Underslung LPG, LPG Bottles & Diesel Heating

[Billylou]

This is quite a start to my time on the forum and I've every reason to believe each of the above has been discussed and argued a lot over the years. I've been around previous threads and haven't found anything similar to my situation.

We pick up our new van by the end of this month, July 2021. It comes with a Truma 6E unit, a compressor fridge and due to a low bed it can only carry 2no 3.9kg gas bottles. We have two leisure batteries (total 140) and a solar panel (100). If we were having weekends away I'd be happy with the set up but we intend to be away for long periods of time in both the UK and Europe. Coming from a T6 I have very limited knowledge on all things Truma, LPG usage etc. I'm also aware of the gas bottle hassle in Europe and also the reduced options of obtaining LPG for cylinders in the UK but also appreciate it is still very possible.

So I want to try and reduce our worry and increase our comfort by making a few additions to the van that in my opinion would be a good thing. This would include an underslung LPG (20/25lts), have dual use therefore be able to switch between the LPG cylinder and LPG bottles (was thinking of using Campingaz 907's so I wouldn't have a problem in Europe) and a diesel heater so I wouldn't chew through the LPG in winter.

I guess this might seem like overkill, I'd be really interested to read what you Funsters think about it and if possible provide any other solutions that would provide the same levels redundancy.

For info, we don't always camp with hook up.

Many thanks

 

[Itsmcb]

That all seems entirely sensible to me. Two tiny bottles will last no time in the winter and a diesel heater in addition to your gas tank would give you far more flexibility again especially during winter.

 

[RubyOptics]

I'm sure others will be along with more experience but to fill in the time while they do so you can have my two cents to tide you over!

We live in Poland and use our van year round. Winters here are COLD! Think -25 cold! So yes, during winter we would go through gas like crazy as we don't really use sites very often at all. Not terrible, as an 11kg bottle here is only about a tenner to exchange rather than the insane prices i see quoted on here for the UK, but still it added up.

Our new van (which we pick up in two days hopefully!) has Truma 6D heating. This is great in some ways as we won't be chewing through anywhere near as much gas in the winter as we were. The downside to diesel heating is that it uses more electrical power than gas heating does, especially on start-up and cool-down. In order to combat this we have installed a substantial solar system (350W mono panels with 50A MPPT controller) and will be upgrading both the batteries and charging system closer to winter to allow us to run the heating as much as we like without worrying about battery status.

Because of the diesel heating, the new van only has space for 1x11kg bottle. Sounds ok in theory, but my wife suffers with a health issue which means she needs regular cooked meals and i cant't risk running out of gas for cooking. So this means we will also be going with a refillable bottle system. Currently we are looking at either the GasBank or AluGas systems.

I think you are right in looking at the systems that you are, just bear in mind what i said with regards to diesel heating and battery power!

 

[Landy Andy]

I would be more tempted to go with underslung tank, and a BBQ point that you could then use as a backup, by connecting a local bottle to it should it be required.

 

[Puddleduck]

Billylou you don't say where you are based but if you need advice about LPG tanks etc I would highly recommend Autogas 2000 near Thirsk. They also give a Funster discount and have fitted our last two van with Alugas cylinders. Because the cowl (shroud) at the top of the cylinder of the Alugas cylinders is removable sometimes a larger capacity cylinder will fit in the space. We have a single 11kg cylinder (space for a second but we've always just filled up after a trip or if we think it's about half full) and I could measure that for you if you wish*. We carry a second calor bottle "just in case" if we think we might not find LPG but never used it so far.

Our last van had diesel heating and it was very good but a little noisy. We have a diesel heater as backup at home although it usually lives in the big shed. Very efficient.

* Mr Google says with the shroud it is 300mm diameter and 600mm high. I can measure the height of ours if the diameter will fit in your van.

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[Billylou]

Billylou you don't say where you are based but if you need advice about LPG tanks etc I would highly recommend Autogas 2000 near Thirsk. They also give a Funster discount and have fitted our last two van with Alugas cylinders. Because the cowl (shroud) at the top of the cylinder of the Alugas cylinders is removable sometimes a larger capacity cylinder will fit in the space. We have a single 11kg cylinder (space for a second but we've always just filled up after a trip or if we think it's about half full) and I could measure that for you if you wish. We carry a second calor bottle "just in case" if we think we might not find LPG but never used it so far.

Our last van had diesel heating and it was very good but a little noisy. We have a diesel heater as backup at home although it usually lives in the big shed. Very efficient.

Hi Puddleduck, we live in Surrey. I've made contact with the Motorhome Workshop @ Sunstore. I'm still waiting for a reply to be honest but hope to hear something during the week. Our T6 had a diesel heater and we really were impressed by it.

 

[Raul]

If you are going cold places no sites, then diesel heater is a must. A litre of diesel has 10kwh of energy. A litre of lpg has 7kwh of energy. Diesel comes ahead litre per litre on board. As mentioned before, on start up and shut down, the diesel heater will draw a bit of power, not to scary 10a for 2-3 mins on start up and 10a for 1 min on shut down total cycle 0,7ah and just over 1ah running for 30mins on medium settings. The caveat is you need the means to charge back up what you used plus a bit of inefficiencies. Solar as much as you can fit on the roof if you want it to work in winter. As for LPG, a underslung tank will give you space inside.
Forgot to say a B2B battery to battery charger will help massively in winter when you drive and charge from alternator