Diesel stove, hot water, and maybe heater, is there a single device for a sprinter?

Hey folks,
Puking cash all over the place for my sprinter build. In that vein, considering single fuel source appliances. I'd like to build in access to hot water, and a stove. I don't necessarily need a heater, but I wouldn't say no if there was a device that also did that. From what I see there are combo stovetop/air heaters, and hydronic heaters/air heaters. There isn't a device that is a stove AND water heater? I won't need much hot water, and not often. Is my best option some kind of underbody heat exchanger / calorifier running off a coolant line from the engine (or possibly the line going to the rear heater?) for hot water, and an X100 (or similar)? Is the Wallas version better for the heating option?
Cheers,
Alex
 

brianjwilson

Some sort of lost...
If you give up on looking for a single device, consider using something like an isotherm water heater. The slim square has a 750w 110v heating element and a heat exchanger so you can run coolant through it to heat water. Especially if you have factory rear heat, that's a no brainer. I'd think it should retain warm water for 12+ hours while parked. I considered some hydronic options too but they get big, expensive and complex. And it sounds like some automatically drain and shut down below freezing temps? An all in one setup sounds good until it breaks (or drains and shuts off). Also the hydronic systems seem to use a lot of electricity and fuel, since I will use heat much more than I'll need any hot water it didn't make sense.

I went with an espar d2 air heater which is very efficient and small. An isotherm slim square water heater. I don't have factory rear heat so I'm going to tap into heater coolant line and run it through the water heater and a small hot rod/generic heat exchanger for rear heat while driving. Stove is a single 110v induction cooktop, supported by 255a/hr battery and magnum 2000w pure sine wave inverter/charger. You might have guessed that I don't cook much either so I'm not concerned about battery drain much. I have aux high idle so I can always run the engine for a bit if I need to help with battery, which will heat the water at the same time. But mostly I need heat, so I went with a simple efficient heater and chose to keep things separate.

I swear there are almost too many options these days, too many decisions to make when you're building a custom van and it really depends on how/where you intend to use it.
 

Super Doody

Explorer
If you give up on looking for a single device, consider using something like an isotherm water heater. The slim square has a 750w 110v heating element and a heat exchanger so you can run coolant through it to heat water. Especially if you have factory rear heat, that's a no brainer. I'd think it should retain warm water for 12+ hours while parked. I considered some hydronic options too but they get big, expensive and complex. And it sounds like some automatically drain and shut down below freezing temps? An all in one setup sounds good until it breaks (or drains and shuts off). Also the hydronic systems seem to use a lot of electricity and fuel, since I will use heat much more than I'll need any hot water it didn't make sense.

I went with an espar d2 air heater which is very efficient and small. An isotherm slim square water heater. I don't have factory rear heat so I'm going to tap into heater coolant line and run it through the water heater and a small hot rod/generic heat exchanger for rear heat while driving. Stove is a single 110v induction cooktop, supported by 255a/hr battery and magnum 2000w pure sine wave inverter/charger. You might have guessed that I don't cook much either so I'm not concerned about battery drain much. I have aux high idle so I can always run the engine for a bit if I need to help with battery, which will heat the water at the same time. But mostly I need heat, so I went with a simple efficient heater and chose to keep things separate.

I swear there are almost too many options these days, too many decisions to make when you're building a custom van and it really depends on how/where you intend to use it.

Hey Brian, where did you mount your heater?
 
I have given up looking for a single device, as I'm not sure it exists. This Isotherm thing sounds interesting. I will look into it. Thanks!
 

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