Hydronic Heating vs all Electric

[SootyCamper]

Were you at Ft Smith during the man-with-gun lockdown? Interesting about the X10, where exactly did it exhibit thermal bridging? We find frost will build up in our deepest interior storage well and on the aluminum frame of the roof hatch. Starting with a fresh design for northern travel is a great idea to attempt that elusive balance of heat retention and ventilation. Minimal holes in the envelope for example (edit: I see that X10 has a lot of windows). An HRV system like Lunos too. For livability, our U-shaped dinette is awesome, can stretch out in many directions. Having a table that can be positioned many ways, especially out of the way, is also useful. Looking forward to following your progress.

Haha yes I heard about some sort of police event in smith when I was there.

The owner of the x10 reported the most frost in the shower area, around the Seitz window frames, as well as in some of the corners that are covered with cabinetry. I don't fault OEV as the camper was a prototype, the build is actually posted here on portal. I'll admit I should have just bought the darn thing and retrofitted new windows and Aerogel blanket type insulation.


Some interesting field notes:

I spoke with the team behind the Transglobal F550 Total Composites truck, they stated the hydronic they installed was overkill due to the how well insulated/air tight the camper is(they had lines running basically everywhere, even up into the alcove and under the bed. The feedback from Transglobal was that the complexity + cost didn't give enough ROI, and stated diesel air heat would be sufficient for overall cabin heating. Another note was Transglobal utilized the Lunos HRV in that build. I will definitely be utilizing an HRV of some sort in my build.

Overall it seems the consensus is Hydronic is still king and even with additional expense will suit my needs. Now I need to decide if I want to go "all in one" like a system from AquaHot / Timberline / Oasis. Or a separate system like Rixen / Eberspacher / Webasto + Isotemp Tank.

@smurf40 Thank you for your feedback! You system was a webasto dualtop? or a coolant heater + water calorifier (like an isotemp)

 

[Trail Talk]

Haha yes I heard about some sort of police event in smith when I was there.

The owner of the x10 reported the most frost in the shower area, around the Seitz window frames, as well as in some of the corners that are covered with cabinetry. I don't fault OEV as the camper was a prototype, the build is actually posted here on portal. I'll admit I should have just bought the darn thing and retrofitted new windows and Aerogel blanket type insulation.


Some interesting field notes:

I spoke with the team behind the Transglobal F550 Total Composites truck, they stated the hydronic they installed was overkill due to the how well insulated/air tight the camper is(they had lines running basically everywhere, even up into the alcove and under the bed. The feedback from Transglobal was that the complexity + cost didn't give enough ROI, and stated diesel air heat would be sufficient for overall cabin heating. Another note was Transglobal utilized the Lunos HRV in that build. I will definitely be utilizing an HRV of some sort in my build.

Overall it seems the consensus is Hydronic is still king and even with additional expense will suit my needs. Now I need to decide if I want to go "all in one" like a system from AquaHot / Timberline / Oasis. Or a separate system like Rixen / Eberspacher / Webasto + Isotemp Tank.

@smurf40 Thank you for your feedback! You system was a webasto dualtop? or a coolant heater + water calorifier (like an isotemp)

Thanks for this info, very useful. If you ever come across any details of Transglobal's HRV system, besides what was visible in the photos, please follow-up here. Their real world experience would be gold. I'm still amazed at the Arctic Trucks 6x6 conversion of their F350s.

 

[jkam]

My travel buddy has a Winnebago class A that uses Aqua Hot.
Overall, he has been happy with it, but it has had some issues.
The motor that makes the fan work has gone bad
three times in the 10 years he has had it.
You can't just go down to the electric motor store and get a replacement.
You have to deal with Aqua Hot. Bosch makes the motor but you can't find one at Bosch.
Proprietary, made just for them.