Which heater is best for vanlife?
Imagine a day of winter activities and returning to a warm van for apres!
This is part 1 of our heater education series.
The warm and fuzzies
Adding a heater to your van is a great way to extend your van season. At Vanlife Customs we install, service and repair Espar and Webasto Air and Hydronic heaters. Here’s the information you need to make the right choice when it comes to installing a heater in your van.
Are diesel & gasoline heaters safe?
The Espar Airtronic and Webasto Air Top heaters function as self-contained diesel heaters. They pull fuel from your vehicle’s tank into the unit, where a glow plug ignites it. Intake air and exhaust gases move in and out through the van floor. A built-in fan then pushes cabin air across the heat exchanger to warm and recirculate it inside.
Combustion is in a sealed chamber and the heaters have a multitude of safety features to shut them down if they sense an issue.
We recommend installing a carbon monoxide detector in any vehicle with an aftermarket heater.
Which heater is best for your Sprinter, Transit or ProMaster?
Diesel Heaters
The diesel heaters have been used for years in commercial applications such as semi truck sleeper cabs and busses. Historically the diesel heaters have been more robust and tend to have less problems. They operate at higher elevations reliably. Later generation heaters from Espar and Webasto are equipped with automatic altitude compensation. A potential drawback to diesel is that in extremely cold temperatures, the fuel will gel and this can cause failures to start.
Gasoline Heaters
In recent years the availability of gasoline (benzine) heaters has increased. Espar and Webasto are both producing a reliable gasoline heater in the 2KW and 4KW platform which have altitude compensation either automatically or with manual adjustment. We have found that the gasoline heaters tend to be more temperamental due to the volatility and cavitation properties of gasoline.
How many kilowatts or BTUs do I need to heat my van?
A 2KW (6,800BTU) heater is more than enough to heat a well insulated long or short Sprinter, Transit or ProMaster van. If you van has a lot of windows or, i.e. a passenger van, or is an extended length and you plan to spend much of your time in freezing temperatures, then a 4KW Heater may be a better choice.
We recommend the 2KW heaters in 95% of the vehicles that come into our shop. These air heaters run best when they are working hard. An oversized heater may cycle on and off more often and this creates scenarios that cause carbon buildup and lead to failed starts.
Air Heater Install Considerations
Heaters need to be mounted straight to the van’s metal floor, which means cutting holes through the floor for intake and exhaust. If your build already has finished flooring, that section will need to be trimmed back so the unit can sit flush on the metal. Because of that, we usually suggest installing the heater under the passenger seat when space allows, or inside a cabinet or storage box with ducting routed to vents where you want the heat.
Espar and Webasto heater installation considerations by vehicle
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In a Mercedes Sprinter, the most common spot for the heater is beneath the passenger seat. It fits whether you have the factory swivel or not. If that space is taken up by auxiliary batteries, the unit can go anywhere else as long as there’s clean access through the floor from underneath the van.
Mercedes also includes a factory auxiliary fuel tap, which makes tying into the fuel system for the heater straightforward.
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In a Ford Transit, the heater is most often mounted under the passenger seat. It works with factory swivels, and it’s a clean, efficient spot. If that area is already taken by auxiliary batteries or the rear AC blower, the heater can be placed elsewhere as long as there’s solid access through the van floor from underneath.
Ford includes an auxiliary fuel tap on top of the fuel sender. That port needs to be opened up, then the supplied fuel line is routed into the tank and secured in place.
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Ram discontinued diesel vans after 2018, so most of the units we install are gasoline models. Diesel or gas heaters can mount under the passenger seat, unless the van has factory swivels in that position. If that space is unavailable, the heater can go anywhere with proper access through the floor from underneath.
Ram includes an auxiliary fuel port on top of the tank, accessible beneath the floor between the front seats. That port must be opened up, and the supplied fuel line dropped into the tank and secured.