How much baseboard?

[Ross]

Home Depot in NH sells it bu the foot from about 2 feet on up.  This will be the first order of business when I land in TN later this week, so I'll check the book ofr those companies.  Maybe the local HD has it.  I mean, they need heat in TN too, right?

Ross

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Ross,

Oldmanmax has some great calculations. 

Our Proheats at the supply put out roughly 170 deg. and the circulators are 8gpm. Which means you may be a little short but, I don't think you are going into

Canada temps either. So don't sweat it. 

Nick-

[mikeH8H-649]

Ross hope all is well,as far as home depot maybe having them in Tenn.well I have done jobs from upstate NY to AZ and use home depot alot and I can assure you that just because one has something it does not mean any other home depot anywhere will have it but it will be in their system and can be ordered by them if you talk to the right person,usally the people at the contracter desk are the best to deal with since they make some commision on their sales they will take the time to help where as the dept people will just say we do not have it and that is it,   Mike

[JerryH]

I'd have to agree with Nick -- use as much as you can fit.
Unless I am wrong, won't more simply mean that you'll likely be able to satisfy the heat demand more quickly?
If you're short ... you could be screwed.

Jerry H.

[Homegrowndiesel]

Hey Ross
We just got a chance to use our bus for the weekend. Temps down into the high 30s low 40s overnight, windy on the Nanticoke river.
As you know, I have 4' of baseboard in the bedroom, and 15' in the front of bus. I also have 1 toekick with 12 volt fan in front and small 12 volt fan coil in bedroom.

Within 1 hour the bus was up to 75 degrees. now that quick response was mostly due to the fan coils. I turned down the thermostats on the fan coils and went to sleep. I woke up hours later in a sweat, the fan coils were not on, thermometer read 78 degrees , seems like those baseboards were doing a good job. The fan coils may have run sometime though, I am going to disconnect the electric to them and see how it goes with just the baseboards and let you know.

I dont think you can go wrong with all the baseboard you can put in, but I like the quick response of the fan coils. $150.00 for 1 fan coil up front and it's a done deal, not much electcic draw, and you only run it on start up till the t stat shuts it off. Speaking of t-stats put the one controlling the Proheat in the bathroom, you can open either door and get a ballance. Just a thought. You could also put a valve on the front loop and back loop to ballance or shut off each zone. Cheapskate I am I do not want to heat the front of the bus when I am asleep. But to each their own.

Hope all is well, scratch Buddies ears for me, and give him a treat from Roberta.

Bill & Roberta

[oldmansax]

Nick,
Can you tell me the overall use of resources for proheat/baseboard system versus standard Surburban furnace? In my case, I want to stay as long as possible on batteries so what I am wondering is the battery drain. Last longer on Proheat? Longer on Surburban? I know I can add my batteries or solar or run the gen set but the basic use of resources should remain the same.... X number BTUs/H @ X number watts. I can probably figure it myself for Surburban because I have one of those but I don't have any specs on Proheat or Wabasco.

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Ross,

Like Bill said, Toe kicks or forced units heat alot quicker.

Maybe only have a forced hydronic system to get the chill out.

Here is another versitile unit from QL   http://www.boatersworld.com/product/331230029.htm

Nick-

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Oldmanmax,

Yes, the proheat uses Diesel. Pretty much unlimited supply from your bus tank.
In sumwhat mild temps this week my proheat used 3 1/2 gallons of diesel in 8 day's . Stat set at 72 inside bus.
Goto Pro heats web site to learn more.  www.proheat.com
They come in 12v and 24v,   32,000btu, 45,000btu, 90,000btu's, so baseboard would cost you no extra draw.  and we have a supplier with used takeouts....

Nick-

Nick,
Can you tell me the overall use of resources for proheat/baseboard system versus standard Surburban furnace? In my case, I want to stay as long as possible on batteries so what I am wondering is the battery drain. Last longer on Proheat? Longer on Surburban? I know I can add my batteries or solar or run the gen set but the basic use of resources should remain the same.... X number BTUs/H @ X number watts. I can probably figure it myself for Surburban because I have one of those but I don't have any specs on Proheat or Wabasco.

[Stan]

See my previous post about some of the variables that have to be considered when designing a heating system for a bus. Keep in mind that every foot of baseboard used is a foot of wallspace that cannot be used for something else. Baseboard under the cupboards or behind the couch don't have much benefit. In limited space you may  increase the size of the finned tube instead of increasing the length. There is a target flow rate for a boiler and that determines the volume of coolant and the size of the circulating pump.

Remember:  Reducing heat loss is the critical thing in having a comfortable living space.

[DMoedave]

If you have a good plumbing and heating supply they have programs where you measure the square footage of your "room" incling hieght etc and sqr footage of windows and construction type and amount of insulation. It is called a "heat loss" program. after the program totals all the rooms(!) it will tell you how much baseboard you need and how big a boiler. If I get a chance i will try it out on our coach. Our program was supplied by Slantfin Corp. Its on a CD. Dave

[Forrest]

I am looking at a used Proheat M50.  Have had trouble finding much info on their site.  Need to know how to run Proheat unit with a thermostat.  The Proheat tech I have talked to doesn't know if that can be done.  Seems like of course it can be done, but what do I need to do it?  Any ideas?  thx. Forrest

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hello Forrest,

Welcome!  Glad you are posting!

Yes, you can use a thormostat [as an on/off contact] with a proheat.

I can most likly locate you a used M50. You are welcome to contact me if you need to.

Nick Badame

[Homegrowndiesel]

Alot of good posts here Ross.

I think if the couch is about 2" from the wall and adequate inlet air under the couch, you can create a chimney effect to make that baseboard heat exchanger work behind the couch. I don't have the couch there yet so I cannot confirm.  

I just went out to check,,,, my webasto uses 10 amps when firing, 8. something when not firing but on cooldown, temp satisfied with pump circulating.    I have 2 seperate march and 1 ivan labs el-sid pumps on my coolant loops. 1 for bedroom- bath, 1 for front of bus (salon), and 1 for the engine preheat, bay heat loop. I bought 3 different pumps the el-sid, P-ivan 10-bat-12 draws .5 amps, the March P-M809-12, draws 1.5 amps and the third pump, March model# p-m809hs draws 4 amps. I tried all 3 of these pumps to see what was needed, and tried them on every loop.  I don't know offhand what the gas-air heaters ran but I remember it to be close, maybe someone who has one can give us a realworld figure.

My system is plumbed somewhat like an aquahot system.  I now believe you can divert the flow to the needed coolant loops without the added draw of the added circulating pumps. I run my Webasto without running the circulating pumps on and there is enough flow thru that I do not experience short cycling of the Webasto, of course I added a 6 gallon buffer tank.  Circulation losses add up quick though, and George Myers has documented cases of restricted coolant loops that caused short cycling, overheat, shutdown situations.  Manifold early, split the restriction, ease the flow, have an unrestricted priority circuit.  

I think I have a small blower coil for you Ross. I put this in to keep the bays warm, but with all the heat radiating from the webasto and heat exchangers, piping in the wet bay there is no need for it. I am taking it out to add the instant and continuous hot water heat exchanger set up we put in Bruces bus. You need to think about adding that in your bus while you are at it ($100.00 on ebay). No sense having to crack into the coolant loop to many times.  I got my heat exchanger blowers from Wrico, check the price of their units, alot cheaper than boaterworld prices. I love my baseboard heat

Let me know when you want to install it, I  ,,,,, WE would like to help.

Bill Glenn
P.S. they have hot water baseboard in various lenghts at our local R.E. Michaels plumbing supply house and we have an account there.
P.S.-P.S. Forrest, Wire the main power in through a fused unswitched power supply with 12 guage wire for 24 volt system or 10 guage wire for a 12 volt system. (this allows the system to cool down and cycle properly) Wire the on-off trigger wire thru a switch and a thermostat in series ( add appropriate fuse for wire used, low amperage 10 amp 14 guage) When you turn off the switch or when the thermostat is satisfied the system will go into a cooldown blower cycle to clear the combustion chamber of any fumes and be properly ready to refire when turned on again.  easy to do, normal instalation.

[buswarrior]

Hello all.

This is an excellent thread!

Orion was using baseboard radiant heat in their standard floor Orion V transit bus, along with the overhead air circulation.

Even behind the couch, a baseboard rad will eliminate cold places. 

I have a bunch of this 8'  3/4" twin copper pipe and fins rad stuff and will try to do some experiments this winter, in Southern Ontario conditions.

The goal, as always, is to make heat without making unneccesary noise, or wasting energy, by running the generator when it isn't needed.

I'd be thinking that designing in the ability to cut out parts of the rad system using valves, or the inclusion of fan forced portions, controlable by turning the fans on and off,  depending on whether you are in warmer or colder places, would be a good idea.

Don't forget an independant loop that will keep your tanks and lines from freezing!!!!

Using electric heat-trace cabling on your water lines and a loop under/around the tanks for emergency purposes, maybe to never be used, might be a good design consideration?

You never know when that might be needed when all the local sewer dumps are frozen by a snap freeze and you can't return your coach to anti-freezed empty storage conditions on your return from Florida....
Or you have some emergency in which you have to leave the coach unattended or parked somewhere cold...

You saw what happened to Buffalo in the last few days?

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[Stan]

A hydronic baseboard is solely dependent on convection air flow around a baffle plate in the front of the cabinet. A standard cabinet has a moveable shutter inside the cabinet that is used to control heat output. It is normally used to balance the system to get the desired amount of heat in each area. If a fin is left exposed on the top it quickly becomes coated with dust (and/or junk) and  heat radiation drops. Keep in mind that each baseboard cabinet reduces your floor width by three inches.

If you want to put a baseboard behind a couch, you will not be able to build storage under the couch (stops air circulation) and you will have to leave the couch at least six inches from the wall.

Buswarrior makes a good point about avoiding a frozen bus. If there is any chance of every being in cold weather,you have to have an easy way to drain and blow out your water system and the answer for the sewer tank is a mascerating sewer pump that lets you pump your tanks into the nearest toilet through a garden hose. Any water lines that are run close to the wall can be tied to the hydronic water lines to keep from freezing when going down the road.