Frank McAuley Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 I propose to place an oil-filled electric radiator in my motorhome which is in storage for the winter. The radiator would be operated by an electronic plug-in temperature controller, a 7day timer and an RCD. May I please have your views:- 1. what temp should the electronic controller be set at; 2. is it necessary to incorporate a timer; 3. if you consider this worthwhile is there anything else that needs to be considered? I'm sure there are many boffins out there who may take other important facts into consideration that I haven't considered. Thankyou. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 I don't know which type / make of oil rad you intend to use. My van is on the drive through the winter and I use an oil filled rad which is left on all the time. It can be set at different temperature levels, from " frost " upwards, and turns itself on and off as necessary, so a timer is not required. Make sure you also open all your taps, with the lever centred to avoid them being damaged by frost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Quiet a difficult question to answer! Most frost thermostats are set to about 5 degrees C if it is any help. I take a different approach which is much cheaper to keep the van dry in winter storage, I put in a deumidifier and the hunidistat takes care of it all for me. Let the van freeze, I have drained everything and what live creature and mould spores wants to nest in my freezing cold motorhome with dry air. Much cheaper to run and I think does a better job of preserving the van. Using heat my feeling is you need to maintain the temperature more like 10 to 15 degrees to do the same job but really do not know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FRANKP60 Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Would it not be better to use heater fitted in van!!!!last year I used the van heater set to thermostate on the controls ,had it very low and it worked fine.Thought the oil filled rads used much more electric. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowie Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Brambles - 2012-10-29 3:13 PM I take a different approach which is much cheaper to keep the van dry in winter storage, I put in a deumidifier and the hunidistat takes care of it all for me. Let the van freeze, I have drained everything and what live creature and mould spores wants to nest in my freezing cold motorhome with dry air. Timely thread, having just drained down. What dehumidifier do you use? cheers alan b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Frank, If you are using the oil filled rad to protect against freezing then DO NOT use a timer as if the outside temp drops below freezing when the timer is OFF your van will freeze. I use a household frost thermostat (eg Horstman or Danfoss) wired into an extension lead as I found the lowest setting on my oil filled rad kept the MH at around 7ºC, far too high IMO and wasting my electricity. I now keep the temp at around 3ºC and the rad is on far less than before. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Have done this over the past 5 years without a problem, with interior fresh water tank with just enough to circle through the boiler (on frost protect + 10c). never drained boiler, left Oil filled rad on 16c constant. interior of van never really cold. Yes it costs a bit in electricity, but not as much as a frost damaged pipework or boiler. Just a reminder check the mcb to your outside supply at least weekly, One 'cheapy' (4 year old though) oil filled rad failed, and tripped the breaker. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 snowie - 2012-10-29 3:25 PM Timely thread, having just drained down. What dehumidifier do you use? One I got cheap in B&Q in a sale. Its a 10 litre a day model I think. About 180 watts power consumption from memory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T8LEY Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 We have a 12V dehumidifier like these, for use in the van: http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?itemId=170889500932&cmd=VIDESC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Either a heater or a dehumidifier will do. Jon (Brambles) is, I think, in Scotland, so maybe not the same conditions as yours Frank, but you don't say where you are. I use a greenhouse heater, and set it by trial and error until it just comes on when the van feels cold inside. In practise, probably a bit above 5C, but definitely less that 10C. It is about 500W from memory. My intention is to keep the van frost free, and the air dry inside. I can't guarantee every last drip of water is expelled from all the pipes, so preventing freezing seems to me the best ploy. Had the van 5 years so far, and did the same with previous van, and small caravan before that. So far, it has worked! A dehumidifier may not be sufficient to prevent freezing in severe conditions, although it will keep the van dry. If you can be sure all is fully drained, it should be fine. Six of one, half dozen of the other, IMO, subject to that one caveat. As already said, don't use a time clock, just rely on the thermo/humidi stat of whatever you decide to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank McAuley Posted October 30, 2012 Author Share Posted October 30, 2012 Tyou Brian - as ever QED! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy mccord Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I use a delonghi oil filled rad, I just leave it on frost setting, its perfect, it even thaws the top of the windscreen out from thick ice set on frost setting, hook up lead runs under my garage door so when im setting off to work......remember that some of you :-> I just switch it of at the socket. Dehumidifiers, I dont bother with, whats the point o trying to suck all the water out of the atmosphere!! Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I just use a small 750W oil filled rad set just to keep the interior just above freezing. I wouldn't bother with a dehumidifier it you forget to empty it regularly you have a nice flooded van. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 "with a dehumidifier it you forget to empty it regularly you have a nice flooded van." Not true, you are making assumptions there is no level cut off switch or hose option to drain down a sink or outside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesFrance Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Over a period of 26 years of motorhome owneship I have never found it necessary to heat a van in winter. All modern motorhomes have adequate ventilation to keep the interior dry unless you have a damp problem through bad construction, which will need sorting anyway. Just draining the water systems is enough. We did spend the winter in the UK until 1995 and have followed the same procedure with various boats over the years. Ventilation is what counts, not introducing heat which will cause damp from condensation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Don't forget that conventional compressor type dehumidifiers won't work very well below about 6 degrees. Absorbtion types are better and are no more readily available. We use a dehumidifier with a timer that runs it between 12 am and 3 pm when the temperature is likely to be at its highest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 JamesFrance - 2012-10-30 7:13 PM Over a period of 26 years of motorhome owneship I have never found it necessary to heat a van in winter. All modern motorhomes have adequate ventilation to keep the interior dry unless you have a damp problem through bad construction, which will need sorting anyway. Just draining the water systems is enough. We did spend the winter in the UK until 1995 and have followed the same procedure with various boats over the years. Ventilation is what counts, not introducing heat which will cause damp from condensation.Quite agree with this. Never heated a boat when laid up and never suffered from mould etc, we also do not cover it. Ideally you want the temperature to eqilibrate. If we do use it in the winter we have a dessicant dehumidifier running all night to stop condensation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy mccord Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I use my heater purely as a precaution because you can never be sure all of the water has been drained off totally, so for the sake of a few quid as opposed to a split pump etc its worth it IMO. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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