Hydronic Heating for a Sleeping Platform?

[carbon60]

Anyone ever setup some kind of heating system for their SUV? I've a series 80 Land Cruiser and I'd like to have a propane heater that sits outside and provides coolant-based heat to the interior for the coldest days. Thinking either to use standard heat exchanger(s) or actually run radiant heat in the floor my (not yet existent) sleeping platform. Thoughts?

A.

 

[chasespeed]

I dont know if they make a LP(or gasoline) powered Espar. But, if they do, that would definitely be your best bet. Then, plumb hard lines to the rear of the truck,(unless you already have rear heat). Use 5/8 rubber up, into the cab, and tie into PEX that is built into your sleep platform.

You will also need a way to limit temp to 100, or less.

Possible, of course....

I would stay shy of radiant. Snag a heater core from somewhere. Make a box to house it, and get a blower or low wattfan(s) in there. Operate it using temp if you like. This way, you eliminate any need for mixing valves, etc, as nothing that gets to the coolant temp, could come in contact with your skin/sleeping bag etc.

The problem with a removable source of heat, especially involving liquid as the medium, you introduce more possibility for leaks, you need to bleed it each time you connect it. You need to add a pump. You need some sort of a high limit, or energy cutout.

Chase

 

[Black Dog]

If you've got high enough capacity batteries you could probably run a residential type radiant in-floor heating. But generally when you are using electricity to produce heat you have a high current draw, so unless you have a good bank of batteries or a way to charge them when they get low that might not be the best option.

 

[doug720]

Inefficient with 12 volts, complex and heavy, with water and heat you also have a bacterial growth problem unless you use treatment or different medium. But JMHO.

Doug

 

[Jim K in PA]

Espar does make a gasoline fired coolant heater. I plan to use one, and will run lines to dry break connections at the back of my Jeep. I will use a pre-charged set of flex lines and a small heat exchanger and muffin fan like Chase mentioned up in my RTT. The Espar can be adjusted for temp, or you can use a $30 mixing valve if you wish. The Espar pump may not be big enough to circulate the water where you want it, so a second pump may also be needed. There are small DC pumps for solar applications that use little power and will work just fine with a glycol system.

 

[greenmeanie]

A webasto thermotop C will do what you want. It heats the engine coolant and runs your fans to blow the hot air intot he truck. It has the advantage of also heating the engine on a cold morning. Fuel consumption is approx. 0.1L per hr. You can get a remote, turn it on and off manually or just run it on a timer.

I don't know about the states but they were used on a quite a few diesel cars in Europe so a trip to the scappy can yield a cheap unit.

 

[Ozarker]

This is a familiar question as I suggested a radiant heat system somewhere. IMO it can work, while I suggested PEX I'm thinking now that without sufficient mass (tile floor) to conduct and retain heat, it may not work that well on plywood covered with something like carpet. So what you plave the lines inside of will have a bearing on efficiency. If you had coils running under an aluminum surface it may work very well.

In a closed loop system you may not need a pump at all, allow convection of heated water or liquid to rise and the cooler liquid to be displaced by gavity. The flow required to heat with a radiant system is low. Large areas like a bathroom floor use small pumps due to the area and the floor being level.

Solar hot water heaters can use convection to an insulated tank and retun to the solar collector as it cools and they can get pretty hot.

I think I'd experiment with smaller tubbing and more of it in close runs on a metal surface and fill a level bed between long ribs of 1x2s (1" to the upside) and fill with motor or floor patch. That's just a start, one inch may crack twisting in the back of a vehicle, but the "joists" can make the runs narrow enough to keep cracking between them to a minimum. You could use vinal flooring over that and glue it down conventionally.

The comments above are probably best for your heater and if your heater is outside away from the vehicle you'll need insulated lines to hook up I'd think.

If something like that would work it would sure be clean, odor free heat inside. It will take awhile to heat an area, it's not blast furnace.

I think it would be cheaper and quicker going with a radiator system made for heating along a wall. You might find an oil filled heater that you could tap into with a heating system, put a valve on it and keep the 110v option as well for shore power or genset.

I have a construction and fabrication business experience, but I/m not an hvac guy oe enrineer, don't blow yourself up! lol

 

[mortonm]

Check the vehicles from Expeditions 7. They have exactly what you are looking for with a glycol loop to the engine. Used it for heating the vehicle at night when in the arctic. Sounds like it worked quite well.

 

[Ozarker]

Shredwagon, got pics? Can you diagram your set uo? Sounds interesting and more details please. Are you pumping fluid through a radiator heated floor or wall or is it heating the air conventionally? I'mfamiliar with home systems, but not for the vehicles....Thanks!

 

[carbon60]

- Go with an Airtronic. Or, if propanes your gig - Propex.
- Checked power consumption? Have you factored in a house battery as well? Airtronic uses significantly less power than the Hydronic (pump) and is quieter

I think the above is dead-on. Be nice to run it off gas instead of propane!

A.

 

[carbon60]

http://www.espar.com/html/products/airtronic5.html

 

[carbon60]

Until gas is crazy expensive and you transplant a diesel into your 80.....

Thanks for rubbing it in!

A.

 

[dvorocks]

Get an old bus coolant heater..They work great..

 

[carbon60]

I think I need something way simpler, that I can rig up for mid-november. Seems like host of the simple Propane tent heaters aren't being produced, though.

A.

 

[Bbasso]

How about a zodi tent heater?
(forced hot air)
real simple, min running costs.