New outside vented stove design

[John61CT]

Save your pennies for a Propex HS2211.

Mount inside or out, super safe and very efficient.

Equivalent heaters for air direct or hydronic distribution (hot water showers a bonus) that burn your vehicle fuel are available from Espar and Webasto.

 

[John61CT]

> The flames can heat air directly, but you're using the flames to heat the metal and the metal to heat the air. That seems less efficient.

Whole point is to keep the combustion out of the living space.

 

[Dejay]

Thanks @planet-beaver this is an excellent idea! I just joined up to say thank you. A small and safer heater that can be cheaply manufactured. It is very kind of you to offer your expertise and time and work for free so others can benefit.

But I have to shake my head reading some of these replies that seem a bit ungrateful. This website is called CHEAPrvliving after all :

But I probably want wait too until someone builds a prototype and tests the design.

How much more efficient is a vented heater if you factor in the requirement for constant ventilation (cold air)?

 

[Rainier70]

Thank you for the very nice vented heater design.  It appears to be very well thought out. 

I too would suggest adding a valve, venturi, and especially a thermocoupler safety shut off. 

It seems like the main body and most of the machine work is in the build of the heat exchanger middle section.  For those that might experiment with this and build their own I would suggest looking at stove pipe heat exchangers for ideas.  Ones like this picture of a wood stove heat exchanger could be done with multiple small iron pipe sections.  Just a thought.

 

[MrNoodly]

...could be done with multiple small iron pipe sections.

Positioned horizontally and folded down into a bundle to slow the escape of heat out the flue.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Just FYI on those heat exchangers used in wood stove flue pipes, they ALL cause a faster and heavier creosote buildup....

I know it's not the topic...just sayin...

 

[Rainier70]

Damper above the heat exchanger so that the draw is adjustable.

I camp at high elevation,  9 to 10 thousand feet.  I use a vented propane stove, and I  need to adjust both the damper and the venturi to allow for the lower oxygen levels at times.

 

[rm.w/aview]

The heater is a solid aluminum plate 12" long by 8" wide with two sqaure tubes, one as a burning chamber, the second as a manifold for fumes and can be left on all night long supplying steady dry, fumeless heat.
So what do you guys think? Good,bad idea? 

Good idea, I like it

 

[kklowell]

This is not a heat ex-changer. It's a sealed aluminum burn chamber that has fins on the outside throwing the heat into the car. Because it is in vertical orientation, the heated air rises between the fins creating nice air movement without a fan. I can feel the air on top moving.

Have you built a protype?

 

[abnorm]

Yesterday's thread

https://vanlivingforum.com/threads/new-vented-propane-heater-for-small-spaces.45818/

 

[Mattkcc]

Bob just posted a video about heating the van. I use a stove just like him cause I think the Buddy heaters are pointless. BTU per LB of propane is the same no matter how you burn it. One major problem for me is always mousture. Everything gets wet and damp. Not a big problem in the desert but out east, it will drive you insane. Plus I always smell the propane fumes. Can't be good long therm.

Anyways, I worked as an engineer designing cooling and heating systems for 24 years and I think having a vented heater for small spaces would be awesome. I just designed one and want to see what you guys think.

The heater is a solid aluminum plate 12" long by 8" wide with two sqaure tubes, one as a burning chamber, the second as a manifold for fumes. The heater will be at 45 degree angle so that the burned gasses will travel up and out. It will be vary efficiant. 97% of heat is tranffer to the heater unlike most furnesses that have simple baffle. The gasses have to slowly travel up in small channels tranffering heat to the aluminum plate. Because the plate is at 45 degree, the surrounding air will travel through the holes grabbing the heat. There will be mount holes to add $51 eight inch fan (12v). One can place their feet on the heater to warm them up (my biggest problem in winter) because it is at 45 degrees and it is solid plate. Everything would be machined and bolted making this thing last forever. Other than propane gas valve and fan, nothing else to brake. It would require two holes to be drilled in the van for intake and exhust pipe (standard 1" NPT fittings so you can run it however you want it). The valve will controll how much heat you want (basicaly having 9 tiny pilot flames) and can be left on all night long supplying steady dry, fumeless heat. 20lb tank should last 80-100 hours.

I looked at the heater cores and radiotors for this design but they are too weak for travelers. One bump and they get demaged. All small heaters on the market are ventless and the vented once are huge and cost a fortune.

So what do you guys think? Good,bad idea? Any conerns? I can have it priced to see how much they would cost if there is intrest for it. Not trying to make money here. You would buy it directly from a machine shop.

I went with a Plat Cat http://www.ventedcatheater.com/ under a $1000, took a long time to get it but works great. I have a full size Chevy van that is moderately insulated. It uses very little power just a small vent fan and the exhaust is vented down thru the floor and off to the side of my van Been running for several years down to outside temps of 19 F with no issues. You don't get the build up of moisture you get with unvented heaters. I'm not a full timer and go out 2-3 weeks at a time never ran out of propane 20 pound tank. At night I set it at 50 and when I wake up in the morning I reach up and turn the thermostat up to 75 and go back to sleep until the van is toasty warm. This is a pretty easy install as you use pvc pipe to vent, the air being vent is just warm not hot. When the lights are off you see a nice warm orange glow, mine is a large which was what he had available, it comes in a smaller version but I'm glad I got the larger, he also mentioned he sometimes make a medium size. It's a mom and pop company and he makes them in batches, so you could have to wait for the size you want.