I have a Toyota Coaster bus which gets brutally cold and damp during Winter. I was thinking about putting a curtain partition in the sleeping area and putting a 100 liter water container under the bed. Depending on how it needs tweaking I will put insulation on the tank. The idea is to use an externally mounted instantaneous gas heater (9kg LPG) to fill the tank up with hot water and allow the heat to raise the internal temperature to the point it is comfortable and drier than the ambient to stop condensation. I need to go back to my high school physics to work out if this setup will work or not.
I was vaguely aware of them and the initial investment cost is a bit steep. However the Coaster is diesel and the cost of gas is way more expensive. I was trying to think of a way I could get by just spending a cuppla hundred on the instant heater however the scheme I am thinking about is probably not that practical. I am a bit paranoid having things burning / running whilst I am asleep. I would imagine the heaters would be heavy on gas usage. I have been looking at various diesel heaters. There was one from Eastern Europe auction on eBay at about 600 bucks.
Treeecrest 14 great minds think alike. I just this moment got finished reafing the user manual for this very product. It wont do hot water like the combo units for $2k odd but does have a Russian language voice prompt option. Pretty awesome nyet?
The old argument between gas and diesel heaters.. Imo if you have diesel powered ?
Go diesel heater.. Esp if your worried about things burning while a sleep?
With good instalation they run quiete enough.
Weight would be much lower than water heated bed ..
Diesel is less expensive than gas. It is safer than gas. The bus already has a diesel fuel tank.
The water idea is an adaptation from what I have set up in the van which works brilliantly in Summer. I use a Waeco 100 liter Ice Box with 100 meters of PEX rolled out in the sun this gets water verging on too hot to shower that will remain hot all night.
The more I think about it the more it seems impractical to adapt to the bus. I think it is too complicated to try to have a hot water system in a confined space like a Coaster bus. I would be content with cosy and dry.
BTW I have seen quite a few people saying the stove will keep the bus warm. Apart from the dangers of Carbon Monoxide poisoning, it doesn't work. What happens is the water resulting from the combustion condenses on the walls of the bus so it is not just cold but cold and wet. Forget about it.
Diesel heater or good woman? Well sealed and insulated bus helps... Our Fuso has engine in the back and cold nights the heat soak comes in handy ... Can't beat a good dooner ...
I would be looking at an electric blanket and a small inverter. Plug into your battery and presto, warm bed. Has been some discussion on this previously
Or put in the water tank but pipe it to the motor cooling system. Need to seperate the two systems with a heat exchanger or some internal pipes, but the heat will be there after driving anyway no cost. Just a different type of diesel heater.
Jaahn
-- Edited by Jaahn on Tuesday 3rd of March 2015 11:21:41 AM
I have a Toyota Coaster bus which gets brutally cold and damp during Winter. I was thinking about putting a curtain partition in the sleeping area and putting a 100 liter water container under the bed. Depending on how it needs tweaking I will put insulation on the tank. The idea is to use an externally mounted instantaneous gas heater (9kg LPG) to fill the tank up with hot water and allow the heat to raise the internal temperature to the point it is comfortable and drier than the ambient to stop condensation. I need to go back to my high school physics to work out if this setup will work or not.
Obviously this doubles as a shower.
I would think that is a very inefficient way of heating a van or bed. How much gas does it take to heat 100 litres of water. The water container would have to be uninsulated to get heat transfer into the van. As previous posters have said you can do all this very efficiently with off the shelf units.
Just a different type of diesel heater.
