Friday, May 29, 2015

Van Build: The Furnace


Once I was in compliance with all the nuances of the installation, the fridge worked like a charm. I've taken the van now on a ten day trip through Escalante. 381 miles with 160 being on dirt roads, and 25 of those were on four wheeled drive roads. The fridge even actually kept stuff frozen in the freezer the whole time. And I mean rock solid frozen. And it's quiet. You can't hear it running at all. I did not use the fan from Dometic, I used the same fan Campingworld sells. They're the local Dometic dealer. Now for the propane furnace. I liked the Heatsource 2000 from Propex ( an English company ). Go Westy sells them. What I liked about it, you can vent it through the floor, and not have to cut a hole in the side. You have more flexibility where you can install it. They have even newer models that you don't have to orient it in any special way.
With all the insulation I installed, I barely had to use it on the trip. In Bryce I turned it on one morning to cut the chill. By the time the coffee was ready, I was back down to my t-shirt. I usually shut it off by the time I go to bed, and sleep in a sleeping bag. I already had experience with the unit because I installed another one in our 76 VW Bus. One time in Bryce we had to have it on all night long because it was like Zero degrees outside that night.

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