Blown Air Heating

[Tony50]

Alde every time ,all round equal heat, doesn't dry you out like warm air , but in saying that , out Chausson has warm air , liked the layout, electric and diesel heating

 

[Lenny HB]

I have also met people with German Vans, that have the German spec, Gas Only for heating no Electric element.

We are on our 3rd van with gas only Truma, €450 for a couple of low wattage elements, it pays for a lot of LPG.

 

[RandallC]

had blown air for last 8 years had to replace the heater elements twice at a cost of £100 & £300, and that's just the cost of the parts, doing the work myself. No Idea what it would cost to remove the combi unit and then repair by the trade.

Needs gas to get up to temp and leaves the front cold when switch to electric to maintain temp at the T/C.

New van in March comes with Alde, we live in hope of a more even temperature throughout the van and less hysteresis in the temp control.

 

[Lenny HB]

A lot of problems with blow air heating comes down to poor installation, they are fine if installed properly.

 

[RandallC]

Lenny believe that's very likely the garage was always toasty and the bathroom an annexe to the fridge.

The latter being the farthest point fro the system.

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[Robster100]

I see some people mentioning diesel heating, I assume you are not running your engines?

so what is the diesel heating and is it a retrofit or does the van have to come with it?

 

[DuxDeluxe]

The Alde should be good....made in Sweden, I think. However, the Alde, being a wet system needs more maintenance. Topping up and replenishing the system every 3 or 5 years sounds like a chore. And how easy is it to repair, if the pipework/radiators start leaking.

Think I'll stick with the virtually maintenance-free blown air Truma, thankyou

A system service, troubleshoot and complete fluid change at Alde in Wellingborough cost a bit over £200. -£40 a year not too much to pay.

Never had any issues with Truma but the Alde wins hands down with under dashboard heat vents (A class) plus ahead vent between the driver and passenger seat. Last van got a bit cold up front, this one doesn’t. As for the heated floor the length on the lounge..... bliss

 

[Lenny HB]

I see some people mentioning diesel heating, I assume you are not running your engines?

so what is the diesel heating and is it a retrofit or does the van have to come with it?

Have a look at this thread.

Installing diesel heater in Autotrail Chieftain

Just a few pics I put the heater under the bench seat on the off side, the separate diesel tank went in the tall offside locker, using 2" spacers to ensure it cleared all the pipework and was easily accessible to fill and all the exhaust and inlet pipes down in to ( and out ) of the...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[tonyidle]

The Alde should be good....made in Sweden, I think. However, the Alde, being a wet system needs more maintenance. Topping up and replenishing the system every 3 or 5 years sounds like a chore. And how easy is it to repair, if the pipework/radiators start leaking.

Think I'll stick with the virtually maintenance-free blown air Truma, thankyou

A fluid change every five years is hardly a chore given the rest of a motorhome that needs more regular maintenance. The Alde is based on a single 20mm aluminium pipe circuit that runs from boiler flow, around the vehicle, and back to boiler return with attached pump. Radiators comprise sections of the same pipe with aluminium fins other than the shower room radiator that has a loop of pipe inside an aluminium casing. Flexible rubber-material pipes allow for joints and corners. At each radiator there is a bleed valve. The major benefits of the Alde system are the pipework that requires very little space to run (it is pretty well hidden on my van) and the even spread of heat because of the number of radiators that can be installed. Mine has two radiators behind each bench seat, two under slots in the A class dashboard cover, one in the bathroom, four in the bedroom, one in the garage, one in the shower room and one in the kitchen. Add the underfloor heating in the lounge and bathroom areas and it has pretty comprehensive coverage. I should add that the van is approx 8M long. That sort of evenly spread heating is impossible to achieve with blown air (which I've had in every van prior to this one). Leaks are easily fixed if they ever occur but the regular fluid change should prevent any problems assuming correct installation in the first place.

Edit: DuxDeluxe beat me to it .

 

[tonyidle]

less hysteresis in the temp control.

Less than half a degree in my experience.

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[RandallC]

Less than half a degree in my experience.

Sadly not in ours

 

[peterc10]

Sadly not in ours

Nor either of ours. We had a Truma previously and an Alde now. The Alde is much better than the Truma, but gets nowhere near a half a degree between on and off. Can't see how it can when the radiators are still hotter than the surrounding area when the pump is switched off.

 

[Podney]

Our Truma blown air heating is excellent and Im surprised others have been disappointed by it. As others have said it must depend on how well it’s installed. Couldn’t really ask for anything better.

 

[bigtwin]

Our Truma blown air heating is excellent and Im surprised others have been disappointed by it. As others have said it must depend on how well it’s installed. Couldn’t really ask for anything better.

Have you had an Alde equipped van, for comparison?

Ian

 

[Burgo]

Our truma blown air is brilliant - but darned if I can fathom out the correlation between the numbers and the temperature. We tend to settle for 2 and a just under a half which seems to be around 18 or so overnight..

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[Podney]

Have you had an Alde equipped van, for comparison?

Ian

No.
But when you’ve got perfection,there’s no point in looking for anything else.

 

[Jewellbags]

Not experienced the wet system but very happy with our diesel powered blown air heater . Once hot and turned to a maintenance temperature we can’t hear it - no ehu no gas required

 

[Euro330]

A lot of peops are comparing different heating sysytems in vans with potentially different thermal gradings of the van. A blown air heater in a van with a high winter thermal grade could I suppose be better/warmer than 1 fitted with Alde heating but the van has a crap thermal grading.
Last van a bailey Autograph Approach 750 had Alde. Current Moho a Bailey Advance Approach 640 has Whale blown air, gas and lecky. Both had/have Grade 3 Thermal Winter grading.
My views! As everyone has said really. Long periods of heating Alde is better. Short quick heating, Blown air is quicker and warmer. If I had a choice in current van I would have Alde, but wouldnt change the van for it.

 

[tonyidle]

Sadly not in ours

I'm talking about Alde

 

[peterc10]

Our Truma blown air heating is excellent and Im surprised others have been disappointed by it. As others have said it must depend on how well it’s installed. Couldn’t really ask for anything better.

That is what I thought ................... until I bought a motorhome with Alde heating.

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[tonyidle]

Our Truma blown air heating is excellent and Im surprised others have been disappointed by it. As others have said it must depend on how well it’s installed. Couldn’t really ask for anything better.

I would not say I've been disappointed. Every caravan and motorhome prior to the one I have now has had blown air - first Carver then Truma. In every case we have been comfortable but in every motorhome the cab has been cold even with insulated covers on the screens. Prior to current vehicle we would never have criticised Truma heating. But Alde for us is a step change: there are literally no cold spots. The floor is warm enough to walk barefoot. The cab area is as warm as the rest of the van which means we can make full use of an A class cab with the seats rotated. This van has a heat exchanger from engine coolant to the CH circuit so all radiators work from engine heat as we travel - the gas is on too but never fires up. Also in the engine coolant circuit is an Eberspacher heater which, although I haven't tried using it for this purpose should run the CH via said heat exchanger. The Alde control has timed night-time set-back which means that settings made prior to leaving home aren't touched until we return. There's very little not to like.

 

[Tony50]

I see some people mentioning diesel heating, I assume you are not running your engines?

so what is the diesel heating and is it a retrofit or does the van have to come with it?

Our 2017 Chausson came with Diesel / Electric heating diesel fed from vehicle tank, we think it's economical, used it on and off last winter for 8 weeks In Spain used my UK bottled gas for cooking never ran out of gas, we think it's a great system, just wish it was all Alde !

 

[Robster100]

Hmmmm

Picked up van this afternoon.

I have had heating on for about 3 hours, set on target of 26, panel is going between time and target temperature but does not show me current temperature, is this correct?

I have a couple or room thermometers, currently bedroom is 14.5 and lounge is 15.5, after 3 hours this just does not sound right?

Other info:

I have not switched on gas yet so it is set to Electric 2.

I did switch fan up to high, but when I went back out to check up on it, the whole system seemed to be in a fault condition, I think it was fault code 80, but that is not in the handbook!

So I have currently switched it back to Eco and will leave it overnight.

Any thoughts anyone?

Robin

 

[Vipar]

I have truma heating. Should I fit a thick curtain between the cab and lounge area to help keep the lounge warmer, and stop some of the condensation in the cab area?

 

[CazPaul]

I have truma heating. Should I fit a thick curtain between the cab and lounge area to help keep the lounge warmer, and stop some of the condensation in the cab area?

Definitely, full length thermal one, close fitting tight around all edges

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[peterc10]

I assume that you have Truma heating? If so it is not very good on electric only when you are trying to heat up a cold motorhome and the outside is cold too. The gas is almost 3 times more powerful energy wise. So use that (with electric it you want) to heat up the motorhome. Once it has reached the temperature the electric will probably keep it there unless it is really cold outside or your motorhome is not well insulated.

 

[Camdoon]

Having had an Alde system for 3 years as far as I can recall there is only one person on the forum who would not recommend it. Everyone else who has used both systems prefers the Alde. It is like comparing the heat from fan heaters with central heating. Warm floor is lovely. That the Alde exchange allows the engine to warm up faster and costs nothing to heat when travelling is an added bonus. We use our van extensively during winter and when we wake up are not aware of the outside temperature. Perhaps not a dealer breaker if the right van but would happily pay a premium for Alde.

 

[Hellski]

Unfortunately and as I believe previously mentioned, the Truma will struggle to heat your Motorhome on electric alone. Electric will run at 2kw whereas on gas it will be 3kw and maintain A decent level of heat in the shortest time.
If I’m on hook up, I will start off on mix until up to a comfortable temp, then switch to electric only leaving it set at the ideal temp. i will then only switch back to mix if a boost is require.
Another thing, don’t take the room temp on the control panel as gospel. Depending on location of sensor there could be as much a 3c difference. One other point, the panel shows the temp you want to achieve, with the little gas symbol flashing until this has been reached.
Truma is good but you have to get used to it‘s operational limits to get the best from it.

 

[Robster100]

I left it overnight.

It managed 18 in the lounge and 15 in the bedroom!

I have just turned on the gas and changed the setting to Gas 2 and electric and will see how well it warms up while I take the dogs for a walk.

One question.

I was told when I picked the van up that putting on mixed, it would use both gas and electric to get to temperature and then switch to electric only use to maintain temperature, only calling for gas usage again should it need to top temperature up.

I think someone else in this thread mentioned manually turning gas on and off, is this necessary or was I correctly informed on collection?

Robin

 

[Hellski]

I left it overnight.

It managed 18 in the lounge and 15 in the bedroom!

I have just turned on the gas and changed the setting to Gas 2 and electric and will see how well it warms up while I take the dogs for a walk.

One question.

I was told when I picked the van up that putting on mixed, it would use both gas and electric to get to temperature and then switch to electric only use to maintain temperature, only calling for gas usage again should it need to top temperature up.

I think someone else in this thread mentioned manually turning gas on and off, is this necessary or was I correctly informed on collection?

Robin

You were informed correctly and it will indeed operate in this way. However, if you wish to conserve gas and utilise the site electric, I personally would switch back to electric only.
One thing to keep in mind if using electric, the element has a life span! I know some folk have been caught out by leaving their Truma on whilst not in use at home thinking it was the best option. Better to purchase a small oil filled radiator and using that whilst at home.

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