Bobil Hydronic vs Bobil Hybrid vs Bobil Electric - Which is Best?
- samistrider
- Aug 27
- 4 min read
Bobil Vans heating systems have evolved significantly, and we now offer quite a few different heating products for hot water and hot air in campervans on boats.
Depending on your needs, and existing infrastructure, different products might suit your needs better.
We will start simple and work our way up.
Bobil Electric - Simple and Effective
The Bobil Electric is an purely electric hot water system. It uses either a 200W 12V element or an 800W 230V element to heat hot water, in either a 10L or 15L cylindrical tank. Simple enough.
Our Simple Controller allows you to control the 12V element, and it even allow excess solar to automatically power the element when your batteries are full, for FREE HOT WATER!
Beyond that, there's not much more to it. Connect cold water in, and hot water our to your tap or shower. Done.
Who is the Bobil Electric good for?
ON A BUDGET - Starting at only £155, it's an extremely cost-effective way to get hot water into your campervan.
NOTHING COMPLICATED - A simple tank with power wires and a cold water connection, that's all there is to it.
TIGHT ON SPACE - Due to this system just having a hot water tank and a controller, its easy to fit under a seat, in the garage or cupboard out the way.
Disadvantages of the Bobil Electric
RELIANT ON ELECTRIC - If you don't have big batteries, then you may struggle to heat water, especially in winter where there is little sun for solar, or if you don't have an easy way to charge batteries, as heating water electrically takes a lot of power.
12V ONLY - If you don't have an inverter and aren;t on hookup, the 12V element alone can take a few hours to heat the water tank up to temperature, meaning its not great for quick hot water.
Bobil Hybrid - Now we are getting somewhere
The Bobil Hybrid uses the exact same tank, so you get all the benefits of the Bobil Electric, but this also gives you an additional source of hot water - your diesel air heater.
By using a diverter valve and a big of magic (an air matrix), you can use hot air to heat water, and store this in the hot water tank. There's also a more sophisticated controller which has timer functionality built in.
You can buy the Bobil Hybrid as a standalone product, if you already have a diesel heater, or purchase it in combination with an Autoterm diesel heater for the full package.
Who is the Bobil Hybrid good for?
EXISTING DIESEL HEATER - If you already have a diesel air heater, then this is an easy choice, as you can just add it on. Better yet, the brand/type of heater doesn't matter, it can be any heater, and it will work with our system. If it blows hot air, you can use it.
COMPACT & VERSITILE - It has a few more components than the electric, but it's still a compact system. Better yet, if you are tight on space, you can shift things around as its all flexible pipe connecting it together.
BUDGET CONCIOUS - Despite offering much more, the Hybrid system is still quite affordable started at £545 for everything.
Disadvantages of the Bobil Hybrid
A SOLUTION TO A PROBLEM - The Hybrid was a product developed to solve a problem - "I have a diesel heater and want hot water". It works well, and is our most popular product to date due to the prevalence of heaters in campervans, but we can do better. Since we are trying to use hot air to heat water, this is quite ineffective and air doesn't hold much heat. If you are building from scratch and have an empty van looking for a hot water and heating system, then there's something better...
Bobil Hydronic- The true full-on heating system
As our customer service guy Adam likes to say, the Bobil Hybrid was a solution to a problem - it works, but the Bobil Hydronic is using something as it was designed to do.
This makes the hydronic system much more efficient at its job of heating water and air, and also allows for other uses...like underfloor heating!
You not only get electric heating for your hot water, but a diesel hydronic heater and a calorifier, combining the best fo the Bobil Electric and Bobil Hybrid into a more efficient package.
Who is the Bobil Hydronic good for?
EMPTY VAN - If you haven't started building anything yet, and are looking to start from scratch, the Bobil Hydronic system gives you the best of everything all in 1 place.
MODULAR & EXPANDING - You can add to the hydronic system as you build, adding in extra fan blowers and underfloor heating as you go or as you need.
ENGINE PRE-HEATING?! - Along with everything the hydronic system can do, itis possible toadd MORE! With the right parts, you can have this system use your engine to heat your water and even use it to pre-heat the engine in arctic temperatures!
Disadvantages of the Bobil Hydronic
COST - Although if you were to try and replicate all the functionality of the hydronic using other products it would be more expensive, the hydronic is a serious investment upfront to get things working, so is only suitable to those whowill truley use its full functionality.
There is a lot more information about each of these products on their product pages and instructiona manuals (found under DOWLNLOADS) so give them a read and happy campervanning.
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