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Skiing is my favorite activity in the world, so I get wet a lot. I knew I wanted to use the van to chase snow, so I needed to devise a good solution for drying out my gear. Since the heater I got is very powerful, I decided that I'd be able to efficiently heat the van AND heat a small closet that would dry out my gear faster. In order to do this, I would have to install the heater in a non-traditional place, since I couldn't install it under the passenger seat and efficiently route it into a closet.
Technically I believe the manually specifies that the heater should be installed directly on the factory floor, so just keep that in mind!
Total Cost: $
2448.00
Total Time (hrs):
15
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I started by measuring out where I could install the heater under the van. I went underneath and measured where there was a gap in the bottom supports, and then drilled two test holes. I was able to use the mounting plate as a guide to test the fit, and made sure we had access to all the screws.
Here's the hole!
Floor burger!
Connecting the fuel line was super easy! The sprinter already has an aux fuel line ready, so it was just a matter of purchasing the right connector, locating that hose, and clicking the two together. In the photo below you can see the fuel pump already installed.
Here's a close up of the installed fuel pump.
Below you can see the heater attached to the mounting plate. Just in case the plate would get hot from accidental contact with the exhaust line, we added a heat shield fabric to the bottom to prevent it from melting my floor. We applied a gasket maker around the edges to create a seal from the floor guts, and then JB weld from the bottom to secure it to metal of the van undercarriage.
Here it is installed!
I was able to run the fuel line mostly along the side wall of the van and zip-tie it in place.
I created a box around the heater so I can build around it and prevent stuff from blocking its air intake or hot air output. Below you can see the bottom frame, and the rest is coming soon :)
Originally, I thought I might divide the heater into three outputs -- one into the van, one into the heated closet, and one into the garage to keep my water/stuff from freezing. I don't think the last one is necessary anymore, and I am instead just doing the first two, but it will be similar to the situation below.
I will update this page once I build out the heated closet next to battery box!
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