Winter heating.

[steve g]

Hi every one We are about to site our Starburst on the site in Tewksbury for the next to months.

As we normaly keep it on the drive on hook up so no proplems if we need to put the heating on

but is it worth me leaveing my heating on or a small electric heater on a timer to keep every

thing "rosey" when we pop down.

When we had our caravans in the past we did not bother to much,any ideas or advice welcome

as always Steve G

[StuartO]

Our MH is stored with an EHU plugged in so I've toyed with the idea of using my MH's heating system on low (on electric) as an anti-frost precaution. But I've always thought better of it and emptied the water system instead, so that freezing temperatures can't do any harm.

 

Two reasons: Firstly the heating system doesn't strike me a s designed for continuous service of this sort, so woud it come to harm and would it be reliable enough?

 

Secondly we have had mouse visitors in the past, so putting heat in the MH seems likely to encourage that. I set mouse traps anyway.

[lennyhb]

I used to put a small oil filled radiator in the van with the thermostat set low, the last few years have not bothered and have not noticed any difference. If not using the van always take it out for a good run every few weeks that gives it a good airing.

I don't think I would be happy leaving a heater on when the van is some distance away.

As for keeping it "rosey" don't see the point as with the heating systems in vans the van comes up to a reasonable temperature in 10 to 15 minutes.

[Tracker]

Hi Steve,

 

The problem is the water system.

If we are unlucky enough to get a severe frost whilst you are not on site and the hot water tank or pipes freeze the problems will be very inconvenient and very expensive to sort out.

I'm not sure what best to advise as we have never done much full winter caravanning but knowing that you need warmth as soon as you arrive on site and you really do not need anymore aggravation my suggestion would be to leave the heating and hot water on electric on a lowish setting rather than drain down and have to refill which is a bit of a performance, especially when it's cold outside.

I might even consider a thermostatically controlled electric radiator on a timer to cover the colder midnight to 7.00 am period as belt and braces, but I suspect there are others with more experience than I of this aspect?

The cold water tank is inboard so maybe leave the kitchen cabinet open so warm air can circulate will help and keeping the tank full might allow it to retain it's own temperature better.

I can't recall whether the hot and cold water pipes run inside or outside to the shower room?

I would make sure the waste tank is drained own when you leave and the tap left open to prevent freezing.

Hopefully others will be able to offer more advice?

 

 

 

[Brian Kirby]

If that is the Tewksbury race course site, I'm guessing it is fairly exposed. Two months hence takes us to early January. Winter!

 

I agree with Tracker, water is the main problem. I would say if your water pipes (fresh or hot water) run beneath the floor of the van (or if you are unsure), drain down the water systems thoroughly, and leave drained while away.

 

OTOH, if you are certain that all water tanks and pipes are housed above the insulated floor, providing some heating is left on inside the van, it should be safe to leave water in the system. This will require the hook-up to be maintained.

 

But, depending on how often you would visit, and how you normally use the water, I would not leave water standing the the tank for two months, because it will quite quickly lose its chlorination, and may therefore become contaminated. If you will be going back and forth to Tewksbury during the two months, and using the van say at weekends, so that the water is continually being used and replensihed, OK. But if not, I would caution against.

 

If there is no water in the van, there is no need to heat it, so no need to maintain the hook-up - unless your van has an alarm or other items that place a continual drain on its batteries.

 

But, if what you are proposing is effectively storing the van at Tewksbury, with no visits, or visits only to inspect, so that it would essentially be unused for that period of time, I would be inclined to maintain the hook-up to keep the batteries charged. Whether you add background heating would be personal choice.

 

OTOH, if you will be visiting the van, say for weekends, over the two months, I think I'd leave the hook up off and only plug in when there, as the batteries should survive quite happily over, say, a couple of weeks. This assumes batteries in good condition, and fully charged at the outset of each period.

 

Much depends on what you have in your van, and how you would leave, and use, it over that period. If leaving bedding in the van, and expecting to spend nights in it over the period, I would definitely leave some heating on. Like Stuart, I would be uninclined to rely on an unattended Truma over an extended period, so would favour the oil filled rad, set low.

 

My final thought is food. Probably not wise to leave food in cupboards with the van unused on a site that is relatively quiet and remote from habitation. Mice are very good at finding ways in! Ultimately, you have to decide based on a series of judgements to suit your pattern of use.

[fred22]

Hi, when we were able to leave our van on the drive and therefore able to plug into the electrics, I used a greenhouse frost heater.

Basically an adapted fan heater that had a frost setting.

Set it to frost and the heater comes at at freezing point, it lifts the temperature, and then switches off until the next time.

I have had it some time now but i think it was £14.99.

We never had problems with water freezing (inside tank)

Being on the drive I could check it regularly.

I don't know how I would have felt if it was (the van) a long way away

Fred

[Brian Kirby]

Further thought. If unimpressed by the thought of emptying and filling the water tank, and on the assumption the van would get some use during the two months, get some Elsil. It is made by Elsan, and should be available from most good caravan/motorhome accessory shops.

 

It is a water sterilising treatment that is added to the fresh water tank. It is safe for consumption, and completely safe to use with Truma boilers etc as it does not rely on chlorine (colloidal silver, in fact).

 

The bottle includes a dosing chamber to ensure correct dosage. We usually use campsites, so water lasts us for ages. About half a tank in two weeks, at which point I re-fill. I add the Elsil to the cleaned tank before we go off, and then top up appropriately when we re-fill at 50%. We have used it for 6/7 years, and the water remains clear and free of smell or taint throughout our trips, which are usually 8 - 10 weeks at a time.

 

From memory, the product is claimed to keep water free of contamination for up to three months. It is not suitable for treating "raw" water, so mains drinking water should be used to fill the tank, but I guess few of us do otherwise.

 

Doing this, maintaining the hook-up, and keeping low background heat going via an oil filled rad, or similar, should mean your van is ready to use whenever you decide to turn up: just turn on the gas and away you go.

[LordThornber]

Oil filled radiator on a timer as Rich has suggested is the way we went with our last van.

 

We winter camp so it was never completely idle.

 

We were lucky enough though for that to be in a covered space (better than a car port but not quite a garage ), at the rear of our house.

 

I'm absolutely not advocating not draining your systems but we never did, perhaps a combination of luck, the storage and the radiator did the business for us.

 

We originally used the van's heating system but that was very uneconomical.

 

Martyn

 

[Billggski]

The problem is usually taps freezing up if you don't keep background heat. There are various ways of blowing water completely out of the system on the forum.

Also the Truma heater dumps the water at 8C, you have to close the valve before using the water again.

[Tracker]

Billggski - 2014-11-05 8:43 PM

Also the Truma heater dumps the water at 8C, you have to close the valve before using the water again.

 

It certainly makes sens e to turn the pump off and leave taps open when leaving but the Starburst has an Eberspacher Combitronic diesel / Mains EHU powered heater and boiler and I can't recall whether it has a frost protection dump valve?

Ours had a pressure release - not temperature - dump valve and I seem to recall that it was this that I opened to drain the boiler.

I also recall that it does not completely drain the heat exchanger as I found out one year when frost split it and I had to repair it - a long and tedious spell of remove strip down soldering rebuild and refit!

In the OPs case a full drain down and refill each visit are not really practical as they need to arrive to a warm (ish) van ready to use.

Instant warmth can be obtained from a fan heater whilst the van warms up but it does need to be not cold on arrival for them.

[Guest peter]

If you have hookup you can buy a plug in thermostat from B&Q that you can set at any temperature to turn on a fan heater or oil radiator. That is what we have and set it at 5 degrees C. Mostly to control condensation on the windscreen. We do however drain all water and leave the taps open.

[the crumblies]

Not to contradict any of the above, or to teach granny anything about eggs, just to add weight here and there for reassurance....

We’ve kept our vans at home for the last 20-odd years. There’s an adjacent EHU point and a convenient surface drain. Because of our unpredictable health problems, we need the van to survive unsupervised for several months, but also be available at short notice. My wife has a nose like a bloodhound (not in appearance, you understand, just in sensitivity...) and she can smell the tiniest whiff of mustiness or toilet pong. So, our winterisation programme is like this, when we arrive home after a trip, if the van is not to be used for more than two weeks:

• Dump all fresh, waste and toilet flush water; leave all taps open and water pump(s) off .

• Empty, clean & refill the toilet cassette, clean the bowl.

• Apart from cutlery, crockery, tools etc, empty all lockers and leave doors open, including toilet and fridge. Don’t leave anything with a battery (eg torches) on board. If possible, store these items in one place so they are easy to find and replace for the next trip.

• Empty all perishable food and anything in paper packaging.

• Most vans have good permanent ventilation, but leaving a window open a crack at each end of the van encourages a through-flow of air to minimise mustiness.

• Ensure gas cylinders are off.

• Connect EHU, configure so that batteries are trickle charged. (or fit a solar panel)

• Place a small electric heater in the living space with thermostat, set to 3-5 degrees C.

• If storing outside, cover any wheels exposed to the sun: winter sun can be strong, and no-one likes having to replace tyres because the sidewalls have cracked.

• Wash bedding as necessary, store in airing cupboard ready for instant use.

• Apply any required anti-theft measures, physical and/or electronic.

As far as possible, I take it out for a 20+ mile trip at least once a month (B&Q is just right, especially on a Wednesday, when I get my old git’s discount). It only takes a few minutes to shut all the doors, take off the tyre covers and remove the EHU, and reverse the procedure on my return. Because I’m old and forgetful, most of the above is on a laminated crib sheet which lives in the cab.

So there you are, one man’s view of winter protection. I’ve probably forgotten something, but that’s why we have forums – there’s always someone ready to put you right! Happy Camping!

Oh yes, I did forget something - fit sun-reflective blinds at all windows and windscreen. Apart from the obvious reason, it prevents any dubious characters from seeing inside.

[Tracker]

If parked on the level enough leave the handbrake off and choc the wheels to prevent pads/linings sticking to or leaving marks on the discs/drums.