Recycling engine heat for hot water tank
I'm buying a short school bus and want to use engine heat for the water tank. Last post here is over 10 years old, quoted at bottom. I haven't decided if even gas or diesel, but likely will be a...
Forum Discussion
wildwind.creations wrote:
ALL FANTASTIC INFO HERE THANKS TO EVERYONE!
A 2008 short school bus is $8000 and seems built for long life. It seems an economical option? Perhaps used tires or parts could be found cheap? I had not considered costs of repairs.
Most of what mrandy wrote is correct. Although there are school bus conversions out there that range from basically a homeless shelter on wheels to nice full blown RV conversions.
Based on your post above, it doesn't appear that you are that "into" vehicles or handyman stuff to accomplish the latter with much efficiency or economic feasibility.
Cost of mechanical parts? Meh, same as any class 3-4 gas despite what mrandy cautioned. You need something relatively heavy duty to haul around a small mobile home.
Regarding the water heater specifically, the time and effort to install a heat exchanger seems like a waste of both. New 6 gal LP water heater is about $400 + hardware. The heat exchanger will only be useful for, what half a day after driving the vehicle I suppose if your driving every day, that is fine, or only showering and doing dishes on driving days. Otherwise, you're doing double the work and expense to have 2 separate water heaters, one of which is useless when parked.
