My sister has a VW van which she has converted to a camper van are there any van specific nightheaters on the market or will a standard lorry heater work despite the van being on 12 volts rather than 24 volts any help much appreciated thanks
mazzer:
My sister has a VW van which she has converted to a camper van are there any van specific nightheaters on the market or will a standard lorry heater work despite the van being on 12 volts rather than 24 volts any help much appreciated thanks
I would imagine there are 12v night heaters available as most ambulances have them. Don’t know where you’ll get them though.
melloronlineshop.co.uk do them but the price is scary
damoq:
mazzer:
My sister has a VW van which she has converted to a camper van are there any van specific nightheaters on the market or will a standard lorry heater work despite the van being on 12 volts rather than 24 volts any help much appreciated thanksI would imagine there are 12v night heaters available as most ambulances have them. Don’t know where you’ll get them though.
If what damoq says is right, have a look on the net, or even Autotrader mag vehicle dismantlers section, for car breakers with retired ambulances in their yards.
there are some on ebay-12v about £680+ not cheap but new
I’m on the search for one too, they come up on ebay as 12v eberspachers and webastos. Secondhand they can be pricey and a new buy with warantee is probably a better option. As said by others a lot of ambulances were fitted with them along with BT vans.
Personally i wouldn’t bother with a second hand ,if you can afford it buy a new 12v Webasto air top with silencer and put the derv pump in a box so the clicking can’t be heard.there are too many problems that are expensive with second hand if you don’t have a donar for parts.alot of electricity board vehicles and others have cheap made in china heaters that you cant get parts for.
How about getting a 24v night heater from a truck breakers and running it through a step-up converter?
I went through all the options when I fitted one in my Discovery.
New are so so expensive. I bought second hand, re-conditioned and serviced. Never had a problem in 3-4 years and its used a lot 
Bought on ebay but DONT buy anything Turkish !
Paid about £350 for the heater plus exhaust, silencer and ducting. Eberpacher on diesal. I have been told dont bother with petrol or LPG. Add an additional tank for diesal if need be. My mate added a seperate tank to his disco 3 so it can be done and a neat job too.
Once it’s in you will always use it 
Might sound daft but have a look in camping shops. There are heaters available that run off the butane gas canisters. They are only small but for a van it should be perfect, unless you want it to run through the night whilst your asleep.
Got a eberspacher in my camper self build. Got a 12v one from eBay, took a gamble to be honest paid £110 for it as he wasn’t able to test it. Providing it has its wiring loom and you get the switch you want and I did that and beach tested it… Fired up with no problems.
But its a gamble though.
I fitted a 12v webasto airtop from ebay on my boat 3 years ago and it runs trouble free. The tick tick pumps are noisy but you do get used to it. I think the newer pumps are quieter as well. techwebasto.com/heater_main/ … 776891.pdf
Sorry to go off topic, but do night heaters need a periodical inspection for CO safety like a gas boiler in a rented flat?
No, Ched. But keep it under your hat, the government just haven’t caught on yet.
Find a mk2 diesel Ford Galaxy / Sharan/ Alhambra at a scrappers they have a Hydronic fitted as standard (change the glow plug), you’ll need the fuel metering pump and the coolant pump, plumb into the campers heater/a separate radiator (this is the preferred option done on canal boats etc), then wire in a 12v timer & thermostat. If you’re really clever you can indirectly heat a hot water store too. They don’t take too much out of the battery for an hours use but I guess they’ll be a leisure battery anyhow and use about 0.33 ltrs per hour of diesel.
MADBAZ:
Find a mk2 diesel Ford Galaxy / Sharan/ Alhambra at a scrappers they have a Hydronic fitted as standard (change the glow plug), you’ll need the fuel metering pump and the coolant pump, plumb into the campers heater/a separate radiator (this is the preferred option done on canal boats etc), then wire in a 12v timer & thermostat. If you’re really clever you can indirectly heat a hot water store too. They don’t take too much out of the battery for an hours use but I guess they’ll be a leisure battery anyhow and use about 0.33 ltrs per hour of diesel.
^+1
Just put a glowplug in the wife’s VW Sharan’s Eberspacher Hydronic D5Z. To be honest, never knew it was there until we had a cooling problem going over the tops into Yorkshire. Research (it was the water pump) revealed the “auxiliary heater”!
PS It was an absolute ■■■■ to dismantle - all the screws (T10 heads as I recall) were seized. Mellors for parts - he’s a nice guy too.
propex is what i have fitted
Harry Monk:
How about getting a 24v night heater from a truck breakers and running it through a step-up converter?
I had one in my van for a while, it worked well but using a step up converter means you are drawing double the ampage, mine ran ok but i do run 2 x 205 ah batteries!
I imagine that an uprated battery set would be pretty essential for running even a 12v night heater though?
If the OP did want to go down that route, KTS are breaking a 62-reg Renault Premium, it’s only three weeks old, I don’t know what they would want for the night heater but quite a bit less than a new one I’d say.
I got a 12 volt one from a chap breaking group 4 prison vans! i also got a waeco 12 volt compressor fridge from him!