In my quest for ultimate van heater knowledge I researched this idea.  I
went to the store to look at the zodi its basically a coleman cook stove
that heats some copper tubing and a fan attached to some dryer hose that
blows air thru the copper tubing, i found several problems with the
zodi/window setup:

-Mounting the thing to the window aint't so easy, think about it, and you
have to set it up everytime you move the van.

-It runs off little propane tanks which are expensive and won't last a
full night or attaches to a bbq tank which means you gotta lug that thing
around.

-The flame will get blown out if it gets windy. -You gotta go outside and
light it.

-No thermostatic control

-Uses electricity, not sure how much but you gotta run wires out there.

-The zodi is expensive $140 - $200 depending on the model, you can get a
real heater for $400, and when you see one in person like i did you'll
realize you could have made something similar or better for 1/4 of the
price.

If I were looking for  heater for a vanagon id try to get a plat cat, its
perfect for the vanagon and since they dont sell them anymore you are
almost gauranteed a very high resale value if you decide you dont want it
anymore, i might be able to get one if anyone is interested, price would
be about $475.

Otherwise id get a slightly larger battery and get teh 12000 btu everst
star forced air furnace which only draws 1.8 amps.

propex would be next on the list, but they are more expensive and provide
less heat.

Stay warm,
Andrew

On Thu, 14 Oct 2004, Brian T. wrote:

> Hiya..
>
> I know a lot of you already know about Zodi products,
> here is for those who don't :-)
>
> The make some pretty cool things that you can use
> without making mods to your van.
>
> The tent heater for instance with the 5-gal kit can be
> fed into a front window (cut a small piece of plex or
> cardboard to fill the remaining gap) and you have
> great heat.
>
> Enjoy,
> Brian
>