Heating

There's also the diesel pump which is extra draw compared to gas that's fed to the burner by its own pressure.
A friend that switched from gas Truma to diesel said the diesel consumes roughly 50% more amps in similar conditions compared to the gas version so in winter it might be a difference of 25Ah vs 40Ah / day. Significant enough that some dealers here recommend a second living area battery to compliment the typical <100Ah AGM if you choose diesel instead of gas.
The second generation is supposedly more efficient, but I haven't heard any real life numbers about that yet.
If you do a search on YouTube, there are few very comprehensive videos documenting the power consumption of a diesel heater. All measured, and real life experience. Pump don't even comes in to it as is so minuscule, similar to a pulsing LED on its own.
 
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Another fan of Chinese diesel heater,less than £100 to buy very reliable,spares cheap and readily available, electric consumption really only matters if you plan running for very long periods ... really couldn't be bothered with a separate tank ..extra space potential for spills when filling still have to refil with road derv when away for long periods and all to save a very small amount..so mine is off main fuel tank (couple of inches up so can't empty tank)
 
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Excuse me all but why does no-one tell us Funsters, who might be in the market to buy a Chinese heater, the make of your heaters?
They can't ALL be equally good, can they? 🤔

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Excuse me all but why does no-one tell us Funsters, who might be in the market to buy a Chinese heater, the make of your heaters?
They can't ALL be equally good, can they? 🤔
I've had a few and think they all come out of the same factory...the case colour and kit contents vary but otherwise all seems identical
 
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I've had a few and think they all come out of the same factory...the case colour and kit contents vary but otherwise all seems identical
I should add if you intend to tap into the van fuel tank get one with pick up pipe secured by a nut...not multiple nuts/bolts..much easier to fit especially on a Ducato type tank fits in fuet pump/sender easily
 
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Excuse me all but why does no-one tell us Funsters, who might be in the market to buy a Chinese heater, the make of your heaters?
They can't ALL be equally good, can they? 🤔
I just buy the cheapest one I could find on ebay at any given time. All have been of around the same quality.
 
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There's also the diesel pump which is extra draw compared to gas that's fed to the burner by its own pressure.
I found there was little if any difference between battery usage except right at startup when the glow plug pulls 10A for less than a minute which is nothing.

I have accurate usage figures because I initially used a Lithium battery with no solar, no b2b and no charger. It used 23AH over an entire week of use last November.


As Two on Tour and Raul says the little fuel pump uses so little electric it doesn't even register. The biggest component of usage is the fan. Which gas heaters also have.

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says the little fuel pump uses so little electric it doesn't even register. The biggest component of usage is the fan. Which gas heaters also have.
Given that according to your link that was measured from battery BMS instead of a shunt, "doesn't event register" could mean loads up to an amp or two depending on the battery and bms in question since many are pretty bad at detecting small loads and hence drift quite a bit.

I did check a few vids as instructed and at least one suggested the pump was pulsing at ~0.3 amps. That is indeed insignificant compared to f.ex. 10 amps for the glow plug, but given I was wondering about the fractions of amps' difference between gas and diesel Truma average consumption, it seems it might be significant in that context.
 
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Given that according to your link that was measured from battery BMS instead of a shunt, "doesn't event register" could mean loads up to an amp or two depending on the battery and bms in question since many are pretty bad at detecting small loads and hence drift quite a bit.

I did check a few vids as instructed and at least one suggested the pump was pulsing at ~0.3 amps. That is indeed insignificant compared to f.ex. 10 amps for the glow plug, but given I was wondering about the fractions of amps' difference between gas and diesel Truma average consumption, it seems it might be significant in that context.
I would be very interested to know what kind of equipment was used at the pump DC feed to measure DC pulse flow. Even the victron shunt won't register the pump as is too small of a load. The shunt can count down to 0.1A or 6 coulombs per minute. Therefore 60 coulombs per minute = 1A flow, or one coulomb every second = 1A flow.
DC pulsing is diferent, and very dificult to measure. It can be calculated after some mesurments and energy top back up, over a longer time.
 
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I would be very interested to know what kind of equipment was used at the pump DC feed to measure DC pulse flow. Even the victron shunt won't register the pump as is too small of a load. The shunt can count down to 0.1A or 6 coulombs per minute. Therefore 60 coulombs per minute = 1A flow, or one coulomb every second = 1A flow.
DC pulsing is diferent, and very dificult to measure. It can be calculated after some mesurments and energy top back up, over a longer time.
I think the guy was basing his estimate on measuring the current draw min and max or average with a multimeter.

I did come across this site (https://www.letonkinoisvarnish.co.uk/eberspacher_fuel_2.html) which talks about Eberspärcher dosing pumps. It says the pump is 10 ohms at 12V so wouldn't that mean a 1.2A current? It also claims the pulse width is 40ms, so simplistically you could then estimate that at 2Hz frequency the average current would be 0.1A. Is there a reason why that simplistic model is way off?

I guess this is drifting quite far from my original Truma comparisons though, not to mention the opening post, so apologies for that. Just interesting stuff and quite possibly an opportunity educate myself :)
 
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I think the guy was basing his estimate on measuring the current draw min and max or average with a multimeter.

I did come across this site (https://www.letonkinoisvarnish.co.uk/eberspacher_fuel_2.html) which talks about Eberspärcher dosing pumps. It says the pump is 10 ohms at 12V so wouldn't that mean a 1.2A current? It also claims the pulse width is 40ms, so simplistically you could then estimate that at 2Hz frequency the average current would be 0.1A. Is there a reason why that simplistic model is way off?

I guess this is drifting quite far from my original Truma comparisons though, not to mention the opening post, so apologies for that. Just interesting stuff and quite possibly an opportunity educate myself :)
Actually is not way off, and it makes sense. If you know the duration of the pulse and the coil resistance, then yes, I think you can calculate the consumption pretty close. And I tend to believe the 40ms; because an A type RCD trips with a DC pulse exactly at 40ms or under. The coil in the pump does exactly what the coil in a RCD does: electromagnetic charge lunches a piston that hits the disconnection mechanism, and on the pump just pushes a fixed amount of fuel up, the spring reloads it, and cycle repeats.
Now, if that ebershparcher pump calculates 0.1A at 2 Hz, then at 1.5-1.6HZ will be even less. My heater spends 95% of its time on 1.5Hz, that would be 0.075A draw.
Now you made me curious, and I have a spare new pump, and I have access to calibrated low ohm meter. Thank you👍

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We have built in Alde central heating which can run on mains electrics or the on board LPG gas supply or both. Keeps us very cosy in winter and provides hot water for showering.
The best !
 
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When on car launches the heater in my truck lasted just over 2 days on two 100amp truck batteries when parked up.
 
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There's a fellow on here recently with a solid fuel stove.

Bit more of a faff to install than a diesel heater.

There are plenty of places that will install one for you, from expensive (Webasto, Eberspacher) to mid-price (Autoterm) to cheapest (Chinese).

Do it.

One of the best things we have in our campervan, zero to toasty in no time.
 
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