tf756 Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 We are finalising our order for a new Globecar 636SB (Campscout) van. One option we possibly have is to upgrade the Truma Combi 4 heater/boiler (gas only) to gas or electric operation. As new campervanners, we are unsure if the extra £450 outlay is worthwhile. We expect to use the van in the UK and in Europe, using a mixture of Campsites, Aires and wildcamping. Any advice? Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I up graded to electric on last CB but have not bothered with latest panel van. I think you will be better served and get better value with 2 large refillable LPG bottles.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 My electric heating is used when on site with electric hookup, which for me is not often. It was fitted by the previous owner. I don't think I would pay £450 to have it fitted,that's a lot of of gas. H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 tf756 - 2012-04-23 10:56 AM We are finalising our order for a new Globecar 636SB (Campscout) van. One option we possibly have is to upgrade the Truma Combi 4 heater/boiler (gas only) to gas or electric operation. As new campervanners, we are unsure if the extra £450 outlay is worthwhile. We expect to use the van in the UK and in Europe, using a mixture of Campsites, Aires and wildcamping. Any advice? Tony It is always a personal choice, depending on the particular use your vehicle is put to. I would choose to take the upgrade, (which I have on my Combi6) as we spend probably half our usage time (and the majority of that in the winter months) on hook-up. Whilst the maximum output on electric is still slow to thoroughly heat a really cold 'van, a short burst on gas followed by a switch to electric-only allows us to maintain an even temperature throughout an evening, with little noticeable fan noise. In really cold weather, it is also nice to be able to leave the heating on the lowest setting overnight, just keeping the chill off, or to leave the water heating on its lowest setting if you go out for the day, avoiding any issues of dumping. (neither of which would I want to do on gas only). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 we decided the 450 was way ott and as we rarely use hook ups not needed. p.s. Should say, if we are on hook up in cold weather we use a small oil rad which we have left on low overnight as only noise is a small click of thermostat, the combi is under bed and if it starts up will proboly wake you up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 i should have added: we have been down in Spain for 3 weeks, LPG not so readily available here, so when I passed a station a few days ago I topped up. it cost under 8 euros. Not using heating down here mind..... that's the thing, a panel van is not a big motorhome, so it does not need so much gas. we also carry a small low wattage blown air heater and used this overnight in France travelling down. *-) my last CB I equipped with every extra going....when you come to trading it in you never see that money again,:-S At least the refillable LPG system is transferable and we moved that to new van.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesFrance Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Many continental sites do not have enough amps to run an electric heater. The ones that have more often have a metered supply which is more expensive than gas. We bought a small quiet fan heater from one of the Chinese shops in Benidorm for 16€ to use when needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Our current van is "gas only" and as our previous vans had been both gas & electric,I thought that it was going to be more of an issue than it really has been, to be honest... Although as RobinH' has said,when it's really cold,it would be nice to be able to just leave it on just "ticking over" low on electric when away from the van( ..I don't leave our gas heating on when not at the van..) I suppose that,although 450quid is a lot of money(..and could indeed buy a lot of gas),in the scheme of all things motorhome/caravan etc,it really isn't *that* much. :-S (..e.g People can pay 100quid+ for a lounger!..150quid for Cadacs!...and 600-700quid plus for a windout awning etc..) ..Hmmmm....Once it's bought,it's bought...bite the bullet and tick the box... ;-) (..isn't it easy spending somebody else's money..! (lol) ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I spent over £5000 on extras on last CB, 4 years later it was valued as same as a van with more or less no extras..You can take BBQ and chairs with you, and a refillable gas system. Never again will I waste money on equipment that I have to leave on and not see a return on. Different if you tend to keep vans forever and get real value from those extras..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 If you opt not to pay the extra for electric heating I would suggest carrying a low wattage fan heater for day/evening use and/or a low wattage convector for overnight use (fan heaters can be noisy when it's quiet at night!) if you camp in cold climes or seasons. That way if the gas fired heating which is pretty good these days but not infallible does pack up you can always go to a site and have warmth via a hook up. I'm not sure if the electric heating will still work if the gas part ceases to function but it used to several years ago in which case you can get hot water via hook up too which eases the gas bill somewhat? Depending on your level of use and available gas storage a refillable bottle is worth considering - but it too ain't cheap. A lot depends on how you will use the van, the seasons, durations, and whether you are an Aire or a site user abroad as to the best options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Eddie..Fair enough point about spending on stuff you can "take with you".. ;-) If I was buying a brand new, 30-40-50k+ van..would I opt for electric?..Probably!.. Would it work out to have been a "financially shrewd " move ?.....Probaly not !.. ;-) (..there again,neither would "buying new"...) But I know what I'm like,every time I found myself having to untangling the leads or I tripped over the fan heater or stubbing my toe on the little oil-rad etc,I'd be cursing myself,for not getting the electric option.... (lol) (lol) (Oops! sorry Rich..missed your post ;-) ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 ....as I said, opinions will vary. ;-) I've had 'vans for 25 years or so, so have become accustomed to what I value (other people's mileage may, and probably will, vary). I got rather fed up with carrying a reasonable-sized fan heater around in the past (the smaller ones just didn't seem to do the business, and whatever I got was easy to trip over if it was placed to provide heat to the desired area). As a result, the last 5 vans (including the current) have had an electric heating option. An additional factor to take into account is how many (and where) the heating outlets are installed in your 'van. My current vehicle has 4 in the living area, 1 in the "bathroom", and one in the garage and with the heating on electric, the resulting distribution means the whole van gets warmed up (this is more difficult with a fan heater). If there is only one outlet, then a fan heater may be just as effective (though less space-efficient). The unit on my 'van is virtually silent on electricity, as well (though not on gas!). One particular use we make of ours, given that we are outdoors types with (more often than not, Winter or Summer :-( ) wet gear to dry, is to open the roof vent in the "bathroom", close all heating vents bar the one in there, hang the wet stuff from the vent, and put the heating on low on electric. Without a drying room, it's the best way we've found of having dry gear for the next day. Anyway, mine came with the electric option as "standard", so I didn't have to make the choice. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 If you are going to do a fair bit of Aire & wild camping as Eddie says money better spent on refillable gas bottles. That was our choice and it proved to be the right on in nearly 4 years hooked up to electric about 5 times, last year 61 days never used electric once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyishuk Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 If you are near an electric hook up it is quite useful to have the electric heating on the lowest setting in some of the winter months. I normally winterise the M/home (Fully drain the water tanks and heater) over the worst of the cold winter months. We still use the m/home but take water with us if needed for the loo etc. However when the weather picks up and we fill the tank and heater, I dont want to keep emptying just because frost is forcast, so I leave the heating on its lowest setings and this provides enough warmth to stop freezing of the pipework but not wastefully heating the m/home. The layout of our M/home is sensibly engineered that the water pipe runs are all along side the heating ducts. You may find that on some m/homes the pipes go in one direction and heating the other ! I found that using a small heater, the heat rises to the top of the m/home and does not get around the water pipework, so has very little effect on stopping freezing. Rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 lennyhb - 2012-04-23 5:54 PM If you are going to do a fair bit of Aire & wild camping as Eddie says money better spent on refillable gas bottles. That was our choice and it proved to be the right on in nearly 4 years hooked up to electric about 5 times, last year 61 days never used electric once. why I mentioned the LPG, the OP said a mixture of sites/aires/wildcamping so most likely a fair bit of time without electric supply. anoither thing is we had a fair bit of trouble with ours on the electric side developed an intermittent fault (mentioned on here at the time) But my main point rings true, fine all these extras if you are going to make good use of them, but if only away for a few months of the year? *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Momma Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Not sure if it is just unique to my van, however, I have found that the Gas is much more effective than the electricity e.g. electric doesn't get the van as warm or as quick as the gas. The other consideration if in Europe is that the Electrical supplies are lower e.g. 3, 6, 10 Amp so depending on what other electrical appliances you may wish to use at the same time, this may be too much for the supply. I have dual Electric/Gas but generally stick to the gas. I can see the advantage when on a site in Winter when you may want the heating on low overnight, as you may already be paying for the EHU in the pitch price this would be a more economical way of heating the van. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Robinhood - 2012-04-23 12:54 PM An additional factor to take into account is how many (and where) the heating outlets are installed in your 'van. My current vehicle has 4 in the living area, 1 in the "bathroom", and one in the garage and with the heating on electric, the resulting distribution means the whole van gets warmed up (this is more difficult with a fan heater). Good and bad points here, the Campscout will warm up very quickly with a fan heater, but, one day t'other week when using oil rad overnight we did get some condensation on lower half of rear doors in the garage area, this was not noticably when using Truma blown air as this has outlet in garage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tf756 Posted April 23, 2012 Author Share Posted April 23, 2012 OK - that is all very helpful. Thanks for all your advice - we will have to weigh up the pros and cons carefully but I must admit that at the moment I like the idea of spending the money on a LPG system instead. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Another thing to consider (perhaps) is that "E" versions of current Truma Combi appliances don't just have 230V air/water heating. They also have a 'mixed' gas/230V heating capability and this significantly increases the complexity of the design. If one is a techno-geek (or a motorhome journalist ;-) ) such a feature may turn you on, but complexity, in my view, is generally best avoided. My 2005 Hobby motorhome has a Truma C-6002EH, the predecessor to the Combi "E" and with similar combined gas/230V heating functionality. I've always had reservations over this as, if there's a problem on the heater's gas side, or a problem on the heater's 230V side, Sod's Law tells me that the problem will 'infect' the whole heater rather than remain in isolation. When I ordered the Hobby the standard heater was a Truma C-3402 model. I would have preferred to have specified the independently operating 230V 'heating collar' option for that appliance but this was not offered by Hobby. Eventually I chose the C-6002EH (which was not a prohibitively expensive upgrade back in 2005) but, during the last 7 years, I don't think I've ever used its 230V air-heating (preferring a small fan heater) and - as our usage of campsites, never mind campsite 230V hook-ups, has been quite limited - have rarely exploited the heater's 230V water-heating capability. The other side of the coin is that, if a gas-only Combi is chosen, it's not going to be practicable to retro-fit 230V heating. The £450 it would cost Tony to opt for a Combi-4E will cover not just the more complex heater but also installing the necessary 230V power-feed to it. The latter is easy enough to do when a motorhome is being built, but much less so afterwards. And, of course, 230V air and water heating (like 'must have' dinky little ovens) can be a big attraction to UK buyers when the motorhome eventually comes to be sold. Me, I'd stay simple with a gas-only Combi-4 and put the money saved towards a refillable gas-bottle system that will offer continuous value, not just when the motorhome is on 230V hook-up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Well,I was originally in the "tick the box for electric" camp,I think I've now been convinced otherwise. ;-) ..I'd spend the money on a refillable gas system AND if need be,look at adding a couple of extra 230v sockets,mounted in positions that would suitable for an electric fan heater... (..rather than having an extension lead drapeing everywhere... :-S ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Derek Uzzell - 2012-04-24 8:31 AM......................When I ordered the Hobby the standard heater was a Truma C-3402 model. I would have preferred to have specified the independently operating 230V 'heating collar' option for that appliance but this was not offered by Hobby. ............................................. I specified one of those on our first (Burstner) van. It was not that expensive, and we found it extremely useful. First, and obvious, it gave hot water when on EHU. Second, and less obvious, is the warmth that comes from 12 litres of nice hot water in the van. Bit like a low output night storage heater. When chilly, we just put the electric water heater on, and it kept the inside of the van just the right side of comfortable mornings and evenings when we should otherwise have used the Truma in gas heating mode. If still available and on offer, this is, I think, a worthwhile option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 A option we have retrofitted is truma crashsafe, not sure if this is compatable with refillables, but imo best extra we have fitted, as turning gas on/off on this van is a pain if it's lashing down or rear storage is full, check if dealer fit is cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Big Momma - 2012-04-23 7:19 PM Not sure if it is just unique to my van, however, I have found that the Gas is much more effective than the electricity e.g. electric doesn't get the van as warm or as quick as the gas. The other consideration if in Europe is that the Electrical supplies are lower e.g. 3, 6, 10 Amp so depending on what other electrical appliances you may wish to use at the same time, this may be too much for the supply. I have dual Electric/Gas but generally stick to the gas. I can see the advantage when on a site in Winter when you may want the heating on low overnight, as you may already be paying for the EHU in the pitch price this would be a more economical way of heating the van. Hardly surprising on a C6EH the electric element is 1.8kw compared to the gas at 6kw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonflyer Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 We opted for the electric heating as an additional extra and have not regretted it. We find the 'loo' very good for drying off coats. We have had the M/H for 6 years now and expect to keep it until we are no longer able to enjoy its benefits due to our ages. Thus we have chosen several expensive extras and have a number of DIY additions to make it very homely, ie leather upholstery and Nature Pure filter. It all depends on how long you expect to keep the M/H. Joyce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Just thought of another thing you will most want to sort when you get to first outing, the mattress, we found it to be much to hard for our liking, you might not find it so, but to be on safe side chuck a topper or couple of spare duvets in the van. We decided in end to replace mattress with hd foam/ memory foam instead of using toppers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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