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Heating / Cooling Gasoline Espar

in-Transit

in-Transit

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
Ok so I'm sitting at bolt central with my buddy heater on low pondering the purchase of a gasoline Espar heater. I have a horrible fear of asphyxia from carbon monoxide and have 2 alarms one at rear and one next to my head. Both front windows cracked and can feel the breeze in my 0* bag... how much and is there a maintenance schedule for em? Sprinter of old's webasto never had a hitch EVER. I'm thinking gasoline has to be more complex right?input from owners please ! As I see the purchase in a few days at the temps now !


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ntimevan

ntimevan

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
Ekhedge said:
Ok so I'm sitting at bolt central with my buddy heater on low pondering the purchase of a gasoline Espar heater. I have a horrible fear of asphyxia from carbon monoxide and have 2 alarms one at rear and one next to my head. Both front windows cracked and can feel the breeze in my 0* bag... how much and is there a maintenance schedule for em? Sprinter of old's webasto never had a hitch EVER. I'm thinking gasoline has to be more complex right?input from owners please ! As I see the purchase in a few days at the temps now !


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Click to expand...
I use my Big Buddy when its 25° or less ... 50" sleeper area ... semi insulated ( foil layer done) on low heat it keeps it 40° inside with 1 window cracked 1/2 inch ... perfect for me .... if you have no insulation yet ... go to harbor freight get cheap cargo blankets ... put on walls , ceiling , floor , & divider between bed & cargo area ... it works better than nothing...

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Ovm Meme's - on demand
 
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ntimevan

ntimevan

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
schwanman said:
Espar installed 2013 at thermo king. Promaster gas with sleeper and doors to rear for 3 pallets when needed. No maintence needed yet.
Click to expand...

scottm4211 said:
I have the more powerful B4 gas in my van. Get this model it works less to keep you warm.
As far as complexity the B4 shares many parts with the D4 diesel
Click to expand...
COST Installed ...?

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schwanman

Expert Expediter
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Moot

Moot

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
The following data is lifted from the Ford Transit Forum and was conducted in a Ford Transit. Most of the temperature readings are stated in both Celsius and Fahrenheit. The accompanying graph the temperatures are in Celsius. Maybe Scott could translate to Fahrenheit.

I saw in a number of posts that heaters were running constantly to maintain a reasonable temperature in the van. I did a little experiment to see what the duty cycle of my heater would be.

Van: Extended length, high roof, no windows, bulkhead.
Insulation: XPS foam floor 1.5", walls 1"-2", ceiling 2.5", bulkhead 1.5", doors foam and polyester fiber, upper and lower wall channels filled with polyester fiber.
Heater: Espar B4 gasoline, 3800 W (13000 BTU)
Weather: -9C dropping to -13C (16F to 8F).
No wind. Snow on the roof 1.5".

I have attached a graph of the results (temperatures and fan amperages). Given that we were having a spell of reasonably cold weather, I let the van sit cold for 2 days and then turned the heater on and set the DigiMax D1000 controller to 21C (70F). From the graph you can see that heater ran for about an hour in power mode (3800W, 3.8A) and then dropped to medium mode (2100W, 1.3A) for 30 minutes and then dropped to low mode (1300W, .7A) and ran continuously to maintain that temperature.

I entered the van at 6.5 hours and 21C was too hot to sleep so I turned it down to 15C (60F). The heater shut down for a couple hours and then it started cycling, 4 minutes of warming the glow plug, 15 minutes on medium, 1 hour on low and 1 hour shut off, then repeat. This cycling would use about 18AH of current and 2.5L of gas in 24 hours.

My bed is located 18" off the floor, opposite the heater (which is installed just behind the c pillar). I was very comfortable (though my nose did get cold at the end of a cycle and I could hear the pump ticking on startup, but it would be drowned out by the fan in medium mode). In low, the pump and fan combined to produce a bit of white noise.

Outside the van, the heater (I have intake and exhaust mufflers installed) produces a low growl on low, obvious when you are standing next to it, but not so obvious when you are standing at the front or the back or the opposite side of the van. The sound blends in with urban noises, though the patch of snow that the exhaust melts does stand out.

A few more observations. The Digimax is a thermostat and switches based on the temperature at it's location. Mine is installed half way up my bulkhead, above my bed. The Digimax didn't use what Espar calls the large mode (3200W) during this experiment. Maybe it would come into play on a colder night. Also on the graph you can see that the heater did fire up the glow plug (8.5A) just after 4 hours, when it didn't really need to. I wonder if it is burning the glow plug clean?

Well that's my report of an overnight stay in my driveway. I won't be able to provide this sort of logging when I am camping, as the the computer uses about 25 AH per day. I suppose the goal is to gather more reports about different heaters, weather conditions etc., to help new members plan their build.

Cheers.
.
Espar Graph.png
 
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guido4475

guido4475

Not a Member
ntimevan said:
Ekhedge said:
Ok so I'm sitting at bolt central with my buddy heater on low pondering the purchase of a gasoline Espar heater. I have a horrible fear of asphyxia from carbon monoxide and have 2 alarms one at rear and one next to my head. Both front windows cracked and can feel the breeze in my 0* bag... how much and is there a maintenance schedule for em? Sprinter of old's webasto never had a hitch EVER. I'm thinking gasoline has to be more complex right?input from owners please ! As I see the purchase in a few days at the temps now !


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I use my Big Buddy when its 25° or less ... 50" sleeper area ... semi insulated ( foil layer done) on low heat it keeps it 40° inside with 1 window cracked 1/2 inch ... perfect for me .... if you have no insulation yet ... go to harbor freight get cheap cargo blankets ... put on walls , ceiling , floor , & divider between bed & cargo area ... it works better than nothing...

poking sticks --refilled
Ovm Meme's - on demand
Click to expand...


All that big money you make, and you are a bigger tight wad than OVM???? Lol...Get a B----4 and write it off. Unless you enjoy sleeping with a big buddy and a propane bomb in your van.....lol
 
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ntimevan

ntimevan

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
guido4475 said:
All that big money you make, and you are a bigger tight wad than OVM???? Lol...Get a B----4 and write it off. Unless you enjoy sleeping with a big buddy and a propane bomb in your van.....lol
Click to expand...
LOL ... i have been sleeping in warmth... during Thanksgiving break I installed a Chinese Diesel Air Heater myself. ... works great plus it was $ 258.00 delivered to my house within 3 days ....

Don't be the Grinch
 
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DollarSign

DollarSign

Fleet Owner
Owner/Operator
in-Transit said:
Ok so I'm sitting at bolt central with my buddy heater on low pondering the purchase of a gasoline Espar heater. I have a horrible fear of asphyxia from carbon monoxide and have 2 alarms one at rear and one next to my head. Both front windows cracked and can feel the breeze in my 0* bag... how much and is there a maintenance schedule for em? Sprinter of old's webasto never had a hitch EVER. I'm thinking gasoline has to be more complex right?input from owners please ! As I see the purchase in a few days at the temps now !


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
You could go to Lowes and buy the insulated styrofoam with a high rating value and cut it and put it into the walls. Also you can buy a big roll of that silver stuff that we all use to put in the front windshield to keep the dash cooler.

Put that over the styrofoam and it's cheap. You could go to the bathroom section and get that cheap vinyl for bathrooms and use that to cover the walls.

I say keep reading the older fourms and you should have your answer there.
 
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