Paul,
 Did read on this forum about someone who used
 the cooling tube from the muffler to heat the cab. I am
 currently trying to see if I can get rid of my cab water
 heater which is really quite heavy when the water is added.
 So I can either take heated air from the muffler area which
 I do not like due to the possibility of CO gas, or somehow
 get hot air from the rad exit. Does anyone have
 experience / advice on this matter ??
 Neil.

 Neil,

I recently converted my water cabin heater to a heat muff. I made sure that
the "muff" was over a section of pipe that had not been welded. I also
installed a CO detector in the cabin. While a quite expensive little
device, I figured what is my life worth? This change eliminated about 10#
of weight (water included).

With that said, I don't think the air coming off the water radiator is warm
enough to be much good at heating the cabin.

Mark

Mark,
How do you think that every car heater works?


Bill Jepson

Bill, have you ever driven in 40 below zero weather?
I know you are from California.
I was stationed in Northern Ontario waiting for the
Russians to come over the North Pole.
If you did not almost completely block the rad the
car or truck heater did not work.  True the engine
was not generating as much power and maybe Mark
may not have a thermostat.

Mark does not have a cowl flaps on there yet :)
Perry Mick uses an oil cooler to warm the cockpit.
The oil always seems to run hotter.

Paul Lamar

Bill,

I'm not claiming that you can't heat an a/c cabin with a water/air
exchanger.  I did it for 3 years.  However, everything we install on our
airplanes we look long and hard at the weight.  Pound for pound there is no
way you're going to get the equivalent BTU from a water/air exchanger as you
will from a heat muff.  In order to get an adequate amount of heat, the
water/air exchanger will be much heavier.

Something else I hadn't considered when first installing a water/air
exchanger is the amount of space it will take up behind the panel.  Besides
making things really cramped behind the panel, it makes servicing much more
difficult.  It is near impossible to remove the water/air exchanger for
servicing without spilling antifreeze on the carpet.  I removed my water/air
exchanger and lost an easy 10#.

Mark