Propane heater ~ Exaust wasting TONS of heat!?! ~ Reclaimable?

[rabird]

My mud dauber screen causes too much restriction, I remove this homemade screen to camp this time of year. I'm sure the operating instructions do not mention adding one!


The back pressure is measurable.  luckily there are safety features.

The PU may spontaneously combust without notice.

[Tom-TC]

...which goes down ...a gust of wind....

One thing about internet discussion boards... they really maximize the use of the the straw man fallacy.

[clemlaw]

I thought somebody had suggested using the waste heat to warm the floor.  Last I checked, the floor is down below the vent.

I apologize if you didn't have that in mind.  It probably is a lot better idea to have the exhaust pipe run back inside through an opening in the canvas.  There's no chance that anything could go wrong by running a hot pipe through fabric. 

[Tom-TC]

No need to apologize... I'm not easily offended by debate (in fact, I like it... a bit too much, sometimes... as now, since I'm not advocating that anyone actually DO this heat exchanger mod... ) but I didn't specify direction at all ... 

[lnorman]

...or

This might be a stretch it a little but, it may be an idea.  Use the forced air to turn a small fan, then use the energy from that to run a small fan inside the camper near the bottom of the camper to pull cold air outside.

or ...

Ever heard of Rube Goldberg?

Just think about all that hot air escaping out the tailpipe just driving to the CG!  If you were to run a pipe from it into the trunk, then through a heat exchanger connected to a clothes drying ,chicken incubating crock pot water heater back there, by the time you arrive in camp you can have a shower, get into warm dry clothes and have a little chicken soup, which is very good for the headaches caused by the CO exposure!

Want to decrease energy use and increase efficiency?  I'd leave the furnace be and drive a little slower getting there.  That's one method that actually increases safety.

[xkuzme1]

 

Yea, I admit that one was a bit of a stretch.  But I am seriously thinking about the clothes dryer thing, and maybe even the over night crockpot.  I am going hunting in my pux this month for 5 days.  I am planning on an average temp of 25-35 degrees outside.  4 men and a 10 box pup.  We will be out of space with our over-all's and the rest of the clothes.  If I could make a sheet metal thing just big enough to hang 4 pairs of the over-all's and creatively duct the hot air through the box, that could be really nice.  Go put on some nice warm over-all's before I go hunting.

[clemlaw]

If you were to run a pipe from it into the trunk, then through a heat exchanger connected to a clothes drying ,chicken incubating crock pot

There's no need to do that.  The reason why cars come with exhaust manifolds is so that you can do your cooking there!

[Unstable_Tripod]

Oh yeah... a little "highway hamburger"!

[Bigdogs]

I started this post with the intent of stimulating a little fun & innovative thinking, never really expecting it to lead to an actual project that I might actually take on one day.

Shortly after posting, I began to consider just how simple, practical and realistic a sort of ‘warm box’ could be for the purposes of drying clothes, shoes, wood, etc. and how inexpensive and safely it could be done as long as there was no excess back pressure created. This could be handled with an adjustable vent that could be used to govern the airflow. It would also create the ability to use of the heater in high wind environments.

I’ve already begun to draw a few ideas up in CAD and discuss it with my metal fabricator.

If anyone is interested, let me know. I’d appreciate any feedback, design suggestions etc. I’d be willing to offer them at cost to those who aid in the design and maybe just a small markup to anyone else.

[lnorman]

Seems there are some ideas brewing that don't sound too sound to me.  But maybe these will work out better than expected.  If you do work on one of these projects, just be sure to check the battery's in your CO detector, and run some tests unoccupied.
Good luck.

[JimmyGator]

I'd suggest a few of these be located through the PUP... http://tinyurl.com/yzvpsdw

[moriver]

All these ideas gave me a solution for us cigarette smokers.
Since I don't smoke inside the PU and never had, (Hoppette has asthma) it gives me a spot to "light up" when bannished from the PU on those cold winter days. 

And I thought I was the only Smoker that used that spot