Chassis heat connected to generator

[deanavey]

I met with an owner of an older RV about 2 months ago. He had done some major renovation to his RV. One of the upgrades was that the chassis heat for his RV also ran off the generator heat. This RV was not a Wanderlodge but made me think if this was a possibility.

If the generator generates heat, what would keep someone from tying the cooling systems together and pumping that coolant through the chassis heat system. It would help cool the generator, heat the bus and also potentially warm up the engine if a cold start was needed?

[gcyeaw]

I don't see any reason why not. I read here a short while back of someone that bought a coach set up that way and was going to separate them. I don't know why, it seems like a good idea. If you are generating heat why not use it instead of wasting it.

[fxdwg]

I would think you could do it, but not gain much. The genny doesn't put out that much heat, first off. Second, you'd want to tie into the system near the radiator (at least on a WB) since it doesn't move with the genny. And then you've added another possible leak in the system. I'd just run the block heater and/or the AquaHot to keep things warm.

[Randy Dupree]

how many btu's will a gennie produce?

[jyclegg]

I can't answer the BTU question directly, but a guess based on the size of the fan and radiator that BB installed, would lead you to think there is a fair number, 20~30K. The problems I see with linking the 2 systems are; coolant compatability, seal off valving, and flow rates. If you use the DD coolant, the genny would just have to live with it. You would want valving to seal off the system for emergencies and to be able to direct the genny water to a radiator, either the big bus radiator or the little genny one, in warm weather. I would love to get rid of the little genny radiator and blower. The flow rates are another issue. The water pump in the genny is high flow, low head. To get the water thru all the smaller hoses and heat exchangers would require additional head. Some circulation pumps would be required. I have noticed, operating my genny in extreme cold, that the genny does not like it when it receives cold water back from the radiator. Even when the thermostat is closed, the bypass flow is cold enought to cause the genny to smoke. Like some people say, Is worth what you paid for it.

[gcyeaw]

I would tap into the gennie in the same fashon as the chsssis system connects to the 3208. There is no need to modify the gennie cooling system. The existing aux pump might be sufficient, but that would need to be determined. A heat-exchanger coud be used to isolate the two systems as well, thus maintaining two independant systems.

[RAGster]

12.5 kw = 711 btu/min = 42,600btu per hour

So if you were running at capacity, you are producing a good bit of heat.
Not all of that heat is available for heating the coach.

Glenn

[fishfarm]

According to these people:

"Out of 100% of the BTUs in diesel fuel only a bit more than 35% is converted to electricity. 35% is expelled out of the radiator as heat and the remaining 30%+ is heat lost through the exhaust and radiant heat. A 12kW genset can produce up to 22,500 BTUs of recoverable heat per hour from the radiator when running under load."

http://www.enviroharvest.ca/cogeneration.htm

[RAGster]

Good find Bob

[jyclegg]

Hey, how about my guess!