The Ultimate And Affordable RV Heating System

[dave_in_delaware]

I wish I could contact Jim Phypers and ask him exactly how he did his "retrofit" in his travel trailer. He said he just added a closed loop in his existing hot water system... but how!?

Contacting Mr. Phypers has been unsuccessful on a few occasions.

[jage]

Write him a letter. PM sent.

[droflex]

Hello everyone,

I'm obviously new here and found this forum because I have been tirelessly working to figure out how to implement Jim Phypers hydronic heating system.

http://www.solarhaven.org/HPArticle.htm

It obviously seems simple enough but I had to figure out a couple things on my own.

His article was originally written in 1992 so some of the parts that are listed may no longer exist or the names have changed. He didnt list actual part numbers.

The closest thing to a Dayton/Clifton (low amp) fan that I could find is at this sight:

http://www.backwoodssolar.com/catalog/f ... edom%20Fan

Phypers suggest a Hartell pump but almost $500 is a far cry from the $155 he listed in his plan (maybe it's because he wrote it in 1992). The EL-SID units seem to draw the least amp as far as I can see. Every one of these pumps are expensive.

Here is the link to the pump page:

http://www.ecovantageenergy.com/catalog/subcat49.htm

Heater core: Easy enough, found one at autozone for about $50. I had to go in the back room where they keep them and look through the boxes to check sizes. The guy was cool enough to let me do that but after about the fifth box I could tell he was getting a little frustrated (don't know why, he's getting payed by the hour).

Rheostat: Haven't even got that far yet.

Today I'm going to the big "boat parts" store to see what they have 'cause I guess boat guys do the same stuff as RV guys do

Does anybody see one that sticks out to be the best choice?

I'm going to use a plastic storage "tote" box to house everything in.

To close off the system so that the water circulates through only the heater core I will need to add in a bypass valve with a lever so that the system isn't circulating through every pipe in the rig. When water is need for the sink or whatever I would have to manually open the valves to allow the water to flow and then remember to shut them off again for just the heat. I think that's what he meant.



That part sounds like a chore but someone said I could get fancy and install some kind of toggle switch that would do the same thing but I would only do that if I could verify the system actually worked as planned.

Right now I'm running off shore power using a 1500 watt heater and can keep the temps to 68 degrees easily so I'm hoping that the hydronic system can do the same otherwise I will be quite disappointed.

Anybody else have any luck getting there system up?

Thanks!

[droflex]

Well, I went to the big boat store today and they indeed have pumps that will work but the amps are too much (5-8 amps) so battery drain is a problem. I want to be able to heat for days-on-end with very little propane use and power drain. I can run generator to recharge the batteries but propane requires driving many miles to find a filling station.

Solar is out of the question for battery charging if parked in the woods plus roof space is limited.

The links I listed on my previous post seem to be the best solution for keeping amps low. The EL-SID pumps seem the way to go but I need to call the company to figure out which model is best suited for the hydronic system.

Also, I dont know how many gallons per hour/minute I would need for a 6 gallon (approximately) hot water heater to keep it running efficiently.

[WVvan]

I'm not sure of amp ratings but have you looked at these types of pumps?

EBERSPACHER-HYDRONIC-WATER-HEATER-12V-PUMP

[droflex]

I checked it out and did more research on the internet to find more info.

Seams obscure. Not that it it is a bad product just that cant find much info on it. No amp ratings for one.

The pump that is required to live "off grid" for extended camping must use low amps even if using multiple 225 amp batteries. Batteries can only run down max 50% so every 225 amp battery should really be considered about 100 amps (50% if fully charged). Lithium Ion can run all the way down and have no problems but we don't have that yet in large scale for RV/Boats.

A genset will only charge to about 80% without wasting unnecessary fuel 'cause getting that extra 20% to get to full 100% is easy when plugged in to shore power but the genset has to work much harder to get there so it is a fuel issue. With solar, there isn't enough usable sunlight unless you live in certain parts of the world/country (but then you might not even batteries or genset at all).

Filling a tire with an air pump to 25 pounds of pressure is no problem. Getting it to 35 pounds takes a lot more energy and time. Same with batteries.

A Pro fisherman once told me that they use there engines to get to 80% and then let the batteries get to 50% then go back to 80% 'cause if they tried to get the batteries to 100% they would waste to much fuel.

The only time they went to 100% battery was when they were tied up to shore power.

He said better to run out of heat than run out of fuel when your out in the middle of of the sea.

I cant stand being cold so I am hell bent on getting this system running.

Anyway, I got off track. The pumps/fans we need for maximum run time (whether hydronic heating or not) need to be very low amp draw.

How much is very low draw? 1.5 amp or less (in my opinion).

We (most of us) are not "park queens". We go where we want and when we want.

We want our computers and stuff to stay connected to the "grid people" too.

[Bbasso]

What about something like this?
http://www.precisiontemp.com/pt_rvmd_rv500.html
And then is there a way to use the heat from the water to heat the interior?

Btw, Hello
First time poster... long time reader and van owner.

[Bbasso]

Came across something odd, but it maybe it can be made to work...?
http://www.campist.com/archives/zodi-ho ... eater.html

[saabman]

Clever piece of kit, very simple and seems nice and portable, I am quite tempted to get one but not sure what standard of gas canister it take in the Zodi... Could probably Homemake it

[Bbasso]

Looks like a standard 1 lb. Propane Cylinder (at least here in the States)