Club 80-90 Forums

Up to now the wife and I have always gone down the warm clothes/duvet/tea/cuddling and alcohol route of keeping warm in the van over the winter months. However we've just got a new member of the family, a 3 month old Pointer named Dave. With his short hair he's not one for the wet/cold. I know as he gets older and bigger he'll get better with this but it wouldn't be fair to make him sleep on the floor of the van in January when its -5 now would it. And there's no way he's allowed or would fit in bed with us! He is a dog after all!

Therefore I'm looking in to splashing out on some heating. We've got little electric fan number for the rare occassion we pay for a site, but we really need a propex or eber. Been reading up on them but I'm wondering how noisey they are - are they quiet enough to leave on all night? I guess they must be 'cause that's the whole point isn't it?

our propex is fine!

They are a bit noisy - I switch mine off when I go to bed. Also, bottled butane gas will not work below a certain temperature; propane or LPG is better but it depends on your camper's set up.

We don't hear our Eber inside the van

The van runs on lpg 99% of the time so I'm obviously drawn to the propex. Even if I don't link it in straight away it's always an option later. How hard is it to link into the lpg fuel tank? I should probably do a search on that question before blindly asking!

Ian Hulley wrote:We don't hear our Eber inside the van

Does that mean that yours is mounted outside? I thought that would lead to serious corrosion issues.

Jamie25 wrote:The van runs on lpg 99% of the time so I'm obviously drawn to the propex. Even if I don't link it in straight away it's always an option later. How hard is it to link into the lpg fuel tank? I should probably do a search on that question before blindly asking!

Not sure how you can break into the existing system - or even if you're allowed to. You'd have to ask someone in the business.

You cannot tap into your lpg system to run a propex.you will need a separate tank.Or gas bottle..

Thanks for clearing that up folks. That way I can look into either, probably which ever I find cheaper!

In my old van I had an ebber D1LC (compact diesel.) It sounded like a jet engine during the start up process. As James said, you don't hear it so much inside, it's the outside exhaust where most of the noise comes from. You can buy a silencer off ebay for about £20 but mine never had one so I can't comment on how effective they are. Also for some of the diesel models you need a good battery because they use a lot of power at startup to heat the glowplugs. If your battery isn't tip top they can (and often do) fail to start. Having said all that, they're a brilliant bit of kit and the running costs are very low. They hardly use any diesel at all.

I've just fitted a 1600 compact propex in my new van. As previously stated, butane freezes quite easily so I have mine running on propane. Not a problem as they run off either, just a matter of having the correct regulator which cost me £8.50 from my local camping store. The propex is much quiter than the eber, probably about the same noise level as an electric blow heater, but costs more to run than an eber. So either way there's a compromise.

Personally, when it's freezing in the van I don't care if they run at 100 decibels. I'd rather have the noise than the cold.

Martin - thanks very much for taking the time to write that. Very informative and exactly the sort of thing I was after.

Think I'm probably leaning towards the Propex. They also look a little smaller than the ebers on the whole.

Jamie25 wrote:Martin - thanks very much for taking the time to write that. Very informative and exactly the sort of thing I was after.

Think I'm probably leaning towards the Propex. They also look a little smaller than the ebers on the whole.

It depends on the model but actually there's not much in it between the compact models. Can't comment on other models as I haven't had them. One thing I have noticed is that second hand diesel ebers are going for silly money at the minute. I've been looking for one for about 2 months, thinking that buying before the cold weather set in they'd be a bit cheaper. In actual fact they seem to have gone up massively since I bought my last one about 2 years ago. In my opinion propex's are much better value for money and can be picked up for around £200 if you keep your eyes open. You'll be lucky to find a diesel eber for less than £300, and anything half decent is selling for anything around £400.

Good luck.

Martin

Blimey. Maybe Dave will be in bed with us after all! Best start saving!

Our HS2000 propex is quieter without the ducting on the warm air outlet. Once the ducting is on, bent at 90 degrees to the vent in the bed kick board, the sound is increased due to the echo of the air running through the ducting.

Is there any way to minimise this?

Cruz wrote:Our HS2000 propex is quieter without the ducting on the warm air outlet. Once the ducting is on, bent at 90 degrees to the vent in the bed kick board, the sound is increased due to the echo of the air running through the ducting.

Is there any way to minimise this?

Can you turn the unit through 90 degrees so the outlet attaches straight to the kick board? My propex almost butts up to the edge (although it's not situated under the bed)