To propane or not to propane

[gus]

I had pretty much the same experience with LP ventless heaters as Cody except mine are portable and smaller than his. I never had the temp separation he mentioned except that which is natural, heat will rise no matter what you do.

My 4104 is not well insulated and has the single pane original windows. However, we live in a mild climate and never had temps below 20*F.

I have an elect element in my LP water heater but never use it. It draws too much current for my 30a system and is too slow. LP consumption is so low and it heats fast.

[PP]

I have an RV500 demand water heater, but if I had to do it over, I would install one of these...

http://precisiontemp.com/pt_rvmd_twintemp2.htmlquote)


Jay,
Would you recommend the RV500 just for bathroom and kitchen hot water needs? We're looking to upgrade our hot water system and get away from the 6 gallon capacity (GI Showers).
Thanks, Will

[TomCat]

Yes Will, the RV500 will let you take unlimited hot showers, provided you have 12 volts, water and propane.

It is very efficient as well. An RV500 will heat 940 gallons of water on 5 gallons of LP.

It should serve you very well for kitchen and bath/shower duty.

I have a frame mounted 86 gallon Propane tank, so if I'm not running the 5.5kw LP Onan, or doing much cooking on the two burner stovetop, I can go well over a year without taking on LP fuel.

The main reason the Twin Temp appeals to me now, is that I've ended up squatting fulltime in Colorado, when I had intended to spend the winters in Mexico, and summers here. I could use the extra heat!

HTH

Jay
87 SaftLiner

[busshawg]

From what I have seen in a few other buses , (which isn't a whole lot) is that the webasto airtops work very well. They don't get any simpler to install and run very efficiantly. I believe with a little more work is to plumb the webasto into your coolant system with a bypass system so you can use the webasto to heat everything or each component individually if you desire. This was advice I got from another northern bus nut which I believe would work very well. With the option of heating only what you need at the time makes this system more effieciant as well.

Stay warm from the deep freeze in Manitoba , check out our wind chills, and it's already warmed up somewhat!!!!

                             http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/camb0010

[PP]

Jay.
thanks for the first hand experience and advice. We carry 46 gals of LP on the road and hook up to a 100 gal tank when we're sitting. Since May we've only used 16 gals of LP and my wife cooks almost every evening and I bake a lot. Of course, it got down into the upper teens last night and all 3 Cat's are running now so that will increase usage. I noticed that they offer a side flu which is perfect for the space I have to install it. I'm thinking of plumbing in after the existing 6 gal heater so I don't lose the electric option and just switching on the one that I intend using based on needs.
Again, thank you, Will