Diesel heating in a fifth wheel
As stated in my handle, my family and I are now full timers not by choice. We are also new 5'er owners. I am looking forward to the challenge. Our house was destroyed by a wild fire in the beginni...
Forum Discussion
My condolences on the house, but the ant problem probably will persist. Even termites will go underground for a while, and return soon.
Scorpions might not return for a while, but if their eggs still have not hatched this year, they can come back quickly.
Snakes probably went underground during the fire, and will be out hunting very soon. Mice population probably went way down.
Will the county allow you to hook up a temporary electrical system to your home? for the construction and the RV? Hopefully they will. You might also be able to install a construction trailer, with full bath and a office, they normally rent pretty low cost. But the fifth wheel is even less expensive. Either can have a 100 - 200 gallon tank installed near it to pump out weekly or so or you might be able to plumb into the old home septic or sewer connection fairly easy.
As for the original question about diesel heat for the RV? Why?
Here is what it will cost to make 80,000 Btu's of heat.
Electric heater. 22 KW
Propane furnace or water heater - 1 gallon of propane, or about $3 locally to me.
Heat pump. 8 KW - it can be as low as 12 cents per KW or 96 cents, so much lower cost than the electric heater or propane.
Oil boiler - like used in a diesel pusher. Aside from the initial cost to buy the boiler, and install the in floor heating or fan coils (probably a $3,500 retrofit) the oil is fairly expensive - currently diesel fuel is $3 per gallon and it contains about 130,000 Btu's per gallon, and most boilers are in the 80% efficient rating, with more heat lost to the water piping, so perhaps 1 gallon of fuel to make 80,000 - 90,000 Btu's of heat inside the room you are trying to heat.
Best way to heat? Electric heat in the water hater, with propane back up during a shower (to speed up heat recovery).
For heating the space, a heat pump is more energy efficient. However if your A/C is working great, you might not want to spend $750 - 900 to save a couple of dollars a month in electricity.
Electric heat might be similar cost to the propane furnace, but it is delivered fuel, not propane that you must spend time refilling the tanks, and carry a heavy tank, or have it delivered. So electric is trouble free.
My pick?
If you have heat pumps, use them. If you need to upgrade the A/C anyway, installing a heat pump is only about $100 more, and will save a lot on heating costs.
Changing to a diesel fired heater makes no sense to me at all!
Have fun camping out! OR at least make the best of it.
You might think "I will now have a termite free home" - but the raw wood might include a lot of termites in it. . . .
I am thinking my next house might include a cement block central room, that is fire proof, and will support much of the roof structure weight. SIP walls, and roof will provide super insulation, and very quiet house! It is a great noise barrier.
I live in a cool area, and will include some passive heating, with the ability to close off the shades to cool the home in the summer. 2 speed high efficiency heat pumps to heat and cool the home. If you already have natural gas on site, then gas furnace for back up heat, but the heat pump for days above 30F.
I have a heat pump in my home, and have not run the electric back up heat in the 2 winters I have lived here. I figure if I need it, I can always hook it up later, or back something in the electric oven to heat my house if the heat pump quits working.
Fred.
Scorpions might not return for a while, but if their eggs still have not hatched this year, they can come back quickly.
Snakes probably went underground during the fire, and will be out hunting very soon. Mice population probably went way down.
Will the county allow you to hook up a temporary electrical system to your home? for the construction and the RV? Hopefully they will. You might also be able to install a construction trailer, with full bath and a office, they normally rent pretty low cost. But the fifth wheel is even less expensive. Either can have a 100 - 200 gallon tank installed near it to pump out weekly or so or you might be able to plumb into the old home septic or sewer connection fairly easy.
As for the original question about diesel heat for the RV? Why?
Here is what it will cost to make 80,000 Btu's of heat.
Electric heater. 22 KW
Propane furnace or water heater - 1 gallon of propane, or about $3 locally to me.
Heat pump. 8 KW - it can be as low as 12 cents per KW or 96 cents, so much lower cost than the electric heater or propane.
Oil boiler - like used in a diesel pusher. Aside from the initial cost to buy the boiler, and install the in floor heating or fan coils (probably a $3,500 retrofit) the oil is fairly expensive - currently diesel fuel is $3 per gallon and it contains about 130,000 Btu's per gallon, and most boilers are in the 80% efficient rating, with more heat lost to the water piping, so perhaps 1 gallon of fuel to make 80,000 - 90,000 Btu's of heat inside the room you are trying to heat.
Best way to heat? Electric heat in the water hater, with propane back up during a shower (to speed up heat recovery).
For heating the space, a heat pump is more energy efficient. However if your A/C is working great, you might not want to spend $750 - 900 to save a couple of dollars a month in electricity.
Electric heat might be similar cost to the propane furnace, but it is delivered fuel, not propane that you must spend time refilling the tanks, and carry a heavy tank, or have it delivered. So electric is trouble free.
My pick?
If you have heat pumps, use them. If you need to upgrade the A/C anyway, installing a heat pump is only about $100 more, and will save a lot on heating costs.
Changing to a diesel fired heater makes no sense to me at all!
Have fun camping out! OR at least make the best of it.
You might think "I will now have a termite free home" - but the raw wood might include a lot of termites in it. . . .
I am thinking my next house might include a cement block central room, that is fire proof, and will support much of the roof structure weight. SIP walls, and roof will provide super insulation, and very quiet house! It is a great noise barrier.
I live in a cool area, and will include some passive heating, with the ability to close off the shades to cool the home in the summer. 2 speed high efficiency heat pumps to heat and cool the home. If you already have natural gas on site, then gas furnace for back up heat, but the heat pump for days above 30F.
I have a heat pump in my home, and have not run the electric back up heat in the 2 winters I have lived here. I figure if I need it, I can always hook it up later, or back something in the electric oven to heat my house if the heat pump quits working.
Fred.
