Need more heat.

[chessie4905]

  woodstoves....here we go..... don't just block off the driver's area, cut and install pieces of foam over the front windows and windshields.

[Tikvah]

Scott, what drove us out was the condensation.  Like you, we could find ways to heat the bus.  More heaters, insulated bay, bay heaters, etc.  We could produce heat.  But the condensation was out of our control.  We put 1-1/2" foam in the rear windows to insulate the bedroom and found it made it worse.  We created, not only condensation, but ice on our windows. 

We have four rooftop fantastic vents each were dripping.  The one over our bed was raining on our bed during the night.  Enough was enough.

I wondered if one or two dehumidifiers would have worked.  I never tried it.  We just had to get out before we froze everything.

Dave

P.S.  sorry we missed you guys on every turn... we'll keep trying.  Amy still wants to have fun with some music.

[skihor]

Scott, what drove us out was the condensation.  Like you, we could find ways to heat the bus.  More heaters, insulated bay, bay heaters, etc.  We could produce heat.  But the condensation was out of our control.  We put 1-1/2" foam in the rear windows to insulate the bedroom and found it made it worse.  We created, not only condensation, but ice on our windows. 

We have four rooftop fantastic vents each were dripping.  The one over our bed was raining on our bed during the night.  Enough was enough.

I wondered if one or two dehumidifiers would have worked.  I never tried it.  We just had to get out before we froze everything.

In our experience catalytic and/or non-vented heat sources produce copious amounts of condensation, thereby worthless IMHO.
I put a 40K Surburban up front with 4 outlets. In the rear I put a 20K Surburban with 2 outlets. I ran one duct from each into the "water" bay. I've kept water flowing @-16F, as well as heating the bus. Up front our coach is nearly all glass. 80"X24" single pane on each side and driverside and door single pane and the windshield. Walls are stock insulation. Kitchen counter and back easy to heat, up front much harder. In mid winter the ceiling temp is 70* plus, while the floor is 35*. I put an 8" fan on one side attached to an overhead cabinet. I point it up and @ an angle towards the front. HUGH difference in floor temps. really evens it out. Floor coverings really help as well. W don't have carpet, all tile floors. We put area rugs, and carpet runners which help a lot.
Don & Sheila

[David Anderson]

Scott, what drove us out was the condensation.  Like you, we could find ways to heat the bus.  More heaters, insulated bay, bay heaters, etc.  We could produce heat.  But the condensation was out of our control.  We put 1-1/2" foam in the rear windows to insulate the bedroom and found it made it worse.  We created, not only condensation, but ice on our windows. 

We have four rooftop fantastic vents each were dripping.  The one over our bed was raining on our bed during the night.  Enough was enough.

I wondered if one or two dehumidifiers would have worked.  I never tried it.  We just had to get out before we froze everything.

Dave

P.S.  sorry we missed you guys on every turn... we'll keep trying.  Amy still wants to have fun with some music.

It may sound counter intuitive, but we had to turn our roof vent on very low to exhaust some air and draw fresh air into the coach to stop condensation.  It works, but it will make the heater run longer.

[Scott & Heather]

Trust me on this, we bought a good quality dehumidifier and it will solve your condensation issue. Completely eliminated ours. But, the cost of that is dry air and dry sinuses so that takes balance. Well, we picked up just one more cube heater today. so we left three on in the bus set to high while we were gone and came back tonight and it's 20 outside and it was 90 in the coach. That one Pelonis ceramic heater did the trick. Also shrink filmed the roof vent.


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[Scott & Heather]

I think we are investing in a propane furnace at some point. We are staying toasty but the heaters run non stop and the floors are still just a bit on the cooler side. Not even winter yet.


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[TexasBorderDude]

Just did an overnight audit:

Low Temp 28
2 - 1500 watt electric heaters, 1 ceramic cube type, 1 oil-radiator type
1 - twin size electric blanket
Inside Temp 62-75
Overnight electric usage $6.00 to $8.00

Life is good, and getting better!

[Oonrahnjay]

... the floors are still just a bit on the cooler side. ...

    Scott, have you looked at places to add more insulation under the floors?  On my bus, there's very little area that's actually open to outside air so it only took a small square-footage of insulation to make a big difference.  But you have a different layout than my bus (I have no bays) and you're dealing with colder air than I have to.

[saddleup]

Just did an overnight audit:

Low Temp 28
2 - 1500 watt electric heaters, 1 ceramic cube type, 1 oil-radiator type
1 - twin size electric blanket
Inside Temp 62-75
Overnight electric usage $6.00 to $8.00

Life is good, and getting better!

Doyle good thing you dont have the queen size blanket,....lol

[TexasBorderDude]

Doyle good thing you dont have the queen size blanket,....lol

May need another dog, or 2!

[Tikvah]

Low Temp 28
2 - 1500 watt electric heaters, 1 ceramic cube type, 1 oil-radiator type
1 - twin size electric blanket
Inside Temp 62-75
Overnight electric usage $6.00 to $8.00

What kind of insulation do you have?  Are you all windows?  40'?

Sounds like a lot of heat running for 28 degrees!

Dave

[Oonrahnjay]

What kind of insulation do you have?  Are you all windows?  40'?

Sounds like a lot of heat running for 28 degrees!

Dave

    I hadn't thought of that -- I have a little "tower" 1500 watt heater; it has a "fan/low/high" setting with a separate thermostat heat setting (although I've never seen any difference by moving the heat setting).  By sound, feel, and the reading on my "Kill-a-Watt" meter, there is a difference in current pull and heat output between "low" and "high".  The other night it was about 25 deg (F) and I had the heater set to 'low' and the thermostat dial about in the middle.  At about 4AM, I woke up too warm and got up and turned the heater off.  I had an electric blanket and a poly-throw blanket but I never turned the electric blanket on.  It chilled down a bit by the time to get up, but I was comfortable most all night (by myself, The Management was away at work).

    Btw, this was in my bedroom upstairs.  I didn't have any heat downstairs and the floor was a little chilly.

[twostick]

Same old winter stuff Scott; heat rises.  If your there all winter and have anything you can lay on roof and keep down for extra insulation(black tarp) that's a plus. Window open to sun.  rug on floor.  keep wind out  from under bus--it will suck heat out every little crack.. cuddle up my friends..

Not quite true. Hot air rises. Heat goes where it's pointed. That's the problem with any scorched air system, the first place the hot air wants to go is up taking all the heat with it.

I don't know how practical it would be to install on a bus but a hydronic floor heat system would be much more efficient. Instead of heating all the air in the room you just heat the floor which in turn radiates to the objects in the room you included. My buddy has a 50'x80' shop heated this way. -25 outside and the air temp inside is in the low-mid 50's but you are quite comfortable in shirtsleeves because the floor is heating you directly if you will. I think the circulated water in the floor is around 100 F.

Kevin

[TexasBorderDude]

What kind of insulation do you have?  Are you all windows?  40'?

Sounds like a lot of heat running for 28 degrees!

Dave

7ea 52"x36" single pane. Gonna get the clear heat-shrink plastic window coverings. 

[Tikvah]

We have 4 of the stock bus windows, but we have spray foam insulation.  I can heat in low 20s with only two 1500 watt heaters.  My problem has been condensation in the Michigan humidity.  Heat wan't that hard to generate.