| Author |
Message |
David Anderson (168.215.176.116)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 30, 2002 - 6:20 pm: | |
I'm about ready to set up my hydronic heaters. I have Webasto #909 toe kick heaters. One in the bedroom, one in the bathroom, but I'm stumped as to the placement of the 2 in the front. Should I put one in the galley and one way up front, ie., just behind the driver? Or should I put both as far to the front as possible?
The reason I ask is that it always seems extra warm in a person's kitchen and colder in his living area. Does this reasoning apply in a bus, also?
Just wondering out loud. What have you guys done?
Thanks,
David |
Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy) (66.190.119.82)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 30, 2002 - 9:45 pm: | |
David, I have one right up front in a cabinet directly behind the driver. It has two air outlets. It exhausts hot air forward on the left side of the driver and also across the aisle toward the passenger. Believe me, it is really nice to have on cold mornings. It is on a separate thermostat than the other unit in the rear lounge area.
Richard |
David Anderson (168.215.176.149)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 31, 2002 - 12:02 am: | |
Thanks Richard. In your opinion, do you think you need many btu's of heat in the kitchen area? It always seems like kitchens have extra heat from appliances like a reefer, stove, etc.
I'm leaning to put much more btu's toward the front where cold air will penetrate during entrance and exit. I'm refering to when I'm parked and not necessarily traveling. However it probably will get even colder while traveling due to wind, which justifies my placement of most of the heating as far forward as practical. |
FAST FRED (63.215.234.49)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 31, 2002 - 5:06 am: | |
With the vast window area foward , plus the ventilated door , heat or air cond far foward is good.
FAST FRED |
joe shelton (Littlewind) (67.241.230.106)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 31, 2002 - 6:20 am: | |
Windows and the exit door really cool things down. We cook & bake but the resulting heat is gone for night sleep. And the heat from the gas fridge goes up the flew. In my 4106 the living area is from the kitchen forward where there are 2 big windows and the windshield. There is a door at the end of the kitchen to the bath. At night the BR and bath are always toasty while the living area is cool to cold. I have 3 hot-H2O heaters with squall-cage blowers & separate thermostats; one in the BR, one just forward of the kitchen door and the other under the couch. To try to provide more heat up front, I plan on re-wiring the defroster to operate with the master key off (no low-air pressure buzzer) sense the webasto flows hot H2O thru it as well. I think I will add a driver's foot warmer as well and maybe a second heater up front. |
Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy) (66.190.119.82)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 31, 2002 - 9:47 am: | |
David, to answer your question, I think heat is definitely needed in the kitchen area. In general, cooking generates very little heat in the kitchen, and what is generated is generally for a relatively short period of time. Also a hood vent may exhaust much of it.
I think the key to comfort is proper zoning so that you can easily control the heat for the particular time of day or circumstances and this will probably vary for each individual’s tastes. My wife and I are both true snowbirds and we like to sleep in a very cool or cold environment. Regardless of the outside temperature, we seldom have any heat in the bedroom and generally have both windows cracked.
First, we have pocket doors so that we can close off the bedroom from the bathroom, and another pocket door to close off the bathroom from the kitchen.
We have four heat zones controlled by thermostats, as follows: bedroom, bathroom, kitchen/dinette/rear living room and driver/front living room/passenger area.
I also have the original heater/defroster to use while driving or if needed when parked. Switches instead of thermostats control the blowers for the heater/defroster.
A finned heat exchanger is in the bay with all the freezable items for passive heating of that area.
By judicious use of the thermostats, we can keep the coach comfortable with a minimum waste of heat.
Richard |
jerry (64.12.103.177)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 31, 2002 - 10:03 am: | |
David -
Although my 4106 is a long way from finished the first and only hydronic heater I've installed so far is in the dash -- and I'm GLAD to have it there! It is a large (forget the btu rating) dash unit with a 3 speed blower and theromstacially controlled. I'll evenually pipe heat to the dirver's feet, defrost, and some for the passenger. This one unit does a nice job of heating most the entire bus and the few times I had to use it while driving I was sure glad to have it there to overcome the cold coming in the front of the bus. Incedentally, I've been told there is some kind of DOT regulation or maybe "guideline" against having this heating system as the only system in the bus -- some kind of requirement to have at least one heating system driven by the engine. I sure like having heat ready long before the engine heats up!! I'd have to concur about the above comments of having more btu's per square foot in the front of the bus. -- Jerry PD4106-1750 |
Bus Jock (152.163.205.69)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 31, 2002 - 12:47 pm: | |
David,
We plumbed our Webasto system into the existing dash / defroster heat exchanger and set up a relay to energize the blowers from the webasto when its on. The added heat on the windshield and driver area keeps the front of the coach nice and warm up there. It works great. We do not switch that blower on when we are hard boon docking to save on juice. Without the blower therte is still quite a bit of heat in the area. The blowers running on 12 volt at low speed take about 1.2 amperes additional. When we are running on the road the engine heats that area.
Jock Fugitt |
David Anderson (168.215.176.103)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 31, 2002 - 6:33 pm: | |
Thanks for the comments. You guys have been great help.
David |