9 years ago, and I based the water and heating system on a La Strada, don’t think the converter used the same products tho’, So....
We’ve just had the plumbing and heating redone, and the guy who did the work was good, and explained things really well.

Things change in 9 years, and I’m expecting a real improvement.
We’ve had a Truma Combi fitted to replace the Malaga V and Propex HS2000 (I think).
We had an 80litre freshwater tank taken out and replaced with a 40Litre tank, to save space and payload. We’ll use a caravan type “Waterhog” or similar when on sites.
I was never happy with the Malaga, it just didn’t have sufficient throughput, and we rarely had showers in the van.
I would just advise that you think carefully how you will use your van as the plumbing and heating systems are the most expensive, and easiest to get wrong.
I’m still wondering how often we’ll use the shower, but at least we’ll be able to use some of the sites we’ve passed by up to now.
Good luck

Thanks for the info, we were looking at the Malaga with a propex heater so hearing your experience is really helpful. I think we have decided to have a small heater & simple water system for this year, so we can save for the Truma combi next year but putting in as much of the plumbing & spare electrics as possible to avoid too much upheavel!

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[Loveshack]

Thanks for the info, we were looking at the Malaga with a propex heater so hearing your experience is really helpful. I think we have decided to have a small heater & simple water system for this year, so we can save for the Truma combi next year but putting in as much of the plumbing & spare electrics as possible to avoid too much upheavel!

Hi Bubb, sounds sensible, and plenty of time to search out alternatives to the Truma.
My concern is the reliability and complexity of the Truma, which maybe go hand in hand. Heading off after Easter for our second trip post Truma fit! Getting used to it.