Gas heating v Diesel Heating

gollymolly · Senior Member

Gas heating v Diesel Heating

Brenda and Alan · Guru

This topic has been discussed at length before. I think it comes down to personal choice because gas tends to be dearer to run especially in the back blocks, but diesel requires annual maintenance. If that maintenance can be done yourself with parts purchased overseas instead of from Australian suppliers I think diesel would be cheaper. If this cant be done then gas may well be the way to go. Regardless of what the various gas companies tell you there is stuff all difference in burning characteristics between the 60 cent/Lt servo bowser gas and the $2-$5 per Lt gas you buy as change over bottles.

-- Edited by Brenda and Alan on Friday 17th of April 2015 08:22:56 PM

KFT · Guru

Brenda and Alan wrote:
This topic has been discussed at length before. I think it comes down to personal choice because gas tends to be dearer to run especially in the back blocks, but diesel requires annual maintenance. If that maintenance can be done yourself with parts purchased overseas instead of from Australian suppliers I think diesel would be cheaper. If this cant be done then gas may well be the way to go. Regardless of what the various gas companies tell you there is stuff all difference in burning characteristics between the 60 cent/Lt servo bowser gas and the $2-$5 per Lt gas you buy as change over bottles.

-- Edited by Brenda and Alan on Friday 17th of April 2015 08:22:56 PM

Have to agree with most of the above.

We have a Truma E2400 LPG heater in our 22' van and love it. It is quiet enough that you can leave it going all night if you like. Uses around 100 grams of gas/hour when running and requires no annual servicing.

Diesel heaters require a muffler to be fitted on the outside to quieten them and there can be an issue with exhaust fumes from diesel.

A search in the search box would reveal quite a lot of discussion if you are looking for a bit of reading.

frank

gollymolly · Senior Member

Thanks for that info.
Will check again in the search box, was having trouble trying to pull down info

sandsmere · Guru

KFT wrote:
Brenda and Alan wrote:
This topic has been discussed at length before. I think it comes down to personal choice because gas tends to be dearer to run especially in the back blocks, but diesel requires annual maintenance. If that maintenance can be done yourself with parts purchased overseas instead of from Australian suppliers I think diesel would be cheaper. If this cant be done then gas may well be the way to go. Regardless of what the various gas companies tell you there is stuff all difference in burning characteristics between the 60 cent/Lt servo bowser gas and the $2-$5 per Lt gas you buy as change over bottles.

-- Edited by Brenda and Alan on Friday 17th of April 2015 08:22:56 PM
Have to agree with most of the above.
We have a Truma E2400 LPG heater in our 22' van and love it. It is quiet enough that you can leave it going all night if you like. Uses around 100 grams of gas/hour when running and requires no annual servicing.
Diesel heaters require a muffler to be fitted on the outside to quieten them and there can be an issue with exhaust fumes from diesel.
A search in the search box would reveal quite a lot of discussion if you are looking for a bit of reading.

frank

I agree with Frank. We have the Truma too.
Very happy with it.

peter1 · Veteran Member

We bought a webasto after considerable research - in the end we preferred fitting a diesel tank instead of a gas heater which would have resulted in another appliance drawing from the gas bottles (fridge and stove). Very happy with decision - extremely efficient and extremely well made. Yes there is a little noise when initially starting up (3-4 minutes) but seriously this is not a problem. I asked for advice about servicing on this web site recently and the only comment was to run the unit occasionally which I already did - now 3 years old and we haven't touched it in this time and all is working well. I've noticed a little smell but again nothing significant. You can also fit it yourself as I did and I am not technically minded - just needed an auto electrician to do the final little bit and check my work. Muffler is no problem to fit.

Thought I would add these comments to give an alternate view. I've not used a gas heater so can't comment but I think they would also be pretty good - just comes down to a personal choice now.

Regards

Peter

gollymolly · Senior Member

Hi Peter,

Thanks for your comments.
We have decided on diesel. We are going to put ours in the vanity unit in the ensuite rather than under the bed. Where did fit yours?
It will mean relocating the towels but that is not a problem. As out ensuite is at the back of the van it will dry our towels etc.

There is quite a big difference in price between the Webasto and the Dometic Esp.
Did you look at the other one.

Rod will be able to fit the diesel in as the instructions seem easy to understand.
Where did you purchase your Webasto?

Thanks Sue

Allany · Veteran Member

Sue
You just need to snuggle up to Rod on those cold nights
Allan

gollymolly · Senior Member

I do and he complains I take all the bed.
He also reckons I take the blankets too, which I do. When I roll over I call it the tuck and roll and all the bedding comes with me. So a heater is his solutuon.

peter1 · Veteran Member

Hi Sue

We located our's under the bed - easiest place for us. I did check out other brands and decided on the Webasto because of the quality and also opted for diesel for the reasons mentioned in my earlier post. We also have a diesel vehicle so carrying a little extra diesel was a good thing in case we needed it for the vehicle in an emergency. I think we bought ours at the Camping Show held at the Sandown Racetrack in Dandenong Victoria. The hardest part for me was drilling the first hole into the caravan floor hoping I wasn't going to stuff things up - but all was OK. I did obtain a really good document for fitting the unit which the guy had prepared independent of the manufacturers notes.

Think you will be well satisfied with the Webasto.

Regards

Peter

Delta18 · Guru

I bought our diesel heater through this Tasmanian Company http://www.dieselheat.com.au/about-us

They were very helpful as I fitted it and were just a phone call away for advise.

I chose diesel over gas heating because when free camping which we mostly do, I only get 10 days from a gas bottle (9kg) and didn't want to reduce that time.

It works a treat, uses minimal diesel and we have had it on a lot in the past few weeks.

Everything comes in the kit including mufflers for both the exhaust and the air inlet for the combustion chamber.

Once running it is almost inaudible both inside and out.

It is so efficient and economical we use it for heating even when we are connected to power and could use an electric heater.

Cheers Neil

Allany · Veteran Member

Just a thought
What is there to stop you mounting the diesel heater on the rear bumper of the van including tank
Then all that is needed is to run the ducting and controls into the van
At least the exhaust is in the outside away from windows

Allan

Magyar Connection · Veteran Member

Hi Gollymolly,

Never had diesel heating but I have had gas heating in the past and it is straight forward to operate and maintain the system as well as providing a comfortable heat. Gas heaters consume a fair bit of gas, so if you do a lot of free camping and also rely on gas for refrigeration and water heating you may find the demand and need to continually replenish the gas a bit inconvenient. If you don't need gas for refrigeration or if you mainly camp with access to 240v then gas would be a good option.