heat source for boondocking?

[TomC]

I have a 20 gal propane tank, Atwood 40,000btu furnace with 4 vents, and keeps the bus nice and warm down to 17 degrees (coldest I've been in) with the furnace running about every 45 minutes (was also windy).  The only propane on my bus is the furnace and stove-with a 12vdc solenoid to kill the gas from a switch on the inside of the bus.  Am doing the same with my truck-hydronic is too expensive, and maintenance intensive for me.  Good Luck, TomC

[technomadia]

Viento1 - We're fully documenting our Lithium Ion project here:

http://www.technomadia.com/category/life-on-the-road/technology/lithium-ion/

All your questions are (or will be shortly) answered there

- Cherie
(TechnomAdia - not TechnomEdia)

[buswarrior]

How about a marine solution?

A Dickinson diesel fired stove or heater?

http://www.dickinsonmarine.com/

Check, in particular, the stoves, but the rest is neat too.

Add a hot water coil for your hot water needs.

For instance, gravity fed, no power required at all. A Bristol/Bering/Pacific is good for a range of 6500 to 16250 BTU.

I acquired a Bering that had been pulled for Quality Assurance testing at a discount.

Here's an idea: The old MCI washroom water tank, behind the mirror in coaches that were equipped, makes a great 3 gallon tank to tuck up into a cupboard structure somewhere, replenished with a small electric pump, the vent returns to the main tank for simple filling and overflow, and then no power until tomorrow at full flow,and 3 days from now if throttled back for freeze protection?

Not enough BTU for comfort in the arctic, but more than enough to keep you alive...

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[white-eagle]

BW, i like the fuel usage on those stoves, but i just don't want to give up that kind of space.  We are too crowded as it is, and we've been reducing by dumping anything that hasn't been used in over a year.  (there will be some great sales in Arcadia!!).  One of those in the bedroom and another in the main cabin would be excellent.  but it's about 8" x 8" at the smallest with a 12" clearance on all sides.  i just noticed a perfect cabin spot on the side of the stove on the counter.  i just don't think Fran will give it up to have a heater, no matter how good it looks. 

Very efficient and an excellent price though.

[luvrbus]

Those Lithium Ion batteries are nice and also expensive I helped Dan install 4 in his bus the L680 1000 bucks each with shipping nice part they don't weigh anything less than 10 lbs I would guess it was a shock to me lifting one.

The only part I would not like is on his we had to add another alternator the manufactures instructions were no alternator lager than a 95 amp,his were rated in Watt hrs not amp hours

good luck

[technomadia]

Those Lithium Ion batteries are nice and also expensive I helped Dan install 4 in his bus the L680 1000 bucks each with shipping nice part they don't weigh anything less than 10 lbs I would guess it was a shock to me lifting one.

The only part I would not like is on his we had to add another alternator the manufactures instructions were no alternator lager than a 95 amp

good luck

Do you recall if that was for his starter batteries, or house batteries?   I looked up the L680:

http://lithiumpros.com/xs-power-l680-lithium-powerpack/

And it only holds 11aH - so four together would be 44aH.   

Which wouldn't be much for a house system, but seems configured for a starter battery. And yeah, wow quite pricey at $1k per pack.


We went with a 500 aH system for our house system, that weighs in total about 140 lbs.  The published price was $3100 ($620 per 100 aH).  We went with GBS batteries from Elite Power Solutions (http://elitepowersolutions.com/) down in Phoenix.  We had to assemble the bank ourselves, which was tons of fun.  You can buy pre-assembled banks for RV use from other suppliers (who are using Elite Power as their cell source anyway) and pay nearly twice as much if you wish.

LiFePO4 has many advantages (as outlined in the article series I linked to above) - including 80% of that 500 aH is usable without even needing to consider harm to the batteries (but can go down to zero if needed). It's also usable at colder temps, and can take a much higher rate of withdrawal without suffering loss of capacity (making it ideal for things like A/Cs, heaters, microwaves, induction cooktops, starting engines, etc), not needing to be fully charged to keep their longevity, good for thousands of cycles, etc, etc, etc.

We're still testing out the system before making a full declaration if we consider our experiment a success... but for now, we're quite pleased.

- Cherie

[luvrbus]

It was for starting his series 60 he installed those because he was told heat was not a problem with the Ion but they didn't tell him about the charging his came from Copper State Battery in Phoenix,his house batteries are Surrette 2 volt each those were a small fortune 8 years ago and they are still in warranty,still to rich for me batteries worth as much as his bus lol


good luck

[Lin]

It seems that these battery setups could be worthwhile for fulltimers since the the extended dependability could be worth the cost.  For standard RV type users like us, AGM is about as rich as we get.  There are definitely home improvements I would consider that I would not consider for the coach.

[artvonne]

  Has anyone looked at or used nickel iron batteries?  Ive read bad stories about Li/Ion, that thermal runaways are rather common from internal shorts and can be quite spectacular (think cell phones).

[technomadia]

The battery chemistry we're using, LiFePO4, is NOT the same battery chemistry as you're thinking.  The chemistry used in portable electrics that is known for thermal runaway is Lithium-Cobalt-Oxide (LiCoO2) - and can indeed have some dramatic & dangerous effects when overcharged.  That chemistry would not be recommended in any way as a house battery system.

LiFePO4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate) is non-combustable and does not have issues with thermal runaway. It's primary application has been for electric vehicle conversions, and that industry is bringing the prices down to be a serious contender for house systems.

But do see the caveat I just replied on the new thread about Lithium: http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=22186.0 

We in no way consider even LiFePO4 to be ready for most RVers - it's still very much pioneer territory.

- Cherie

[pickpaul]

Liberty is using this type of battery for their house bank now...

http://www.libertycoach.com/liberty-life?id=165

Not sure you're ever going to be able to heat appropriately via battery bank though.

My plan is to install a waste motor oil furnace or hot water hear if the coach has hydronic. Can't beet the price of fuel and it's easy to pick up when your home is on wheels :-)

Cheers, Paul.

[viento1]

The only waste oil furnace I have ever seen are quite large. Great idea though, you could run the drip tube from the 8v71 to the furnace.

[pickpaul]

I've done some shopping around and there are smaller ones but noone has made a webasto sized one yet. Shame really, I'm sure they'd sell like got cakes to truckers. Anyway, I figure the extra btu's could go to the bays. When fuels free, why the hell not?

[Lin]

Another possible heat source is something like the Webesto Air Top heater.

[buswarrior]

It doesn't take that much cutting with a little diesel to get your motor oil through any oil burning nozzle.

Who has done some measuring as to ratios?

Proper filtration to protect the nozzle is key.

happy coaching!
buswarrior