Truma Diesel Combi Boiler & space heater, Thoughts please.

spigot

spigot

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In my next van I have the option of a Truma diesel Combi.
As the number of lpg filling points seem to be reducing at a fast rate of knots I thought this might be a good idea.
If anyone out there is running one of these I’d love to hear the pros and cons, Please 🙏.
 
spigot said:
In my next van I have the option of a Truma diesel Combi.
As the number of lpg filling points seem to be reducing at a fast rate of knots I thought this might be a good idea.
If anyone out there is running one of these I’d love to hear the pros and cons, Please 🙏.
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Getting another van? That’s a surprise!
 
I have Truma diesel Combi in my campervan .I've had the van from new, 2 years old now.It's great,had no problems at all.
 
Speaking as a retired gas and oil central heating bloke (NOT engineer, it's only lego and hot air, that's not engineering) my preference would be for a gas boiler simply because by its nature, an oil (diesel) fired boiler will need periodic disassembly to clean out the carbon. A gas boiler won't.
As for refillable LPG, this is one reason I have against having an AutoSleeper which all seem to have underslung LPG tanks which you have to search around the UK to refill. I had one, and the gauge read empty when it was still more than half full, so you start searching, drive 30 miles out of your way only to discover you only needed 5 litres to fill it up. This is another reason not to stay in the UK. Anywhere on the continent when you want LPG you just drive around whatever town you are in searching for the cheapest LPG. You have already saved the £25-£60 a night cost of staying on camp sites in the UK so any holiday over a week will be cheaper than staying here. And the supermarkets have phenomenal selections of fruit and vegetables, quite unlike what we get. And the traffic density in Abroadland is about a tenth of what it is here. And they don't have height barriers (at least I haven't seen any). And you can park overnight.
 
I would go deisel heater lpg can be hard to find , you would still need gas for fridge and cooking
 
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molly 2 said:
Perfect rime to change before it becomes a mony pit
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It's started!, today the driver's door window has got stuck in the down position.

Last month I had the same problem with the car, that was 187 quid!
 
gasgas said:
Speaking as a retired gas and oil central heating bloke (NOT engineer, it's only lego and hot air, that's not engineering) my preference would be for a gas boiler simply because by its nature, an oil (diesel) fired boiler will need periodic disassembly to clean out the carbon. A gas boiler won't.
As for refillable LPG, this is one reason I have against having an AutoSleeper which all seem to have underslung LPG tanks which you have to search around the UK to refill. I had one, and the gauge read empty when it was still more than half full, so you start searching, drive 30 miles out of your way only to discover you only needed 5 litres to fill it up. This is another reason not to stay in the UK. Anywhere on the continent when you want LPG you just drive around whatever town you are in searching for the cheapest LPG. You have already saved the £25-£60 a night cost of staying on camp sites in the UK so any holiday over a week will be cheaper than staying here. And the supermarkets have phenomenal selections of fruit and vegetables, quite unlike what we get. And the traffic density in Abroadland is about a tenth of what it is here. And they don't have height barriers (at least I haven't seen any). And you can park overnight.
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My Eberspacher DT4 has run perfectly without anything being done to it from 2016 until this year where its needed a new blower motor. Probably sooner than normal because I cn be parked in some very dusty places.
Not sure why everyone struggles to find lag in the UK either as I haven't had a problem. I used to have two refillable bottles and when one ran out I swapped to the other, that would give me a good month or more (full time) to get the empty refilled. I only cook with gas, everything else is diesel, (or electric in summer if sunny).
So far in 2023 I have had 4 nights on camp sites, at a total of £86, that's a lot for me as well lol. I am quite sure though that I use my van a bit differently than a lot and can sit a couple of weeks off grid all year round before I move.
 
On June 14 I posted that I would rather have gas heating.
On June 16 I took delivery of a one year old Chausson with a number and a couple of fancy ponced up names and it turned out to have diesel heating and a compressor fridge. It has 240W of solar panels. The Ford Transit contravenes several fit-for-purpose laws with manufacturer's defects such as rain water runs down the windscreen and on the nearside deposits itself all over the connections to the engine ECU. I took it to a Ford dealer and he said yes, they're all like that, that is how they are built in the factory. No we can't fix it, warranty or no warranty. You'll have to rig up your own drain to take it away under the chassis. My disgust with Ford build quality continues. . . . . .. But I have bought one . . . , aarrgh! :unsure:

Anyway back to the topic, naturally I haven't used the heating yet, and the logic of having just one small gas bottle is quite attractive. I won't bother fitting my GasIt refillable bottle, the only thing that uses it is the gas hob and oven.
 
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I specified Truma diesel heating on my present van which I bought 5 years ago and my previous van which is now 10 years old. The previous van I sold to a friend.

Both systems are working perfectly and I like the fact I don't have to carry loads of gas. If I were to buy a new van I would go for it again.
 
spigot said:
In my next van I have the option of a Truma diesel Combi.
As the number of lpg filling points seem to be reducing at a fast rate of knots I thought this might be a good idea.
If anyone out there is running one of these I’d love to hear the pros and cons, Please 🙏.
Click to expand...
I have a Truma Combi LPG and it as been very reliable. However if I was starting a new build I would seriously consider the diesel.
The only problem I have come across with diesel is sooting up. However if the heater is used regularly i.e. living full time or used on a regular basis this problem seldom occurs because the heater gets to a good operating temperature for a longer period of time.
 
I've never had a problem getting LPG. It's way cheaper than diesel and is readily available whenever I've needed it.

However, if you live somewhere where there are no suitable LPG filling pints, diesel might be tempting.

The problem is the amount of servicing they seem to need, and I'd also be a bit wary about their 12v power consumption. LPG doesn't need glowplugs or fuel pumps.
 
terry111 said:
I specified Truma diesel heating on my present van .............. If I were to buy a new van I would go for it again.
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You'll be lucky. The first priority of buying a new van - or a used one - is that it must exist. There are some vans for sale, but you'll have to search for months to find one to fit the first three requirements you have . . . . . for me it was:
Automatic (not Fiat Comfortmatic, there are loads of them for sale, no one wants them)
In my price limit
3500kg
Euro6 - there's no point spending lots of money and then having to pay fines for venturing out on the King's Highway.
German conversion
Under 7m

I failed and bought a Chausson on a Ford Transit which I am just discovering the disgusting (Ford) build quality. Bits missing, rainwater runs into the engine compartment all over the electrics and the engine ECU. I took it to the Ford dealer and he said they are all like that, that's how they build them.
The Chausson has a diesel heater, but to compensate it has a compressor fridge and 240W of solar panels and MPPT regulator. Thinks: I wonder if the diesel heater makes it not Euro6 compliant!
I wish I had paid £10k more, even if I had to get a loan, and got a Mercedes.
 
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