Anyone tried using a hydronic heater with a radiator for heating?

Kentsvan

New member
While traveling in Europe I saw a lot of radiators. Some seemed to heat very well. Has anyone tried using an espar to heat via a radiator vs forced air? Maybe even a heated floor? They make radiator towel racks that people use in house bathrooms, wondering if one of those powered by espar would heat the van.
 

Dingo

New member
You could use a hydronic unit to heat the water , but you gain a large weight penalty over forced air heating .

You will have to factor in the weight of the radiator & moutings , piping & fittings , coolant for the system Etc. As well as space lsot by all those fittings

At least with forced air you can simply run flexi trunking to get round awkward areas & rigid to pipe your warmed air to where you want it . Quicker cheaper easier i think .
 

Boater

New member
As Dingo says it is kind of indirect heating, only times I can think it would be useful is if you are already using a hydronic (either for main hot water supply or for auxiliary/pre-heater in the engine coolant system) so would save a bit of space/cost on installing an airtronic. Living in Scotland I have considered adding a hydronic for pre-heating my engine in the winter but it is way down the line after the repairs, and since I already have a D2 I probably wouldn't extend the circuit for heating. I might consider adding a calorifier for hot water but I need propane for the stove so might use a propane water heater, if I get fed up with heating water in the kettle.

I'm not sure a towel rail radiator would be ideal in a motorhome/RV - those things are not exactly built to be light and you will normally want to fit it in the wet space so with the door shut it won't do much for the rest of the van! The radiators used in motorhomes/RVs are usually compact things, often a load of 3" square thin aluminium fins along a length of pipe, although the eberspacher ones are more like a small heater matrix with a fan. The main concern with them is placing them where they won't get kicked or bumped because the fins will bend.

Now, if you were talking about laying loops of microbore pipe under your flooring and using the hydronic for under floor heating, that might make some sense - electric under floor heating will take up less space but I doubt it can be run from a 12V battery.

Central heating is great in a building with lots of rooms because you just need one heating plant to supply them all, but in a small sprinter conversion you often only need one heating outlet, maybe in a larger motorhome with separate bedrooms or a boat with different cabins it is more useful?
 

hein

Van Guru
It's probably faster to heat air directly than to heat water and then use it to heat air. So if it's cold in the van you'll warm it up much faster with an air heater.
 
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Graphite Dave

Dave Orton
Use the search button in blue bar, lots of posts on the subject. Radiant floor heating can work with an aftermarket installed hydronic heater. Since Mercedes bastardized their optional Espar hydronic heater, it is more difficult to use for this purpose. My original plan was to use the optional Espar for heating but I abandoned the idea for several reasons.
 

Diamondsea

New member
See Advanced-RV.com. They use an electric element and/or the Espar to keep a small tank of antifreeze solution hot. A heat exchanger provides domestic hot water. A circulation system also supplies hot fluid to a thermostatically controlled heater core/fan assembly (with cold air return). Electric heat is in the floor. Everything is computer controlled by their proprietary system. They do not use a radiator depending on convection alone. At home in Virginia I heat my entire house with a few electric "oil filled" radiators available from the likes of Home Depot for under $50. A single one on the lowest setting would be more than adequate for an RV. The problem is floor space -- about 10x14 inches is needed plus allowance to keep it a few inches from combustible materials.
 
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