leaving the heating on at night

[marksrv6]

I have a truma blow hot air heating and while investigating another subject (the frost protection valve) it was suggested that leaving the heating on low all night to stop the valve from opening.

I have a smoke alarm and a carbon monoxide detector, are there any other risks associated with leaving the heating on 24hrs a day? which I believe those hardy motorhomer's do in ski resorts.

 

 

 

I am interested to know whether this is recommended or not!

[JonMac46]

Same set up as you. I leave it on, turned down to 15C.

[colin]

As long as it is installed correctly and in good working order there should be no problems, and you have the correct alarms in the unlikely event that something should go wrong.

It's not that different to thousands of houses that have frost stats built into the boilers.

[Tall_Mike]

We leave our heating (Truma blown air) on all night at this time of year but turned down to 1. - Keeps the worse of the chill off us - and keeps the garage area where our boiler is at above 7C which stops the boiler emptying itself.

 

As far as I am aware there is no problem in doing this - We have both smoke and Carbon monoxide alarms, the heating and indeed the van has been correctly serviced with an up to date habitation check, - the fridge is also on at night on gas.

 

Don't have any concerns.

[spospe]

We have a Truma 6E and leave it on all the time we are in the van, in fact we treat the van exactly the same as our house in this respect.

[Archiesgrandad]

Only problem is the amount of gas it uses.

AGD

[aandncaravan]

No problems that we have ever seen, but obviously there will be accelerated wear in the Fan, or pump in a Water based system, the longer it is run.

You obviously also use more 12v battery power for the fan/pump.

 

Running the fan on a slower speed but circulating air at a higher temperature will save 12v power plus reduce wear and tear, because generally the slower the fan speed the lower the power consumed with less wear.

 

So, if the system allows it, turn up the Heater/Boiler temperature but run the fan/pump on the slowest setting you find comfortable. This can cut battery 12v consumption by half overnight.

 

Takes a while to find the right balance, but it is what we do overnight in Winter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tall_Mike]

Tend to switch it to heat only at night though - No point in using gas to heat the water if no one is using it, the boiler cylinder isn't insulated like our tank at home - when I get up to make the tea I usually turn up the heating a bit and switch to water heating on, - ready for washing or a shower if needed about 1/2 hour later.

 

I know that some vans have the control panel reachable from bed for exactly this purpose although ours is above the habitation door.

[Colin Leake]

JonMac46 - 2016-12-14 10:44 AM

 

Same set up as you. I leave it on, turned down to 15C.

 

Me to that's what we do.

[Arthur Brown]

Hi

I leave the fire on at low power all night. I have the blown air system connected to a normal gas fire but do not use it at night as it takes battery and it makes a noise. With the fire on low, about 3-4, it keeps the van slightly warm which is what we want over night. In the morning we turn up the fire and switch on the fan which is adequately powered by the batteries supported by the solar panel. Obviously if on hookup then power is not the issue. Only safety, which has been addressed above, and for me, noise from the fan. At the end of the day it is what is good for you. I think the forum has probably answered you safety problems so it is just the comfort issues which you have to consider. My only caution is that in our case the fire is near the foot of the bed so you must ensure the bed linen is not near or over the fire. I might add that this is all possible.

Finally, if you cannot keep warm in whatever conditions you wish to use the van then you are missing out on the joy of it's use. So use what you have by taking sensible precautions as you would at home.

Regards

Art