dry camping

[Pete Masterson]

The all-electric 'Bird has AquaHot heat. Uses a Webasto burner to
burn diesel -- about 1/2 gal per hour when the burner is operating.
For low-demand use, it has a 2000 watt electric heating element that
operates with shore power or the generator. The AquaHot is a great
hydronic heating system. It also heats the engine water. I switched
on the engine pre-heat at about 5 this AM and when I started up at
about 8:30, the engine kicked over like it was a 95 degree day --
only it was 31 degrees outside having reached a low of 26 during the
early morning hours in Lubbock. The AquaHot also provides
_continuous_ hot water for domestic purposes (think shower). You
never run out of hot water, but if the source water is really cold,
it can get a bit less than ideally hot toward the tail end of a
shower. (Hint: use your onboard tank, it's usually warmer than ground
water.)

You don't need the generator or shore power for the AquaHot -- but
you do pay for the diesel. The advantage is that you gotta fill the
tank anyway, so it's no extra trouble (there is a small Racor filter,
but it's never given any trouble and gets an annual replacement).

Of course, with diesel at $3.39/gal at some stations I saw today
(Flying J in Amarillo was $3.21) it now costs about $1.60 to $1.80
per hour to operate the Webasto burner.

Pete Masterson
'95 Blue Bird Wanderlodge WBDA 42
aeonix1@...
On the road at Lamar Colorado after a long day from Lubbock...



On Dec 3, 2007, at 1:56 PM, bubblerboy64 wrote:

> I had no idea that there even was an RV of any type that did not have
> propane tanks? Guess that shows how out of touch I am. How about
> heat in cold conditions? I guess you would certainly be running the
> generator then? I guess you pays your money and takes your choice.
> Gasoline or propane. Makes not a lot of difference?
> John Heckman
> central Pa
> 1973 FC
>
>
>
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