To help extend our camping season I decided to add a heater to the Vanagon. I ended up going with a Propex HS2000 propane heater. I probably should have paid more attention to the note included in the product description…”The installation is a bit tricky, so if you have any doubts, please have the unit professionally installed.” This was a bigger project than I had anticipated but decided that I would just take my time to help ensure I get this heater installed correctly.
I had removed the rear factory heater from under the back seat a while back. The original heater is only functional when the engine is running and just adds more complexity to an already complex engine cooling system. With the area under the seat cleared I started exploring where best to place the unit. Since this Vanagon is a Syncro, the drive shaft and frame rails compound the installation a bit. To try to decide on the right location, I used the Propex template to position the heater box fresh air intake and hot air exhaust holes.
The “fire box” intake and exhaust tubes that come out under the van. In order to have the clearance necessary to route the intake and exhaust tubes, I realized it was necessary to turn the Propex heater around from what I had thought would be a good location. The other factor in placing the heater was making sure the wiring harness would reach to where I wanted to place the thermostat. Anticipating I would eventually install a heater, I had already run a set of wires to the area under the rear seat when I did the house electrical upgrade…so getting power to the heater was easy. I wanted to place the thermostat on the side of the cabinet where my other controls and switches were. This puts the thermostat over the cook top but there were not any other suitable options. The good news is that the wiring harness for the thermostat was long enough to reach where I was planning to put the heater.
With the thermostat location firmed up I routed the wiring harness with the other electrical cables in the back of the cabinet, down along the edge of the floor and into the area under the rear seat. I did a quick test to confirm the heater was getting the necessary 12 volt power and that the heater was connected to the thermostat.
With the wiring confirmed I will get serious about actually cutting holes and installing the heater. More to follow…
