gas or diesel heating & cooking choice

[jagmanx]

Depends where you are travelling.
If lpg is readily available...
My thoughts are that 2 x 11kg lpg tanks is good.
We go up to 4 weeks in summer.so your winter profile is a consideration
Inverter etc too much cost and pfaff.
Induction cooker if on ehu but trivial.
Ok running heating (habitation and water) on diesel sounds attractive but for me it would only work if everything works on diesel.
I have not seen a diesel fridge ??
So diesel for mileage and gas for everything else would be my choice.
Together with moderate solar and either 1 lithium or 2 other batteries to keep it all working.
An extra red diesel tank ..again too much pfaff..to fill even if you can fit everything yourself !
KISS keep it simple and sane !

 

[mistericeman]

All horses for courses ....and lots of ways to skin a cat

Love the all diesel idea (less reliance on LPG the better as far as I'm concerned )

I've recently removed the temperamental 3 way fridge and replaced with 240v mains/Victron eco inverter ...

And removed the carver gas fire in favour of an eberspacher d2 .

Already had solar/batteries .

I personally wouldn't bother with the pfaff of a separate tank ...d2 uses so little fuel its not noticeable ....and don't want the smells/spills from a separate tank for the nano pence saving .

I considered a Wallas stove when I had the boat as they are quality bits of kit ...

We have 2 x 6kg gaslow refillables so they should last us a goodly amount of time when away as it'll only get used for occasional cooking .

 

[Trotter]

All horses for courses ....and lots of ways to skin a cat

Love the all diesel idea (less reliance on LPG the better as far as I'm concerned )

I've recently removed the temperamental 3 way fridge and replaced with 240v mains/Victron eco inverter ...

And removed the carver gas fire in favour of an eberspacher d2 .

Already had solar/batteries .

I personally wouldn't bother with the pfaff of a separate tank ...d2 uses so little fuel its not noticeable ....and don't want the smells/spills from a separate tank for the nano pence saving .

I considered a Wallas stove when I had the boat as they are quality bits of kit ...

We have 2 x 6kg gaslow refillables so they should last us a goodly amount of time when away as it'll only get used for occasional cooking .

My 3 way has been a 2 way for some time. It's soon to be a no way. The replacements are already in the van, although not yet permanantly fixed. Two chest fridges. 18 ltr freezer, 35 ltr fridge.
The space the 3 way takes up, will then become a larder.

Question.
When I remove the 3 way, I'll cap the gas at the manifold. Anyone know the cap thread size

 

[mistericeman]

My 3 way has been a 2 way for some time. It's soon to be a no way. The replacements are already in the van, although not yet permanantly fixed. Two chest fridges. 18 ltr freezer, 35 ltr fridge.
The space the 3 way takes up, will then become a larder.

Question.
When I remove the 3 way, I'll cap the gas at the manifold. Anyone know the cap thread size

Usually 8mm from memory

 

[Molly 3]

I'm revisiting this thread nearly 4 years later, now with an all-diesel campervan standing in the driveway.

It's a gas-free self-build Rifter conversion with a Wallas diesel hob which doubles as a hob for cooking with the lid raised or a heater with thermostat with the lid lowered. It's early days but so far very impressive performance and economical in use, especially when tested in the December chill at -9°C. Avoiding having to carry a heavy and bulky gas bottle is a huge advantage in a small vehicle and even more so now that gas bottles are not so easy to source.

 

[Rec]

Love the diesel hob and heater. Bit out of our price range when not needed but would consider if doing another conversion. We only have a 3.9kg bottle for a two ring hob but the difficulties buying them recently was a pain.

 

[nabsim]

How exactly does the hob work as a heater, the stuff I have seen on them suggests the heat source at worktop level. Normally you would have floor vents for heat, do these have some sort of blower system that pushes the air out at floor level when in heater mode?

 

[mistericeman]

How exactly does the hob work as a heater, the stuff I have seen on them suggests the heat source at worktop level. Normally you would have floor vents for heat, do these have some sort of blower system that pushes the air out at floor level when in heater mode?

Fan blows air out along the front edge of the lid when it's in the closed position .

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Never considered one of those, but apart from the heating up and cooling down it seems quite good and no bottle needed, not sure of the economics of purchase, fitting and running compared to a LPG hob and a LPG heater with Diesel so expensive right now.

Is there a oven and hob version? as we would always want an oven.

 

[mistericeman]

Never considered one of those, but apart from the heating up and cooling down it seems quite good and no bottle needed, not sure of the economics of purchase, fitting and running compared to a LPG hob and a LPG heater with Diesel so expensive right now.

Is there a oven and hob version? as we would always want an oven.

Yes they do a oven too ....

Not cheap at first view BUT if you were building from scratch and costed
LPG hob
LPG oven
LPG Fire

And possibly refillables (calor bottle obviously cheaper BUT Calor refills = obscenely expensive)

Then there's probably not much in it ....and the convenience of just filling the main tank for cooking/heating is very appealing .

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Ta muchly, obs I'm not needing one, but it is interesting looking at other tech, tis for me anyway.

 

[jagmanx]

Re the wallas
Cooking
Only 2 hobs not a problem but it seems they both have to be pn ?
Also a bit slow for a simple cuppa ?
Heating ok especially in a small vehicle and maybe in a medium sized
Hot water especially for shower ?
Ok now maybe a 240v instant heater
2000watts so 20 amps for 5 minutes ?
Or is there a diesel water heater ?

No way am I looking to do this but of interest.
Now combined with an induction hob !
Again hot water for a shower ?

 

[jagmanx]

Doing a bit of surfing..
There exist 12v immersion heaters @ 300watts so cabling as per an inverter.
Also suitable tanks to match diy needed but not costly
Not for me but that would solve the hot water problem with sensible use.
Video suggested 40 mins from cold to hot.
Then the Wallas would do cooking and heating in

 

[mistericeman]

Doing a bit of surfing..
There exist 12v immersion heaters @ 300watts so cabling as per an inverter.
Also suitable tanks to match diy needed but not costly
Not for me but that would solve the hot water problem with sensible use.
Video suggested 40 mins from cold to hot.
Then the Wallas would do cooking and heating in

Or eberspacher hydronic plumbed into a calorifier/heat exchanger via the engines coolant system .

 

[nabsim]

Fan blows air out along the front edge of the lid when it's in the closed position .

I dont think that would be much good as the only heat source in my 7.5mtr van. Feet and ankles would be freezing this weather. I like the idea (but not necessarily the prices) but for me I would still need the Eberspacher for heating. Would put these at same price as buying inverter, Lifepo4 and a genny to keep topped up if just for cooking with.

 

[mistericeman]

I dont think that would be much good as the only heat source in my 7.5mtr van. Feet and ankles would be freezing this weather. I like the idea (but not necessarily the prices) but for me I would still need the Eberspacher for heating. Would put these at same price as buying inverter, Lifepo4 and a genny to keep topped up if just for cooking with.

All horses for courses I reckon ....lots of different ways to skin a cat ...
If/when I build another van ....I'd go for a "bubble" drip feed stove for heating .
Nice cosy look and no need for any electric (though you can fit a fan to improve the chimney draw if needed )

 

[CriftinsCampers]

@jagmanx
I have the 12/230v immersion fitted to a 30L horizontal Surecal

When the suns out I can use it as a Solar dump but otherwise I turn it on whilst driving, it takes a couple of hours on 12V to take the 30L tank up to 70c ish degrees from 20c. or just about an hour via mains, we tend to pre heat the tank on mains before we leave home.
It takes a little bit less time to heat up when stationary but that's because the waters not being mixed as we drive.
So far it has worked out so well just on electricity I have not connected the heating coil to the engines cooling circuit yet.

There are downsides though, the tank loses a lot of heat so goes luke warm over night. there is not enough insulation plus the plumbing and large boss for the immersion element is a fairly significant heat sink. I am going to have to box mine in and insulate the entire thing.
for 30L of DHW a fairly bulky 5L expansion vessel is required.
The tank and expansion vessel weigh 50-60Kg.

 

[jagmanx]

@jagmanx
I have the 12/230v immersion fitted to a 30L horizontal Surecal

When the suns out I can use it as a Solar dump but otherwise I turn it on whilst driving, it takes a couple of hours on 12V to take the 30L tank up to 70c ish degrees from 20c. or just about an hour via mains, we tend to pre heat the tank on mains before we leave home.
It takes a little bit less time to heat up when stationary but that's because the waters not being mixed as we drive.
So far it has worked out so well just on electricity I have not connected the heating coil to the engines cooling circuit yet.

There are downsides though, the tank loses a lot of heat so goes luke warm over night. there is not enough insulation plus the plumbing and large boss for the immersion element is a fairly significant heat sink. I am going to have to box mine in and insulate the entire thing.
for 30L of DHW a fairly bulky 5L expansion vessel is required.
The tank and expansion vessel weigh 50-60Kg.

Just musing.
Quite happy with our Truma heating and water system and gas hob !
I like the idea of "no gas" ! Now more possible with solar etc

 

[nabsim]

@jagmanx


There are downsides though, the tank loses a lot of heat so goes luke warm over night. there is not enough insulation plus the plumbing and large boss for the immersion element is a fairly significant heat sink. I am going to have to box mine in and insulate the entire thing.
for 30L of DHW a fairly bulky 5L expansion vessel is required.
The tank and expansion vessel weigh 50-60Kg.

That weight includes the 35ltrs of water though doesn’t it? Single coil is only 10.5kgs empty. I was wondering what extra weight I was carrying with the coolant pipes running from engine to under the bed. Must admit I was surprised how light calorifier are when you compare to other ways of heating water. It’s because they hold so much water but that’s always useful I think

 

[kangooroo]

@Trotter

We are using a 22L compressor coolbox and a single Lifeo4 leisure battery with B2B charger. We also have 3 x 80W folding solar panels but these haven't been used yet having only bought the car in October and completed the conversion in December. On its first trial trip of 4 nights in -8°C, the battery powered the heater, hob and coolbox but it will need more testing in the summer and warmer weather.

I use the same compressor coolbox in my camping-car and a 130Ah leisure battery keeps it running for 2-3 days in an ambient temperature of up to 12-16°C.

I wouldn't envisage any need for 500-600W solar. Both the Wallas heater/hob and compressor coolbox draw very little from the battery and the lithium battery has the advantage that it can be drained below that of conventional lead acid and similar.