Any help and advise appreciated

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Yamas

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It looks like we will be spending the winter in the van in Northumberland :cold:. We have gas cooker and hob, gas blown heating and water and a small electric fan heater. We will be on a site on Ehu. So ladies and gents what other appliance/gadget would you suggest to survive a winter in the cold wet north. Thanks in advance (y)
 
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Fire Firefighter GIF by BRS Kash
meant to say buy myself a blow torch, maybe not
 
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It always seems to rain more up in the NE. Everytime I look at the weather theres a band of rain coming across us lately, especially for the weekends. Never seems to hit the south much.
But we have Kielder so no hosepipe bans :giggle:
 
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Yamas said:
We have a 3 way fridge and vent covers. We also have lino and carpets, don't want to put up a shed though (y)when we have been away in the colder months if it is windy I roll up a t towel to stop the draught above the freezer :cold:
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You shouldn't have any draughts from round the fridge as it should be totally sealed from the interior to prevent the exhaust gases etc entering the hab area. I'd put that down as something to sort out now before you use it again.
 
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Minxy said:
You shouldn't have any draughts from round the fridge as it should be totally sealed from the interior to prevent the exhaust gases etc entering the hab area. I'd put that down as something to sort out now before you use it again.
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Thanks for the advice, but its not around the fridge its between the freezer and cooker coming in through the top vent, which we have never put the winter cover on. I seem to recall others on here have the same issue on windy days. Correct me if I'm wrong :unsure: (y)
 
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If you are living in the van in freezing conditions put a bucket under the waste tank to drain the water, if not it may freeze in the waste tank so you will be unable to drain it and if is bad it may crack the tank.

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Yamas said:
Thanks for the advice, but its not around the fridge its between the freezer and cooker coming in through the top vent, which we have never put the winter cover on. I seem to recall others on here have the same issue on windy days. Correct me if I'm wrong :unsure: (y)
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The top vent is still part of the fridge's external ventilation so should definitely be sealed from the interior, it should never allow the fumes, cold air etc to enter the MH.

The only time we've had a MH with 'permitted' ventilation through an external vent was for a grill with a dedicated vent (the fridge had 2 of its own). It was a pain as we got loads of cold air coming in so I made a draught cover for it to keep the air out when it wasn't in use.

Please do seal up the draught from your external vents as it simply isn't safe to use the fridge on gas as it stands at present.
 
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Yamas said:
Sorry Minxy thats what we have three vents, 2 for the fridge and one for the oven, its the top vent that's draughty (y)
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That makes it clearer. 😄

To be honest as the oven has its own external vent there's really no reason for it to allow air into the habit area so you could just block it permanently or if you want to allow it to still vent when you actually use it just make a removable slot in bung strip, better than a tea towel.
 
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Barriesimpson said:
That is actually an urban myth I'm afraid, we lose no more heat through the head than we do through the rest of the body, in fact it's a lot less apparently - reason being the head is only bone, brain (if you're lucky, but it's only fat anyway) and a few blood lines to keep it running. So no heat as such to lose.
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If what you say is true why do premature babies and newborns have little hats, even if otherwise naked apart from a nappy? Even when in a heated incubator?
 
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scotzsue said:
If what you say is true why do premature babies and newborns have little hats, even if otherwise naked apart from a nappy? Even when in a heated incubator?
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I would suggest it is for the exact same reason I said before, the ECU (brain) is in the head and is the most important item in the body, so needs to be kept at the right temperature. In the case of premature births they will try to assimilate the mothers body temperature.

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Having lived most of my life in Northumberland, depending on where you are staying, I think you will find that you don't need masses of special stuff to keep warm unless you are particularly delicate. Thermals for during the day and a decent duvet with good old fashioned flannelette sheet and cover. Obviously heating on in the van and you should be quite cosy.
You might want to keep a container of water in the van just in case it gets sub zero and frozen water. If you are remote place, make sure you have plenty gas in case of power cuts.
Been out in snow many times and once when it was down to -10 for days on end but never really been cold in the van.

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JnJ said:
Having lived most of my life in Northumberland, depending on where you are staying, I think you will find that you don't need masses of special stuff to keep warm unless you are particularly delicate. Thermals for during the day and a decent duvet with good old fashioned flannelette sheet and cover. Obviously heating on in the van and you should be quite cosy.
You might want to keep a container of water in the van just in case it gets sub zero and frozen water. If you are remote place, make sure you have plenty gas in case of power cuts.
Been out in snow many times and once when it was down to -10 for days on end but never really been cold in the van.
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Thanks for the info(y)
 
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Widge said:
Usually one big area of draft is the fridge vents, i am not sure if you can get away with sealing the vents if using EHU, if you cannot seal the vents, spend some time to ensure that you block any drafts around the fridge,
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If you are getting draughts from the back of the fridge into the cupboards or any part of the habitation area, you need to get it fixed ASAP. The fridge gas burner produces fumes containing carbon monoxide, which is a poisonous gas that kills several people every winter. The back of the fridge should be sealed around its edges. If there are draughts coming into the hab area, you are lucky in that it is giving you a warning, make sure you take action.

Edit: Sorry, didn't see Minxy already covered this.
 
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I’d recommend a dry robe. The one I have is a Kudd.ly fantastic for sitting around in and they even do a showerproof one (I have both).

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Ianbenny said:
It always seems to rain more up in the NE. Everytime I look at the weather theres a band of rain coming across us lately, especially for the weekends. Never seems to hit the south much.
But we have Kielder so no hosepipe bans :giggle:
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Try living in the far west of Cornwall, I can assure you have had more than our fair share of wet stuff this year (and last winter). The TV forecasts rarely mention or show the blue blobs that regularly clip or sit on the Penwith peninsular, concentrating instead on the sunshine over the rest of the county and south west.
 
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