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“Selecting An RV Heater (Without Going Broke)”

select rv heater

Journey

My years of living in a travel trailer have long gone by, yet many good memories linger. Traveling along the highways from Vancouver Island to Nova Scotia in the North and Mexico to Guatemala in the South.
Visiting many of the well-known and lesser known treasures in North America, often following the seasons to stay comfortable both in winter and summer.

Sometimes we ended up in Death Valley in mid-summer with temperatures over 110’F or similar heat in Saskatchewan. And under these circumstances, living and boondocking in an RV, the only thing you can do is open the doors and windows, take it easy and sip on a cold drink.

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More serious was overwintering on Vancouver Island; while mild temperatures abound, humidity and lack of sunshine kept us cool to the bone and kept us contained in a campground on most days. In todays Class B, with much more battery power, some boondocking under these conditions is feasible, but only with the help of a good heater.

My Choice Of Heater

As with many features of a cargo van conversion, need of an appliance is based on the owners requirements. Some campers like to use a heater during the night, others go to snowy winter destinations.
My use is limited to getting rid of the morning or evening chill, which can happen anytime during the year. So the heater is not absolutely necessary, yet can add a lot of comfort to living in a van and that’s one of the goals of this conversion.
Type of heater is also based on fuel availability; Webasto or Espar heaters are the optimal, yet pricey choice for diesel vans, others may choose a Propex built-in propane heater with additional tank. I described many more heating options in this recent article.

I have narrowed down my options to:

Webasto Air Top 2000 ST
Manual altitude correction possible.
Espar Airtronic B1LC
Altitude correction requires a $300 electronic module.
Propex HS2211
Under-floor Installation, but needs an extra propane tank.

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Webasto Espar Propex
Model Air Top 2000 ST Airtronic B1LC HS2211
Location interior interior exterior
Fuel diesel/gas gas propane
Fuel consumption 14-28 hrs/gal 14-33 hrs/gal 3 hrs/lbs
Power consumption 1.2-2.4Ah 0.8-2.8Ah 1.7Ah
Dimensions LxWxH 12.2 x 4.7 x 4.7in 18 x 8.9 x 4.7in
Weight 5 lbs 12 oz 6.4 lbs 17 lbs

The gas versions of the Webasto Air Top 2000 ST and the Espar Airtronic B1LC are difficult to find in North America and all ‘overpriced’ options of $1000 and up, but much better than the affordable catalytic and other heaters for the RV, that pose a much greater safety risk. My van will come with a gas engine and as such I long focused on the propane solution. Since then, the plan to use propane for cooking, was replaced by an induction cooktop, but the fuel source for a water heater, such as the Eccotemp L5 Portable Tankless water heater has not been determined yet.

An equally good solution are the diesel heaters of Espar and Webasto; these appliances are readily available and can be connected directly to the van’s fuel tank. With my gas engine option, I would have to install a dedicated diesel tank, just for that purpose. That doesn’t make it a clean solution and add another couple of hundred dollars to its price tag.

Lately I found out that these diesel heaters have their gasoline equivalents, which are difficult to find and generally even higher priced. This would make it a simple rig without propane and no added complexity, with a single fuel source for the van and heater.

There is the issue that the gasoline version would be more dangerous than the diesel option, but as far as I know, the heater design is identical other than the programming and fuel atomizing screen, with the same safeties built-in. Now is gasoline in general more dangerous than diesel, but propane can be worse yet, while it’s used many more RV’s. We never think twice about that.

These diesel, gas & propane heaters work on similar principals: air intake and exhaust are both ported to the outside which helps preventing condensation and avoids CO2 detectors. Some people do complain about the Espar noise levels, but extra insulation may keep that at acceptable levels.

If I buy the Ford Transit, the Webasto and Espar heaters installation should be a snap, as they can tap right off the Transit’s auxiliary fuel port.

Because this is an high priced item with limited use, I may wait with the installation till the end of this project. I do have to incorporate it into the design as each heater has its own installation requirements. This still allows me to choose a different solution, when my needs change during the conversion.

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