Building a camper rig for our F150. Looking for places to get heaters etc from?

Enthusiast III

1,212
Grand Falls-Windsor, NL, Canada
First Name
Steve
Last Name
Adams
I am going to start building a pop up camper for our F150. We are using a Canadian built cap with pop up tent and we are going to be using the Road loft systems for internal seating and storage. I am looking for a water heater and a camper heater to install on the cap permanently. I have no idea where to find these items. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
For me, the answer is about how much space can you allocate for each device? For the water heater, obviously it will be a propane instant heater. I would recommend that your research include if you can get spare parts. I have found that most, if not all share internal parts with minor differences. I have a GasLand propane heater, bought off Amazon for about $130. I messed up and sent 12vdc to the board instead of the 3vdc like the D cell batteries and fried the control board. I found the only place to get parts was from the more expensive brands. So I bought the board fairly cheap and it worked. :-) Before I bought that board, I did complain to GasLand about the lack of spare parts availability and they sent me a new heater! Bonus... As far as space is concerned, I think the issue is that it is fairly large. full specs here:

Camper heater: Again I researched this pretty extensively and found out that I pressed the overkill button. I bought a 8kw diesel heater and it is way too much for my truck cap. Hindsight, I would have bought a 2kw. I went with a Vevor only because of cost!! It has worked every time I asked it to!! I did plumb it into the trucks tank and vented it outside with an extension to put the fumes above the cap. Yes it has a home made spark arrestor for those states that require one! It has worked out very nice. An added benefit is that one night we got caught in the rain and our flannels were soaked, I used the heater on max and it dried out the shirts incredibly quick....Overlanding clothes dryer!! Who knew?? :-) Side note: Yeah I cut my bed to plumb it outside but it will never be a normal truck again so I don't care. I used a high heat silicone pad and caulk used for engines to seal and exhaust header fiberglass tape to wrap the exhaust pipes. I can tough it with my hand. I know that others would not cut their beds but I'm not normal! This means that you will most likely place the heater outside and pipe in the hose! Check out a "tire step" to rest your heater on and pipe the hose into the cap. This is probably the safest option but I have fire insurance!! :-)

Everything expressed here is an opinion and what works for me!! Be creative, take you time and be ready to change/switch your project ideas as you will find a better solution after your first trip!! Ask me how I know!!! Looking forward to seeing your ideas come to life!