Estimating gas consumption for heating and fridge

[Lenny HB]

ALDE heating which I think is pants

I doubt if there is anything wrong with the Alde heating it's more lightly that installation by Swift is poor and probably not followed the manufacturer's advice.

Have you thought about adding more radiators?

 

[Fatboy]

I doubt if there is anything wrong with the Alde heating it's more lightly that installation by Swift is poor and probably not followed the manufacturer's advice.

Have you thought about adding more radiators?

I did think of fitting fans behind them

 

[davidathomas42]

Serious question, but why so warm at night?

I just like it warm

Is it just personal preference?

Yup

Can't you just get a better duvet or chuck a blanket on top?

I have an awesome duvet. I sleep on top of it so i'm not too warm

Did you do the same in a house?

I did

Not meaning to pry or judge, just curious, feel free to disregard.

No issues.
I just dont like been cold... Although my favourite thing is the cold side of the pillow.

The ideal for me sleeping is a toasty warm bed but on top of the covers with the window open and my Alexa playing thunderstorm sounds.

 

[two]

If you want the cheapest heating solution then it is a diesel heater running on Red diesel or Kerosene if available.
I did a thread about my 2KW heater and running it is even cheaper than my old van on LPG.

It will depend on how much you have to pay for each fuel. I had been comparing DERV with forecourt LPG. Red diesel would probably change the costs around (and Kerosene, even more so), but these would require the use of a separate tank.

 

[Gromett]

It will depend on how much you have to pay for each fuel. I had been comparing DERV with forecourt LPG. Red diesel would probably change the costs around (and Kerosene, even more so), but these would require the use of a separate tank.

Yes it does require separate tank. But I have done a direct comparison of costs based on live use over 4 weeks.
My consumption of flogas was 11KG over 8 days during the nicer weather a few weeks ago so 22 Litres. Which for lpg costs 89p/L round here. so £19.58.
Red diesel is £0.99p round here and I went through £10-£12 worth in a week. Not half price but not far off.
Even using black diesel it works out cheaper than LPG.
During the last week I would be surprised if the bottle lasted 6 days in these -°C temps

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[Pausim]

1 litre of LPG holds fewer kWh of energy than 1litre of diesel. This is what I posted on another thread last month when I decided to order my new van with a diesel heater.
“ I used white diesel for my calculations before deciding to go diesel because it will be drawing from the vehicle tank. Using 85p per litre makes lpg roughly 12p per kWh and diesel at £1.62 equates to 16.2p per kWh. For me that makes them close enough to put convenience and payload before energy cost. However one of my local suppliers is now charging £1.20 per litre for lpg and this puts it at 17p per kWh making even white diesel cheaper than lpg. As lpg suppliers drop out of the market I suspect that the ones remaining will be charging more to make it worthwhile stocking a low demand product. Perhaps lpg at £1.20 is a sign of things to come.”

 

[Fatboy]

1 litre of LPG holds fewer kWh of energy than 1litre of diesel. This is what I posted on another thread last month when I decided to order my new van with a diesel heater.
“ I used white diesel for my calculations before deciding to go diesel because it will be drawing from the vehicle tank. Using 85p per litre makes lpg roughly 12p per kWh and diesel at £1.62 equates to 16.2p per kWh. For me that makes them close enough to put convenience and payload before energy cost. However one of my local suppliers is now charging £1.20 per litre for lpg and this puts it at 17p per kWh making even white diesel cheaper than lpg. As lpg suppliers drop out of the market I suspect that the ones remaining will be charging more to make it worthwhile stocking a low demand product. Perhaps lpg at £1.20 is a sign of things to come.”

Because LPG is hard to find in my area I can see me going diesel heating and hot water in the future then I only have to worry about the fridge and cooking

 

[Bear]

Must admit don't keep heating on at night....that might change
A if it gets really cold down here on the lil island and
B if I can get my head around Burtie Burstner computer system....

Won't tell the oh we can programme it

Also I have a diesel heater fitted for a quick warm up if needed, but if though under the floor and got some rubber feet on it still bloody noise.

But will be looking around for red diesel now.

 

[two]

1 litre of LPG holds fewer kWh of energy than 1litre of diesel. This is what I posted on another thread last month when I decided to order my new van with a diesel heater.
“ I used white diesel for my calculations before deciding to go diesel because it will be drawing from the vehicle tank. Using 85p per litre makes lpg roughly 12p per kWh and diesel at £1.62 equates to 16.2p per kWh. For me that makes them close enough to put convenience and payload before energy cost. However one of my local suppliers is now charging £1.20 per litre for lpg and this puts it at 17p per kWh making even white diesel cheaper than lpg. As lpg suppliers drop out of the market I suspect that the ones remaining will be charging more to make it worthwhile stocking a low demand product. Perhaps lpg at £1.20 is a sign of things to come.”

To compare the two financially you need to get down to the cost per delivered unit of energy for each fuel and that gets complex, especially if you seek precision and consider efficiencies. The cost of diesel and LPG can vary a lot. Red diesel = £1, DERV = £1.50, LPG = £1 (or 80p if you can buy it without VAT for heating rather than propulsion).
You get more heat from a litre of diesel than you do from a litre of LPG but LPG is also cheaper. There's a lot of swings 'n roundabouts...
I agree that convenience is the main reason for heating with diesel. Not everything can be based on price alone...

 

[ianto999]

Had much the same dilemma before the van arrived. How much gas? When/how to fill. Had an 11kg Gaslow fitted before first trip.
Here's the use from first weekend away on west coast in Dec;

Used 7L (Gaslow fill at end of trip), so -3.5L/Day

Van = 6.4M ducato (adria twin), ambient temp around 5-10c, very wet and windy. Gas fridge too. Truma 4e (used only on gas).Silverscreen on front. In and out of van a lot for faf.

Used heating during Saturday, (18c) for about 10 hours? enough to keep us very very warm when in van. Also left it on for longer to help dry very wet clothes. Fri and Sun less use, limited to PM and AM those days. Included hot water and shower use. Left heating off overnight, temp dropped to 12C but still warm in big duvet.
Was probably what I expected, depending on time in van/time out walking etc, could probably get an 11Kg (22L *0.8 = 17.6L) gaslow to last 5 days in heavy winter use off grid. Hope this helps.

Update - for mixed use with EHU. Had 1 night with gas, and then 3 with EHU.
In EHU still used gas/elec ‘mix’ to help truma4e on electric in the morning, to warm up faster. Ambient temp 0-5c outside, set to 20c inside, 12c overnight. Fridge changed to EHU. Cooking on gas, approx 1 hour per day (250g/day estimate).
Refill was 5L, reckon about 3L of that was the off grid night, 1L cooking, and 1L was 3 mornings of gas for 1 hour (250g/hr on Truma).

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[VXman]

You guys keep it cold at night!

I set my thermostat to 20deg at night. 23 in the day currently. Probably barrel thru gas but I would rather spend the money than be cold. Only real issue is my 7.5kg safe full bottle will last about 2 night in these temps insane temps.

I don't see the need for heating at night. Same at home as in the van. I find that when I am in bed under a decent duvet it doesn't matter how cold it is outside it is snuggly warm under the covers. Of course getting up in the night is cold and getting out to switch the heating on can be but I can cope with a few minutes of cold.

 

[two]

I don't see the need for heating at night. Same at home as in the van. I find that when I am in bed under a decent duvet it doesn't matter how cold it is outside it is snuggly warm under the covers. Of course getting up in the night is cold and getting out to switch the heating on can be but I can cope with a few minutes of cold.

Wait 'til you're older!
You could save yourself getting up to turn the heating on by using a timer (but not everyone may have one). With a timer and low overnight setting you can be more sure of the time required to warm-up if it was really cold that night because it will be starting from no cooler than that 'set-back' temperature.
If you go out at sub-zero temperatures, you don't want taps to freeze, nor the dump valve to be triggered.
I agree that 20°C is a bit much at night. I use 11°C as my 'set-back' temperature and think I might raise that a bit. Whilst it's cosy in bed, it's not so pleasant in the dead of night for visiting the loo. Extreme chill can wake you up too much, such that it's more difficult to remember where you were in your dream before being interrupted.
In my early days, under canvas, it was all rather different: There was no heating, of course, but neither did I camp in the depths of Winter!

 

[Pausim]

We don’t like sleeping with it too warm but I generally set an overnight temperature of 17 °C in cold weather to stop the temperature falling too far. Big falls in temperature generate condensation.

 

[VXman]

Wait 'til you're older!
You could save yourself getting up to turn the heating on by using a timer (but not everyone may have one). With a timer and low overnight setting you can be more sure of the time required to warm-up if it was really cold that night because it will be starting from no cooler than that 'set-back' temperature.
If you go out at sub-zero temperatures, you don't want taps to freeze, nor the dump valve to be triggered.
I agree that 20°C is a bit much at night. I use 11°C as my 'set-back' temperature and think I might raise that a bit. Whilst it's cosy in bed, it's not so pleasant in the dead of night for visiting the loo. Extreme chill can wake you up too much, such that it's more difficult to remember where you were in your dream before being interrupted.
In my early days, under canvas, it was all rather different: There was no heating, of course, but neither did I camp in the depths of Winter!

I'm already old! I do have a timer on my Truma but never bothered to work it out. It only takes 10 secs to jump out, turn it on/up and back in bed!

 

[two]

None of us are getting any younger!
The Truma control is not exactly intuitive but, once you've mastered it, can be very useful.

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