Quote:
Originally Posted by trib
There's a new Espar S3 Economy hydronic small heater on their website. An engine preheater and room heater. (not a water heater). They illustrate it with a sedan. I don't know if it's right for a van. I'm planning an RB Transit conversion, so I'm looking for something smaller that the regular large Espar hydronic heater, if possible.
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The room heater just turns on the factory HVAC system to blow warm air. It's going to spin on low-speed since it's made for a car sized interior. You're not going to be able to heat the inside of a van with the HVAC fan. Plus, it's all powered off the starter battery.
If you want to use a hydronic system to heat the coach area, you need some type of water/air exchanger with a fan behind it.
The D5 is pretty small. I can't imagine an S3 fitting in a space that a D5 wouldn't fit in when you're talking about a van. You'd be much better of heating the interior with a D2 unless you need the factory block heating option and hot water. D2 has a digital thermostat, kicks out heat much faster, takes far less juice, and is a much more simple install. The D5 is more if you need hot water and a block heater. There isn't a thermostat but instead has a timer that you set. And because it has to get the coolant up to temp, it can take a long time to get heat. This is especially true if it's plumbed into the engine block as it has to heat up all that coolant, and the block.
I've moved away from using the D5 for coach heat. We'll have a D4 (beefier D2), and will find some other way to get hot water. Sprinter has a factory Espar option we're exploring, but we may end up just having the D5 mounted for block heating and hot water. it would be a much more simple install if we didn't need create a separate expansion tank and run all those water lines everywhere.