Internal heater - altering airflow direction

[steve_b]

Hi all

We finally had our first trip away in the Cali - a weekend at Cloud Farm on Exmoor. All went swimmingly apart from us failing to pack enough bedding - not realising quite how cold it gets overnight on a cloudless night on the moors...

So the obvious solution was to fire up the webasto internal heater which did a great job of boiling me out of my lower bed whilst keeping it freezing cold up top. Does anyone have any creative suggestions of how to divert the hot air into the pop top and keep most of it away from the lower cabin?

Thanks

 

[Perfectos]

Hi all

We finally had our first trip away in the Cali - a weekend at Cloud Farm on Exmoor. All went swimmingly apart from us failing to pack enough bedding - not realising quite how cold it gets overnight on a cloudless night on the moors...

So the obvious solution was to fire up the webasto internal heater which did a great job of boiling me out of my lower bed whilst keeping it freezing cold up top. Does anyone have any creative suggestions of how to divert the hot air into the pop top and keep most of it away from the lower cabin?

Thanks

There is a thread on this great site where some have used flexible ducting to route the hot air up stairs.

Presumably you left the tambour hatch open? I personally have not had an issue, the upstairs occupants normally complain that it gets too hot with the night heater on ( even on a low setting).

 

[steve_b]

Thanks. I tried the search function but failed - I had a recollection of reading the the same somewhere but can't find it.

Yes, hatch was open - but I was downstairs and couldn't bear the heat so I had to turn it off

 

[Perfectos]

Here’s one of a few threads

Heating upstairs

Variation on a theme. 3D designed attachment to divert the heat upstairs. Still very much in the prototype stage. Problem 1: the PLA used for 3D printing is not suitable for end product as it goes very soft in the heat of the blower. But... it works.

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[Perfectos]

Here’s a load more

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/search/117597/?q=Heating+upstairs&o=relevance

 

[steve_b]

Thanks, they help and put into pictures exactly what I had in my mind - especially the one with cardboard boxes and ducting

Amazing what a different mind does with search terms. I am sure I was looking for more also but on my phone not this PC :

 

[haydnw2]

This is on my wish list at the moment (you can change to English at the top once the page has loaded):

Standheizung-Erweiterungsset

Standheizung-Erweiterungsset für VW California T5-T6.1 Mit diesem Erweiterungsset für die Standheizung lässt sich die heiße Luft individuell auf verschiedene Bereiche des Wohnraums verteilen. Insbesondere wird es damit auch im "...

calitop.eu

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Caliheat Schweiz zu VW California

www.cali24.ch

 

[Perfectos]

Try google translate

 

[steve_b]

Thanks all. As it happens I have a 3d printer and can probably get some flexible ducting, so that has given me the impetus to do something

 

[Perfectos]

Thanks all. As it happens I have a 3d printer and can probably get some flexible ducting, so that has given me the impetus to do something

Report back to help others

 

[Legin]

If your EHP I have found a decent (stays on rather than cycling too much) 500w oil heater placed between the front seats is the best option. Inaudible and the heat rises just fine to the upper bed. More or less runs flat out.

 

[Camperfamily]

Caliheat Schweiz zu VW California

www.cali24.ch

That’s a good looking bit of kit. Insulation (or lack of) in the canvas is the biggest issue. We just use a Pucer cover and rely on the heat rising from the heater. Has served us very well even in the depths of Scottish winters.

 

[Calimili]

May I speak frankly?
95% of the stuff you guys buy from Germany and Switzerland for your California it's a rip off, unnecessarily overengineered.
All you need it to do is go to B&Q or whatever hardware store, amazon has it too, get a 2m dryer hose , a rectangular connector for the dryer hose, some dryer hose tape, a small L shaped metal bracket and 1 screw+bolt to fix the bracket to the rectangular connector. 20 quid at the most.
If it's too much DIY ask your 6 year old niece , she'll do that for ya.
You'll sleep toasty upstairs, regardless where the hose is pointing. I hang it at bed level , pointing upwards, hanging from the rings of the safety net with some cord. Heating on 1-2.
Now of course I spalshed for an ISOTOP , so i keep this only for emergencies.

 

[356DNA]

I just got the tumble dryer hose and used some refastanable cable ties to secure it to the vent - in Braemar earlier this year it was -7 and the heater worked perfectly upstairs and down. Keep it simple!

 

[Baldrick]

Reading many similar threads eventually landed us to get one of these

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07QNZZRP7/?tag=eliteelect-21

for £7 (!!)

A big paperclip secures it to the top of the heater outlet and the pipe’s easily bent round the 80 degree vent outlet nicely, taking enough but not all of the warmth upstairs. Choose where you want to hang it, be it the grab handle or the top of the roof. The blower and heat rising brings the warmth up surprisingly well. When not stretched out it’s a small enough piece of ducting to be stored year round for that inevitable unplanned cold night. We’ve also got a pop top thermal Brandrup inner lining. A nightmare to install and expensive for what it is but it really does keep both cold and hot temperature extremes so much more tolerable.