Keeping the heating on over winter?

[Swamp]

We’ve just got back from a few days away in the van and while the weather hasn’t yet turned properly cold I was thinking through the steps I need to take for when it does.
Our van is used every couple of weeks over winter and while parked up is at home with access to hook-up. I found myself wondering today whether it made any sense to leave the Truma heating on very low (maybe 5 degrees) to keep things from freezing and, hopefully reduce condensation.
It maybe a completely crazy idea so I would appreciate your thoughts?

 

[jezport]

Ne sense leaving heating on, wears heating out and causes damp.

 

[LostInSpace]

It maybe a completely crazy idea so I would appreciate your thoughts?

I am sure you will get some funsters saying yes, it is a crazy idea.

But, I think not and our heating is always on over the winter months. and has been for decades.

No. leaving the heating on does not cause damp. Just the opposite. Our motorhome is always warm and dry, ready for use.

 

[PeterCarole29]

We’ve just got back from a few days away in the van and while the weather hasn’t yet turned properly cold I was thinking through the steps I need to take for when it does.
Our van is used every couple of weeks over winter and while parked up is at home with access to hook-up. I found myself wondering today whether it made any sense to leave the Truma heating on very low (maybe 5 degrees) to keep things from freezing and, hopefully reduce condensation.
It maybe a completely crazy idea so I would appreciate your thoughts?

What age is your van and was it built winterised

 

[funflair]

If it's on low and saves draining down when it gets cold that's OK in my book Lazy not Crazy

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[Northernraider]

It needs aired not heat. Heating causes condensation which if not dried daily will do more harm than good .

It may save the draining down etc but no van is immune from condensation

 

[Derbyshire wanderer]

On our last van we did this for about 8 years out of the 10 we owned it.
Only needed a repair to the control board that I did myself for £1.50 and a water pump that was £116 (Alde wet system) and only stopped doing it due to the high electric prices.
Lovely to have it warm ready to go though

 

[funflair]

It needs aired not heat. Heating causes condensation which if not dried daily will do more harm than good .

It may save the draining down etc but no van is immune from condensation

Agreed but 5 degrees as mentioned is hardly tropical OK might be for a Scot but not me

 

[Wildbill]

Nothing wrong with protecting you van from frost.
But a dehumidifier would be a good idea
WB

 

[BouncyBoatFolk]

If your going to live in the van it's a good idea. If it's just parked up it's not necessary , winterise the van then go out and open the doors and sky lights whenever it's dry.
Mike.

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[LostInSpace]

Heating only highlights condensation if the 'van is already damp inside.

In which case , the answer is to cure the cause of the damp.

Contrary to the popular myth, heat does not create moisture.

 

[Brains]

Rather than use the van heating system I'd get a simple electric oil filled domestic radiator and set it for 5c or whatever

 

[jezport]

I am sure you will get some funsters saying yes, it is a crazy idea.

But, I think not and our heating is always on over the winter months. and has been for decades.

No. leaving the heating on does not cause damp. Just the opposite. Our motorhome is always warm and dry, ready for use.

Condensation only forms where heat meets cold. A van that is the same temperature inside as outside will stay dry when uninhabited unless there is a leak. Truma will tell you that their products are not designed for regular use. Also the electric elements are prone to failure in normal use.

 

[tonyidle]

I keep our Alde heating at 5 degrees. No condensation and pleasant to use.

 

[Gromett]

Heating only causes condensation if the heated air comes into contact with cold surfaces. If the van is permantly kept above the condensation temperature point then there are no cold surfaces for it to condense on.

I have been a fulltimer for 15 years and keep the heating on all the time during the winter. The only place I have ever seen condensation is in the cab area. I keep that partitioned off from the hab area and I never saw any at all.

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[Stag man]

You’re already doing the best thing possible and that’s using it regularly over the winter period

 

[Riverbankannie]

A lot depends on your van. Our old autosleeper with the gel roof on top of the T4 van never suffered from condensation whereas our current Ducato with poor insulation, every morning even now has the mirrors inside running but not the windows.
I am talking about when parked up.
I think the metal van heats up inside in the sun and then the temperature drops.
So my solution, that works for my van, is to leave a small fan heater on frost setting but that means using EHU. I wouldn’t want to leave the Truma on.

 

[LostInSpace]

Rather than use the van heating system I'd get a simple electric oil filled domestic radiator and set it for 5c or whatever

The Truma heating system is built into the fabic of the van and as such will keep all the water pipes,etc and everything else in there at the right temperature.

 

[Jon Stewart]

Rather than use the van heating system I'd get a simple electric oil filled domestic radiator and set it for 5c or whatever

Why?

I thought the alde heating systems (at least) had a set back you could change manually to come on when the temperature hits the low temp specified.

Surely this would do a better job at protecting the vulnerable bits than having an oil fired rad running in the body of the mh?

 

[Brains]

Why?

I thought the alde heating systems (at least) had a set back you could change manually to come on when the temperature hits the low temp specified.

Surely this would do a better job at protecting the vulnerable bits than having an oil fired rad running in the body of the mh?

Lots of moving parts in a van central heating system, including a boiler, which needs to be filled with water.

Electric oil heater is simple

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[stevewagner]

Never seen a motorhomes on dealers forecourts with heating on. Furthermore using a dehumidifier in a van in winter is a complete waste of time and money. As you remove moisture from the air it will be replaced with moisture from the air coming through the vents.

 

[HugoBNB]

We keep ours at 8⁰C to avoid freezing up. It is under cover and out of wind chill. We bring it up to a temperature of 16⁰C over a couple of days before we use it. Blinds are down and thermal screens are on. It is winterised. TBF the internal temperature rarely gets below 10⁰C. We still drain the water down though.

 

[poppycamper]

It is under cover and out of wind chill.

Motorhomes, or any other object for that matter are not affected by wind chill....
Only humans and animals are affected by wind chill..!

 

[PaulW2]

We’ve just got back from a few days away in the van and while the weather hasn’t yet turned properly cold I was thinking through the steps I need to take for when it does.
Our van is used every couple of weeks over winter and while parked up is at home with access to hook-up. I found myself wondering today whether it made any sense to leave the Truma heating on very low (maybe 5 degrees) to keep things from freezing and, hopefully reduce condensation.
It maybe a completely crazy idea so I would appreciate your thoughts?

It may keep things from freezing. And it will reduce relative humidity. (Warm air can hold more moisture than cold; cold air comes in and is heated and therefore relative humidity drops.) As has been said, whether condensation occurs will then depend on whether the warm air is in contact with cold surfaces.

 

[Jon Stewart]

Lots of moving parts in a van central heating system, including a boiler, which needs to be filled with water.

Electric oil heater is simple

How does the electric oil heater keep the interfloor space from freezing on a winterised MH?

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[Jon Stewart]

Motorhomes, or any other object for that matter are not affected by wind chill....
Only humans and animals are affected by wind chill..!

They do if there is moisture on the surface. The wind increases the evaporative effect, causing more energy to be absorbed from the surface.

Not sure that this will have any detrimental effect on the MH, though.

 

[HugoBNB]

They do if there is moisture on the surface. The wind increases the evaporative effect, causing more energy to be absorbed from the surface.

Not sure that this will have any detrimental effect on the MH, though.

That makes sense to me. But I think poppycamper would still be correct in our case as it is always kept dry.

 

[Reallyretired]

I don't think 5c is adequate to prevent your boiler dumping. 10c might be better. It's what we set our house heating to if we go away in the winter months. It seldom comes on but the house is well insulated and we live in the balmy south.

 

[Two on Tour]

Our diesel heater has a frost guard setting that I have set at 6 degrees C, which stops our Victron solar chargers from shutting off power to our lithium hab battery.

 

[Jon Stewart]

That makes sense to me. But I think poppycamper would still be correct in our case as it is always kept dry.

To paraphrase, there is (virtually) no wind-chill factor without moisture being present.

So, we're all correct. Now, pass me another beer, please!