tonyfletcher Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Hi, When using the Alde heating is there a pump working off 12volt all the time? The reason I ask is that currently I only have blown air heating and when I stay on a Non Electric Hook up site in winter over a period of time it drains the battery life. When the weather is overcast the solar panel does not replenish the usage fast enough during the day. Would the Alde system do the same? Would I be better looking at a Motorhome with a gas fire as my next choice? thanks Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
747 Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Hi Tony, In normal operation, the thermostat controls the operation of the pump. it cuts in and out. However..... there are 3 positions on the thermostat. Hot water Hot water and radiators Radiators only. In the third position (rads only) the pump runs constantly irrespective of the thermostat. Normally it does not matter as you need hot water when using the van. The big disavantage is that you can not keep the heating ticking over when it is not being used and is hooked up on your drive. I believe it is possible to run the system without any water in the boiler but it is not something I would do consistently. You could always put water into your m/home and depend on nothing going wrong with the system but with my luck, it would go wrong. :'( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 tonyfletcher - 2011-01-06 9:17 PM Hi, When using the Alde heating is there a pump working off 12volt all the time? The reason I ask is that currently I only have blown air heating and when I stay on a Non Electric Hook up site in winter over a period of time it drains the battery life. When the weather is overcast the solar panel does not replenish the usage fast enough during the day. Would the Alde system do the same? Would I be better looking at a Motorhome with a gas fire as my next choice? thanks Tony For blown-air heating systems, most of the 12V power-consumption is down to the operation of the air-distribution fan(s). The types of Alde 'wet' system used in motorhomes (normally based round an Alde "Compact" appliance) use significantly less power and Alde quotes a maximum 12V consumption of 1 Amp. Even if your solar panel can't fully replenish an Alde system's 1 Amp current drain (which won't normally be continuous), your leisure battery's charge should last a lot longer with an Alde system than with, say, a Truma 'combi' set-up. Obviously, if you have a heating appliance that consumes no 12V power - like a simple Truma convector 'fire' - your leisure battery won't be affected. On the other hand, if you opt for a large motorhome, a simple convector fire is unlikely to heat the vehicle adequately in cold weather unless you have a blown-air fan add-on, in which case you've gone full circle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnerontheroad Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Tony, We have the Alde system and have used it for 4 days in minus conditions with solars and it used very little power (nowhere near what my digital radio uses). The pump cuts in and out when the van reaches temp as we set it to run overnight on a low setting and will run without heating the water. What you can also do is have a heat exghanger fitted this way you can heat all of your van not just the front and water on the move saves loads of gas. Hope this helps. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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