To heat or not too heat ?

[wildebus]

Dont heat unless you have water on board, I do as I have a small water filled hand wash unit in the bathroom, dont want to drain as I may forget and switch on.

pull the fuse to it to make sure it won't come on.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Too complex David.

 

[jacquigem]

My heating system is old school Carver gas fire with blown air if you want which you can switch off or on. Im not sure I would want anything gas powered on all the time when I wasnt in the van. The tank would be empty probably within a week anyway.

Just thinking of a few hours overnight for a couple if days , forecast is for it to be a sweltering 5 on other days. Might sleep in it to make sure nothing goes wrong.

 

[jacquigem]

ive a 2010 autotrail comanche and the boiler drain is under the bed (blue)

Thanks , will have a look.

 

[barryd]

Just thinking of a few hours overnight for a couple if days , forecast is for it to be a sweltering 5 on other days. Might sleep in it to make sure nothing goes wrong.

I reckon it has to get pretty cold to do some damage. Ive left mine full of water when its been down to -3 or -4 a few times. I reckon its probably when its sustained. Ive emptied mine now as it was -6c a couple of nights and not much above freezing during the day. Once its empty of water you can just forget about it.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I think where you park at home it'll have very little wind chill Barry as will ours but in the open, it can make a massive difference.

 

[wildebus]

Our 2010 Autotrail Mohawk is parked up overnight outside our house , with hook up available. Temperatures forecast is down to 3 degrees (!) For the next few nights.
I have drained it as best I can but can't find a drop tap for the life of me having checked thoroughly around the base of the boiler. Taps left open and pipes sucked.
I have been contemplating leaving the heating on low but wife thinks I am being overcautious . Thought I would ask you good people for your views given your recent experience.

I would go for the following ...
If you want to some heat in the van when parked onthe driveway on hookup, I would get a little oil-filled radiator. These are cheap and if they fail, a new one is maybe £15. A new part on your Truma if it fails will be a LOT more. Prolong its life where you can as a precaution.

Truma (assuming it is a Truma as it is an Autotrail) usually have a dump valve situated near the boiler and has a yellow lever - when vertical, the valve is open. Find the boiler and you should find the valve.
Even if you went for the choice of turning it on to prevent freezing, it is still a very good idea to find out where the Valve is (same goes for all valves, fuses, etc - if/when something goes wrong, you want to know where to look).

 

[barryd]

I think where you park at home it'll have very little wind chill Barry as will ours but in the open, it can make a massive difference.

Absolutely Kev. On the drive it seems to fair well as its so blocked in and even on the front of the house its protected by the house itself as the winds are nearly always westerly's off the mountains to the rear. Nothing between us and the Lake District really apart from some feckin big hills.

 

[Fazerloz]

I always heat I've seen far too many times in my working life what damage ice can do. Truma heater left on #1 and all internal doors left open

 

[jacquigem]

One good thing I guess is that it is very sheltered squeezed between house and high wall. Still trying to find a dump valve !

 

[korky]

I think where you park at home it'll have very little wind chill Barry as will ours but in the open, it can make a massive difference.

Wind chill will have no effect on water freezing. Water will freeze at a specific air temperature. Wind chill is what we feel as an animate object, it can affect us in exteme cases enough to be lethal. Water is inanimate.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Wind chill will have no effect on water freezing. Water will freeze at a specific air temperature. Wind chill is what we feel as an animate object, it can affect us in exteme cases enough to be lethal. Water is inanimate.

Thanks Korky, I should have looked that one up.

 

[barryd]

Not so sure as wind chill when it hits an object will remove heat from it faster. If I park my car on the sheltered drive it's screen is clear in the morning in zero or sub zero temps. Any left on the road which is exposed are covered in ice and frost.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Can water freeze if the wind chill index is 10 degrees and the temperature is 35 degrees? | Science Guys | Union University, a Christian College in Tennessee

www.uu.edu

 

[Thistle]

We have an EcoAir Desiccant Dehumidifier which, unlike compressor types uses a heating Elephant.
That works very well in the van for keeping it above freezing and for extracting quite a lot of otherwise potential condensation.

 

[Okta]

unlike compressor types uses a heating Elephant.

I don‘t have enough payload spare for an Elephant.

Edit
p.s. Sometimes I just hate predictive text.

 

[Alf]

Dont heat unless you have water on board, I do as I have a small water filled hand wash unit in the bathroom, dont want to drain as I may forget and switch on.

Simples.......Remove Fuse for safety.

 

[Thistle]

Obviously I didn’t intend to make that typo on Porpoise.

 

[oldish hippy]

just small oil filled rad plugged in leave doors open stops the condensation next day gas will put moisture into aiir

 

[Nabsim]

I usually heat but that’s because I am almost always in the van. If I was intending to leave it for more than a few days I would just drain down and leave taps open with everything off though.