Looking for input from folks building camper boxes on lm/fm trucks on heat & a/c

[chucky]

Ive spent the last 30 yrs with 5 roof top heat and air units on the foof of the bus and i dont want to use them on my 1083 camper build im trying to keep the foof clean exept for solar panels which i can protect with 2 in round rub rails on the roof im hopeing someone on S.S. have used and can recomend some type of floor mounted unit that will work in a 18 ft box? THANKS

 

[coachgeo]

Ive spent the last 30 yrs with 5 roof top heat and air units on the foof of the bus and i dont want to use them on my 1083 camper build im trying to keep the foof clean exept for solar panels which i can protect with 2 in round rub rails on the roof im hopeing someone on S.S. have used and can recomend some type of floor mounted unit that will work in a 18 ft box? THANKS

search the net for "Mini Split AC systems for campers/RV's

 

[ramdough]

For heat, I would use a cheap diesel heater. eBay has them for $150 and the reviews are pretty good.

For ac, I am curious what you come up with.


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[Dock Rocker]

For heat, I would use a cheap diesel heater. eBay has them for $150 and the reviews are pretty good.

For ac, I am curious what you come up with.


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On the diesel heat here is a pretty good ongoing discussion on EP

https://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/200-5kw-portable-diesel-air-heater.191458/



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[Camel Driver]

I've been doing some research on this myself for our M1083. (Going to be a while before we actually start). But I have found 3 different ideas. 1. Truck bunk heaters that run on diesel. 2. Heaters for water similar to the bunk heaters or engine warmers which look VERY useful for more than air heating. Heat your shower/dish water too. Requires small radiators and/or under floor lines. 3. A diesel fired cookstove/heater. The top has a cover that folds down when not cooking and blows air over the cooktop for forced air heat. Pretty darn expensive though as it is aimed at the boat market. I will see if I saved the links and post them later.

 

[Camel Driver]

Wow, I actually found a much cheaper combination stove top, air heater right away. This one is about $2500 cheaper than the one I was thinking of. https://www.yachtboatparts.com/wallas-kmw85-ceramic-diesel-stove-hob-2530-p.asp

Here's some more cooktop and air heaters. https://www.scanmarineusa.com/

Annnnd...here's some water type heaters. https://www.eberspacher.com/products/fuel-operated-heaters/water-heating.html

I don't know your price range so you might want to be seated while looking! Myself? I have found I had to go back to working a regular job so I can afford to build the truck! There are cheaper versions of this stuff but, it does seem that the boat oriented items are built pretty stout. The regular RV stuff looks to be much lighter duty. We are planning to spend quite a bit of time in our truck and don't want ongoing repairs to spoil out trips.

 

[Camel Driver]

One more thing. We have a Webasto bunk heater in our Ford F350 truck with a service body that we converted to a camper for our winter vacation trips. No insulation and the camper shell has been in weather down to 4 deg. F. The heater keeps it at 70 without a problem, even with a leaky pair of back doors.

A quality bunk heater is worth the money over the Chinese knock offs. Repair parts are available everywhere in the US.

 

[Plasa]

I have a Webasto ThermalPro 90 water heater. The big advantage of water heater is that you can connect it over a heat exchanger to the coolant system of the engine. I did it due low temperatures in the winter.
Preheating the engine 15 minutes eliminates completely the starting issues on cold temperature. And I have no problems with the neighbors with the white smoke starting a cold cat engine.

The Webasto fits quite good in the battery compartement, I take out 2 nato blocks. The heater warms also the batteries, good for them too.

Christian