Webasto diesel heater

[thedjjack]

Propane is great, for sure. But if you are traveling abroad as Felix intends, there is much to be said for consolidating to a single fuel.

For the difference in price I have heat and can afford to ship my Delica to Africa and back!

[wookie]

Another cool heater / cook top manufacturer is Wallas http://www.scanmarineusa.com/default.html
I've installed both air heaters and the cook top in boats. Expensive but really impressive I especially liked the cook tops they are super low amperage and exhausts outside, and are used to heat the cabin as well.
Available through Trotac marine in Victoria.

[thelazygreenfox]

Wookie
I lived on my 34" sloop in N van for 1 1/2 yrs with a dickinson antarctic heater and a 3 burner propane stove with oven. I built the fiberglass sloop from paper drawings and sailed it for 10 yrs.

The dickinson heater had a hot water coil also. Great heater but it used too much room on board and I always wanted to change to a propane heater. I think the convenience of propane far outshines diesel, many similarities in the fuels but propane is cleaner and more compact.

Both can be dangerous but both should be maintained to avoid problems. A friend of mine died in his sleep from diesel heater monoxide on his newly purchased sailboat in Nanaimo harbour.

TLGF

[fexlboi]

Propane is great, for sure. But if you are traveling abroad as Felix intends, there is much to be said for consolidating to a single fuel.

For the difference in price I have heat and can afford to ship my Delica to Africa and back!

I want to talk the cargo company that ships your van to Africa and back for a few hundred $. Seriously you can get a used Espar Diesel heater for $400. It's just harder to find than any propane stuff.

I think the convenience of propane far outshines diesel, many similarities in the fuels but propane is cleaner and more compact.

More compact?? A Diesel heater for a small application like the Delica is way smaller than any propane furnace I have seen so far. The Diesel tank is already built in the car anyway. So you don't need to bother with any external tank. If you get the right Diesel heater you also get hot water and you can pre-heat your engine when it's really cold. Also if you leave North America you need to bring all kinds of adapter and stuff to use your propane bottle. If I have a lot more space, I would consider propane, but with the limited space of a Delica, a Diesel heater would be my choice. A single source of fuel also makes it easier while travelling in remote areas.
It also depends on how you use your camper as well. If it's just for weekend or multiple week trips around Canada/US and you don't care about the extra weight/space than a propane is totally fine. If you go for a longer period of time and you care about every inch of additional space as well as use your heater every day outside of NA a Diesel heater is the way to go.

From a legal side (if you care), I think you are not allowed to permanently install propane in a vehicle on your own, right? Do you not need to get it certified?

[thelazygreenfox]

fexlboi
All good points you raise. Propane heaters can be bought for under $50 used on craigs list. The tradeoffs are quite subjective in the end.

Certification need go through CSA and would be near impossible to acquire. With both propane and diesel heaters ICBC would refuse the claim made when the delicas caught on fire.

Install it, use it and enjoy it.

I can't wait to see your heater installed.

Wayne
TLGF

[thedjjack]

Propane seems to be available most places in the world these days.

Here is a great article on Propane. Propane is bigger for sure unless, you get a fan furnace then they are similar (I have no interest in 12v needs even if low). Bottle is the biggest issue for sure.

http://www.hackneys.com/travel/docs/pro ... hicles.pdf

[FredVenne]

Well, most of you already know that we have a diesel heater, Webasto, in our camper. It is setup under our back side seat, takes not much space and it does the job. More then expected. So far, at -30, we had it full power for a few hours and had to lower the heat, it was getting too hot inside. And we were sleeping with the pop top open (insulated).

I agree with Flex that a single fuel for everything is the way to go. Traveling up north right now (sleept in whitehorse last night) and wish that we wouldn’t have to carry propane tank for cooking.

Again, it all depend on what kind of trip you are doing.

Cheers!