When you choose a hybrid heater for your bus, you want a product that’s reliable, low maintenance and cost effective.
This is what you can be sure of when you purchase a hybrid heater from Stroco, a leader in bus heating solutions.
Introducing Stroco
Stroco ApS is a Danish company that has been producing heaters for buses, trucks, trains and boats for almost 50 years. Its products are 100% Danish, with 95% of the components developed, and built, by Stroco itself.
Stroco’s products are known for their high efficiency and minimal maintenance, and the company was the first to produce both a fully electric and combined fuel-burning heater/electrically charged boiler, the latter being the 35.02 M – LE Hybrid.
The 35.02 M – LE Hybrid heater
Stroco ApS’ 35.02 M – LE (low emission) Hybrid is a combination heater in one complete unit that’s specifically designed for use in electric and hybrid buses.
The heater, with its stainless steel combustion chamber and automatic fan motor regulation, is delivered in DC in combination with one or two heating elements and provides an overall energy saving of approximately 10%.
The brushless water pump is mounted directly on the boiler, meaning the installation only requires two water connections, and like all other Stroco heaters, this model can run on alternative fuels such as hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) – also known as renewable diesel, biodiesel, ethanol and rapeseed methyl ester (RME).
Low Repair and Running Costs
When you look at the cost of a Stroco hybrid heater across its entire service life, it’s considered the most cost-effective option on the market.
This is due to lower maintenance needs and therefore repair costs, as well as the fact it uses less fuel than competing models.
“Bus manufacturers need to consider the total lifetime cost of a heater, rather than the lowest purchase price.
“Our purchase price isn’t the cheapest, but it does mean lower running and maintenance costs for the eight years the heater will be in service”
For example, maintenance is needed much more rarely, but for the times when it is required, there’s less work to do, and it’s simpler to complete.
“Our system is straight forward, so when you have to change something it’s a little job that most people will be able to do themselves. With the more ‘high tech’ solutions that are computerised, when something goes wrong a lot more analytics is needed to get to the bottom of the problem and fix it. You might need to call out for a tester for example, meaning higher costs and longer downtime.”
Then there’s the fact that when it comes to fuel usage, Stroco’s hybrid heater uses 0.3litres per hour less of fuel than its competitors’ models.
For a heater running for seven hours a day, that’s a daily saving of 2.1 litres per bus with a Stroco hybrid heater in, which adds up to big cost savings when running a fleet.
A Reliable, Fossil-Free Heating Solution
It cannot be overlooked that the main reason for purchasing a hybrid heater is to enable your bus to run 100% fossil free, something that’s achieved using HVO. However, Stroco is the only manufacturer that’s not had a problem with HVO flame visibility. When HVO’s blue flame isn’t registered it can stop combustion heaters from working, which has been an issue for several competitors.
“When driving on HVO the flame turns blue and other manufacturers’ hybrid heaters are known to have problems seeing this type of flame. At Stroco we developed a ‘flame super vision’ photoelectric sensor that enables us to reliably register the flame every time and ensure a product customers can rely on.”
He goes on to explain that competitors’ solutions have been to introduce an extra set of glass which enables the flame to be seen, but these need to be regularly replaced due to soot build up, which means additional costs for customers.
“There are also manufacturers that simply tell their customers that they must drive on regular diesel – in those cases they’re no longer driving fossil free!”
Find out more
If you’d like to learn more about Stroco’s heaters, please visit Stroco’s website or contact:
Søren Rasmussen
International Sales Manager
