Heating System

This is the heater I purchased;

It is a Heatsource HS2000, 12V, Single Outlet 2KW Heater.

I got it as part of a full kit here. This was handy as it came with all the fixings necessary and I did not have to think too much when it came to installation!

Why this heater?

I wanted a heater that ran off the LPG gas and was externally flued. This means the exhaust does not go into the van.

The space is actually pretty small – so I essentially looked for the smallest good quality system I could find. The Heatsource product comes with a thermostat so it will cycle on and off – saving fuel.

As I was aiming to use solar power to run all my electric needs an electric heater would be too much.

Installing the heater

The heater is hiding under the panel beside the gas tank.. you can see the vent tubing. 

The heater firstly needs to be connected to the 12V – so that goes through my fuse box as normal.

The heater needs two holes going through the bottom of the van.

You cannot put it anywhere – under the van there are structural and functional elements that mean you have to measure in from the edge of the van to work out where it can be placed.

These are the pipes (black inlet, chrome; exhaust) coming from the heater. As you can see you cannot just put it anywhere! I did not have a metal hole cutter so you can see my style of hole cutting largely revolves around drilling lots of holes in a circle! I spray foamed these holes after I was finished.

I first drilled a pilot hole to check I was in the right place. I wasn’t, so based on that hole drilled another, marked out the two holes for the heater inlet and exhaust and cut the holes using the jig saw.

After connecting the inlet and exhaust pipes (as per the heater’s manual) attached them under the van – making sure the inlet and outlet were, as instructed, not inside a cavity under the van. I zip tied them in to place – drilling holes where necessary to do so.

The ends are screwed in using clips that came as part of the fixing kit.