Frost stat?

Haaamster

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I have seen posts about how to keep yuor van warm at night in colder weather and a few people just say they leave their frost stat on (not quite sure what they are). Now being in an older van I don't think I have that luxury but would like something to take the chill off without too much of a drain in the batteries.
Has anyone in an older van got one of these from justcampers,are they any good, hate getting up in the middle of the night for the toilet and fumbling for my chilly willy.

J18579: Ring 12v Heater and Cooler Fan : Just Kampers
 
I have gas warm air heating in my van and I replaced the standard thermostat for a household 7 day programmable thermostat.
It is set to come on if the temp falls below 7c INSIDE the van.

I have it set to come on at 21c an hour before I go to work in the morning and an hour before I come home. I keep all the silver blinds closed, including the roof vents.

Nice and warm :)

Phil
 
Haaamster said:
I have seen posts about how to keep yuor van warm at night in colder weather and a few people just say they leave their frost stat on (not quite sure what they are). Now being in an older van I don't think I have that luxury but would like something to take the chill off without too much of a drain in the batteries.
Has anyone in an older van got one of these from justcampers,are they any good, hate getting up in the middle of the night for the toilet and fumbling for my chilly willy.

J18579: Ring 12v Heater and Cooler Fan : Just Kampers
Click to expand...

The 12v heater you refer to IMO is rubbish I tried one years ago.They are for windscreen demisting

Most people referring to the frost setting refer to 240 volt convectors or oil filled radiators that they use when leaving the van on EHU there is a frost setting on these and when on this setting they turn on and off at 5 deg C
Alf
 
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Phil said:
I have gas warm air heating in my van and I replaced the standard thermostat for a household 7 day programmable thermostat.
It is set to come on if the temp falls below 7c INSIDE the van.

I have it set to come on at 21c an hour before I go to work in the morning and an hour before I come home. I keep all the silver blinds closed, including the roof vents.

Nice and warm :)

Phil
Click to expand...

Seems a good idea Phil but does this just work on 12v or is thermostat battery operated to maintain the program ?
what make did you buy
 
The stat is battery operated, then the relay just switches the heating on, I have a drayton one
 
Haaamster said:
... frost stat on (not quite sure what they are)...
Click to expand...

A Frost Stat is a thermostat, typically used on a building and mounted outside. It is usually wired to allow it to override any timer on the heating system when the external temperature drops to or below a preset value, usually 3'C, bringing the heating on and is used as a safety device. The normal room thermostat ensures that the does not exceed the set value.

It should be possible to fit a 'Frost Stat' to any vehicle to bring on the heating if the temperature drops, this would also ensure that any safety water dump valves do not operate due to temperature drop as happens in my Rapido.

I intend to have a look at the Truma controls in my Rapido and perhaps put in a programmable timer as well as a Frost Stat as I intend to travel more including in winter.

I may also look at a similar arrangement for when the vehicle is 'stored' over winter in my driveway.

Robert
 
=Haaamster;155874]I have seen posts about how to keep yuor van warm at night in colder weather and a few people just say they leave their frost stat on (not quite sure what they are). Now being in an older van I don't think I have that luxury but would like something to take the chill off without too much of a drain in the batteries.
Has anyone in an older van got one of these from justcampers,are they any good, hate getting up in the middle of the night for the toilet and fumbling for my chilly willy.

J18579: Ring 12v Heater and Cooler Fan : Just Kampers
Click to expand...

That thing is 150W so 12.5A at 12V.

It will totally flatten your battery overnight no problem. It talks about directional defrosting - my guess is it is supposed to sit on top of your dash and help clear the windscreen while you are driving thus working off the alternator.

You need to use your van gas heating on low or be on the hook up and use a 400W radiator or low power fan heater say 500-700W.
 
Phil said:
The stat is battery operated, then the relay just switches the heating on, I have a drayton one
Click to expand...

The relay units for these are 240 volt operated did you convert yours to 12v or does it only operate on EHU. was this the 3RF unit
Alf
 
Thanks for the advice folks, on reflection I agree it does look crap.
I'm trying to upgrade my heating for a planned skiing trip, went skiing in Germany last year and quicky found my heating to be woeful.The main heater is a truma gas fire without a fan or any tubing (do these fans make a big difference?).
I have a 2kw greenhouse type heater and an oil filled rad that I can run off a 2kw genny when possible but I can't have any of these on at night. I am looking at adding 25mm kingspan to the inner walls and 50mm in the voids underneath the van.
Just wondering what to do about low level night heating.
 
Haaamster said:
Thanks for the advice folks, on reflection I agree it does look crap.
I'm trying to upgrade my heating for a planned skiing trip, went skiing in Germany last year and quicky found my heating to be woeful.The main heater is a truma gas fire without a fan or any tubing (do these fans make a big difference?).
I have a 2kw greenhouse type heater and an oil filled rad that I can run off a 2kw genny when possible but I can't have any of these on at night. I am looking at adding 25mm kingspan to the inner walls and 50mm in the voids underneath the van.
Just wondering what to do about low level night heating.
Click to expand...

I'm interested in your experiances with taking the van on a ski trip as I plan to do the same in Jan/Feb. I have a propex hs2000 fitted and i'm wondering if this is going to be enough. I wasn't planning on using a campsite all the time (though this may change if my gear gets too wet and I can't dry it out). I think my van is reasonable well insulated and I am fitting curtains to seal of the cab and the sliding door, hoping that will reduce some loss of heat/draft ingress.

How did you store your wet kit when you went?
 
Well Bob Germany last year was a complete washout for me,planned 2 months in the Harz mountains but 100km from my destination my alternator blew. Big scary sparks, Fiat wanted 600 euros to supply alone so I parked up for a week in a campsite with hookup. Thats when I found out I need more heat and decided to drive home. No lights,no heater and no radio,using a genny to get some charge into the battery, took me 5 days to get home so cost wise I can't really help i'm afraid.
I'm lucky enough to have a big shower room in my van that will hold all my wet stuff,maybe you can put some hangers in there.
I think you will be ok for heat,everyone seems to give good reports about blown type heating.

Basil where in Spain was this,i'm interested in trying somewhere new.
How was the skiing,runs,facilities etc
 
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bob72 said:
I'm interested in your experiances with taking the van on a ski trip as I plan to do the same in Jan/Feb. I have a propex hs2000 fitted and i'm wondering if this is going to be enough. I wasn't planning on using a campsite all the time (though this may change if my gear gets too wet and I can't dry it out). I think my van is reasonable well insulated and I am fitting curtains to seal of the cab and the sliding door, hoping that will reduce some loss of heat/draft ingress.

How did you store your wet kit when you went?
Click to expand...

Your propex 2kw heater should be fine, as it has a variable burn cycle. The concern is how much Gas you are carrying in the rig. If it is the "E" model, you have the ability to use it on EHU if it's available.
What bottles are you carrying? You may have to go down my route of looking at re-fillable bottles with adapters for EU, or different heater if you are spending a lot of time out there.
I removed my Truma heater some time ago and replaced it with a Dual-Top Webasto heater, which uses diesel. I'm looking at Gas refills as will be out of country for some time touring around (so need plenty for cooking and the fridge), but when we were snowed in @ Scotland last year, I was so pleased that we changed the fuel source to diesel for the heating side of things, as this is readily available and I was carrying plenty of the stuff in the Fiat's fuel tank. We were stuck for about 5 days before we could get out, which in that time and in -12 conditions, I wouldn't like to say how long the gas would have lasted. Mind you, the heater was working a lot, as it was necessary to run the motorhome's engine every morning to top-up the leisure battery just in case we did run out of 12v power (as Solar's pants when in Winter).
 
Currently we just have a 6kg bottle and not too much room to fit another. We can't physically fit due to the height the larger bottles. In the summer with the fridge and cooking one bottle lasted around 4 weeks use. I think I may have to get one of those underslung tanks fitted?

I suppose we could store stuff in the bathroom and just keep the vent in there open?

I'm only planning a 4 or 5 day trip initially. Just fitted some new blackout and insulated curtains to separate the cab and fix the draft from the sliding door. That should help keep the heat in aswell
 
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