Build your own Water Heater / Furnace Unit?
I know there are newer campers that have combined water heater / furnace units but they are pricey and not necessarily an easy drop in unit. It got me to thinking that it would be an interesting exper...
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I built a hydronic system in my old toy hauler. I started out using the water heater and then switched to a stand alone atwood water heater filled with glycol. It worked amazingly well, camped often to freezing and it maintained 65 in the trailer with a 50% duty cycle. The output was 140*, was really quiet, and didn't dry out the air in the trailer.
I'm currently collecting parts to utilize the water heater in the TC. Using the water in the tank is a bad idea, the anode crude plugs everything up. My plan is to pull the water heater and wrap a coil around it, topsflo circulation pump and 120mm fan/pc radiator. We use a use a similar setup at work to cool compressor heads, not super efficient but it does transfer a good deal of heat.
I'm currently collecting parts to utilize the water heater in the TC. Using the water in the tank is a bad idea, the anode crude plugs everything up. My plan is to pull the water heater and wrap a coil around it, topsflo circulation pump and 120mm fan/pc radiator. We use a use a similar setup at work to cool compressor heads, not super efficient but it does transfer a good deal of heat.
