Is this progress?

[Topmast]

Thirty odd years ago when living in Scotland my then van had a gas fire with balanced flue. Even in the winter lighting the fire for five minutes and the van would be toasty. Now living in Portugal with a more modern van with blown air heating it takes for ever to heat up and uses much more gas .And yet this is progress! I really dislike all the crap they fit to modern vehicles ,more expense, more to go wrong and on the odd occasions that I go to so called specialist you get sorry parts are unavailable at present. End of rant I am having a bad day!

 

[caledonia]

Thirty odd years ago when living in Scotland my then van had a gas fire with balanced flue. Even in the winter lighting the fire for five minutes and the van would be toasty. Now living in Portugal with a more modern van with blown air heating it takes for ever to heat up and uses much more gas .And yet this is progress! I really dislike all the crap they fit to modern vehicles ,more expense, more to go wrong and on the odd occasions that I go to so called specialist you get sorry parts are unavailable at present. End of rant I am having a bad day!

Health and safety has a lot to answer for. Fit a log burner and find free fuel. It grows on trees you know

 

[KATBIT]

Truma make a balanced flue gas fire .
It's expensive though.
They make a nice caravan fire where it uses a heat exchanger system. This is much cheaper

 

[trevskoda]

Diesel night heater is the norm these days, i to dislike cr-p they fit to things these days, esp cars.

 

[Budgie]

Totally agree, we've had our van 10 years now with Trauma gas fire, we mostly camp off grid, we have two large gasit refillable gas bottles, we don't need to use the blown air system, we just have the fire on which keeps us nice and toasty even in the Alps in winter and so use zero battery, looking at changing the van soon as getting old, but all these fancy heating systems now that need battery power to run even diesel heating, would have a old fashioned gas fire in the blink of an eye.

 

[Robmac]

I wouldn't consider anything else now I have a Diesel heater. Sips fuel (from the vehicle tank) and warms the van up in no time at all.

 

[trevskoda]

Diesel heater not working in our van, tuff barstewarts us Irish compared to you wimps.

 

[Robmac]

Diesel heater not working in our van, tuff barstewarts us Irish compared to you wimps.

I bet you've got a wood burner in your kennel though Trev.

 

[colinm]

We have a Truma blown air system and we think it's great, distributes warm air to all parts of van so there are no cold spots which can cause condensation. The unfortunate part is we ordered the van with a gas only system, we have found if on hook-up and using a electric heater this can cause condensation in the garage.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

We have the old gas fire type, it goes on at No 4, 10 minutes later down to 2 or 1, it just works and lights first time every time on the button, never needed to put the van on other than to test it when we bought it, we have bought vans previously based on having this type.

 

[YeoBlade]

Thirty odd years ago when living in Scotland my then van had a gas fire with balanced flue. Even in the winter lighting the fire for five minutes and the van would be toasty. Now living in Portugal with a more modern van with blown air heating it takes for ever to heat up and uses much more gas .And yet this is progress! I really dislike all the crap they fit to modern vehicles ,more expense, more to go wrong and on the odd occasions that I go to so called specialist you get sorry parts are unavailable at present. End of rant I am having a bad day!

Totally agree, Our old 2012 Swift had the Gas fire and blown air if needed, efficient, no electric needed. Perfect. Looking around for our new van, they no longer exist. New one has Alde which is very good heating and cosy throughout the van but at a cost of extra gas usage. During my recent trip to France, Germany & Belgium I used 2 to 3 litres of LPG/day heating and fridge moving everyday, definitely more than the old system, but warmer throughout. I hope it doesn't go wrong £££

 

[r4dent]

Got me thinking about my first touring caravan back in 1973

Single Gas Light (never got the hang of mantles);
Foot pump for cold water (kitchen sink only);
Single glazed windows;
The loo (bucket and chuck it) was in a "wardrobe" by the entry door;
Bathroom (loo only) was made by unfolding door across the entrance. If you where using the loo no one could enter or leave the van;
No 230v and no 12v.
TV ran using a long lead that was crocodile clipped to vehicle battery. Luckily my Series Land Rover had a starting handle. On cold mornings I would start it using the handle then drive round the site tow starting others;
Free standing Gas catalytic heater was screwed on to a piece of chipboard and run from a gas tap;
12 foot long and four berth;
Butane only, No propane. On cold morning the external regulator was frozen and could needed thawing by spraying hot liquid all over it.
Couldn't heat water for this job but had a source of hot liquid available every morning. Not a job for SWMBO.

Great days indeed.

 

[maingate]

Totally agree, Our old 2012 Swift had the Gas fire and blown air if needed, efficient, no electric needed. Perfect. Looking around for our new van, they no longer exist. New one has Alde which is very good heating and cosy throughout the van but at a cost of extra gas usage. During my recent trip to France, Germany & Belgium I used 2 to 3 litres of LPG/day heating and fridge moving everyday, definitely more than the old system, but warmer throughout. I hope it doesn't go wrong £££

Have a good root around online. There is usually electrical schematic drawings and other 'how to' fix things, including good info from Alde. They should be there but are not always easy to find.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Find schematics long before you need them, download PDFs to your phone.

 

[r4dent]

Find schematics long before you need them, download PDFs to your phone.

Then, when you need them but can't find them ....

Find schematics download PDFs to your phone.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I have a loads on mine, easy to find.

Go to the my files app, search for PDFs

 

[YeoBlade]

Diesel heater not working in our van, tuff barstewarts us Irish compared to you wimps.

Take in more washing to get it fixed trev, I see you're pretty good at it!

 

[trevskoda]

Take in more washing to get it fixed trev, I see you're pretty good at it!

Will sort or buy a chinese unit, job for another day.

 

[gasgas]

Trev: if you want a used Chinese diesel heater I have one for sale. Postage might be a bit much though. Are you coming to this side of the water? I couldn't understand the Chinese 'instructions' but it did work. I just didn't know how to regulate the temperature or the clock. I could switch it on and off though. Whoever wrote the English 'instructions' did so by tearing out pages from an English dictionary, sticking them on a wall and throwing darts at them. Which ever word the next dart landed on was the next word in the 'instructions'.
I fitted a Webasto - then to my horror realised I could have bought and fitted a Traumatic for less money . . . . .

 

[mistericeman]

Trev: if you want a used Chinese diesel heater I have one for sale. Postage might be a bit much though. Are you coming to this side of the water? I couldn't understand the Chinese 'instructions' but it did work. I just didn't know how to regulate the temperature or the clock. I could switch it on and off though. Whoever wrote the English 'instructions' did so by tearing out pages from an English dictionary, sticking them on a wall and throwing darts at them. Which ever word the next dart landed on was the next word in the 'instructions'.
I fitted a Webasto - then to my horror realised I could have bought and fitted a Traumatic for less money . . . . .

A lot of them don't have a functioning thermostat...
Just vary between high and low...
Never actually switching off