To heat or not too heat ?

[jacquigem]

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.

 

[trevskoda]

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.

 

[rugbyken]

if you can run a cable put a greenhouse heater inside with cushions raised nr boiler most less than 1 kw cost pennies to run compared to new boiler etc

 

[barryd]

Never bothered to heat mine in nearly 15 years of ownership. The only time it caused an issue was 2010/11 when we had that really cold winter. -17c etc. We went away for Christmas and the pipe behind the bathroom wall must have got frozen water in it. Took three days to thaw it out. Well it took me two days to figure out where it was. Not sure heating the van would have helped unless it was kept at normal sitting room temps.

Pretty sure they dont heat them on motorhome forecourts.

 

[jacquigem]

Thanks for the replies, that's a good point about forecourts Barry but I guess they are well drained. That is part of my problem . I just have the "standard" truma boiler , just wondering how much it would cost to run overnight ? Much less than trying to fix a burst I'm guessing ?

 

[barryd]

Thanks for the replies, that's a good point about forecourts Barry but I guess they are well drained. That is part of my problem . I just have the "standard" truma boiler , just wondering how much it would cost to run overnight ? Much less than trying to fix a burst I'm guessing ?

Its all pretty basic in our van so not sure how you would drain your boiler. Presumably it can be done?

All I do is empty the fresh and waste tanks, open all the taps, disconnect the two sides of the Surflow pump (and run it for a second to spit out any water), remove the plastic shower head and take it inside the house and take the bung out of the Carver water heater which is located outside thus draining it.

 

[SimonM]

I have a small heater inside and have just checked the temps. Last night it got down to 5.2°c inside and a max of 9.6°c during the day.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

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.

Post it note fixes that Trev, I put a note on my steering wheel for the EHU cable as it's on the nearside.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Thanks for the replies, that's a good point about forecourts Barry but I guess they are well drained. That is part of my problem . I just have the "standard" truma boiler , just wondering how much it would cost to run overnight ? Much less than trying to fix a burst I'm guessing ?

Try looking under the van for a very short pipe going up through the floor.

 

[merl]

Our webasto heater is underslung and very susceptible to freezing at this time of year. There is an electronic 'drain' function that doesn't seem to work so we use one of these FLOE devices.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Floe-FLOE-Motorhome-Drainage-Kit/dp/B005ZP94R0/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?adgrpid=133579903131&gclid=Cj0KCQiAlKmeBhCkARIsAHy7WVsAyUFC9SyyLOXfsaj7ab6fYRrOyD-vWDDooRKqZetN1xOk5_6cVAoaAohGEALw_wcB&hvadid=606299411422&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=9046176&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=5078036656561854873&hvtargid=kwd-535120109663&hydadcr=729_2627533&keywords=floe+drain+down+system&qid=1674208834&sr=8-7

Basically it enables you to use a tyre inflator to blow out all the water from the heater and pipework. I'm sure with a bit of ingenuity it could be DIYd quote easily.

 

[jann]

Always leave the heater and water on frost setting

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I used to use a little ceramic heater in the van when we lived in Pudsey but not bothered here despite it being a much colder area.

 

[Okta]

If you have refillable lpg it is cheaper to use that than mains electricity. 1 kWh of electricity now costs 34p. 1 litre of propane at the pumps costs about 99p but contains 7.08 kWh of energy, which means 1kWh of gas costs about 14p. Even allowing for the lower efficiency of gas it is heaps cheaper than using a mains hook up.

 

[trevskoda]

If you have refillable lpg it is cheaper to use that than mains electricity. 1 kWh of electricity now costs 34p. 1 litre of propane at the pumps costs about 99p but contains 7.08 kWh of energy, which means 1kWh of gas costs about 14p. Even allowing for the lower efficiency of gas it is heaps cheaper than using a mains hook up.

Not if you plug into the street light.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Yeah but that might be an Irish ting.

 

[Obanboy666]

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.

Not sure what make of boiler you have, assuming it’s a Truma it should have a drain / frost valve. On my 2019 Pilote the Truma was on the near side and the drain valve was on the off side below the fridge / freezer so don’t assume it wil be near the boiler.
Never used a seperate heater on any of my motorhomes parked up at home and never had any issues but always drained all water if any chance of low temps.
Depending on model of Truma you have check your manual as some allow heating without any water in the boiler. Mine did but only used it to warm motorhome up to allow the frost dump valve to be reset If temp low.

 

[jacquigem]

If you have refillable lpg it is cheaper to use that than mains electricity. 1 kWh of electricity now costs 34p. 1 litre of propane at the pumps costs about 99p but contains 7.08 kWh of energy, which means 1kWh of gas costs about 14p. Even allowing for the lower efficiency of gas it is heaps cheaper than using a mains hook up.

Like that Oktar, I do have refillable and as you say it is still quite cheap compared to the damage frost could do. Thanks for all other replies , I have spent some time searching and fed up drawing a blank so am drawn to a low gas fire.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

It would seem to make some sort of sense, my other thoughts would be the longevity of the heater, but they are not really designed for long-term use.

 

[barryd]

It would seem to make some sort of sense, my other thoughts would be the longevity of the heater, but they are not really designed for long-term use.

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.

 

[Compo]

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