Motorhome heating on all night, off grid ?

[sweet caroline]

NEWBIE Question
I plan to take Dollie, out all through the Winter, and might even think about wild camping, can you have your heating on all night from the gas bottle, or do you need the electric, to circulate the air, or does this come off the auxilary battery to keep you warm off site please.
Yes as i said pretty naive here hahah

 

[Lenny HB]

We never have heating on overnight and I feel the cold terribly, I have 2 duvets (different togs), flannelette sheets and a throw for good measure, only really need the lot if it's very cold. I wear a hoodie to bed in addition to my PJs, this means I can put the hood up which really helps to keep me warm. Hot water bottles are good to take the chill off and a couple of warm dogs too!

Most of us don't take the Motorhome to the top of Mt. Everest.

 

[Minxy]

Most of us don't take the Motorhome to the top of Mt. Everest.

At least the hoodie is an improvement over the red woolly hat I used to wear!

 

[Laughing Gravy]

Try it !

 

[Spriddler]

Since you're a lady and not an engineer I suggest that you take my pragmatic 'suck it 'n see' approach............

Book a pitch with electricity but don't hook up. Run the heating and see how it goes. If the leisure battery goes flat you can hook up to recharge it.
Running the battery flat (i.e. to below 11.5v) is not advisable but just the once is unlikely to do it any harm.

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[Nanniemate]

Is it a Truma Combi?
What size gas bottles?
What size batteries?

come on Lenny these are far to difficuilt questions start with the easy ones , do you know where the batteries are ? and how many having found an extra one on my van last year Im sure once Broken Link Removed has had the meet she will be better informed

 

[rb62]

Never had the heating on at night in the house or van and always a window and skylight on vent.

 

[Nanniemate]

Make sure your MH has a working carbon monoxide detector and smoke alarm.

Even if you sleep with doors and stuff locked be sure the exit route is clear of obstruction and you know how to unlock even if you are a bit sleepy.

you forgot never sleep naked ............

 

[MrTVR]

We have a Truma blown air system and regularly leave the heating on overnight when we are off grid.

We have two 110A leisure batteries and a separate power monitor which shows that the battery power is reduced by about 20% overnight. This can be replaced during the day by our single solar panel if the sun is out.

 

[Jez1966]

Gas consumption, my 2c's worth, I used for planning off grid:
LPG Fil: 1L = 0.51kg
Fridge: 8.3g per Hr / 200g per day
Alde 3020e: 245g per Hr
Thetford SCK421XX Series
Burner Large Ring: 2x 124g per Hr
Burner Small Ring: 1x 68g per Hr
Oven 1x 127g per Hr
Grill 1x 118g per Hr

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[Loftyjeff]

Trauma combi system fitted in my PVC. This blows warm air through ducts with outlets in the rear lounge, shower/wc and front age of the van. It's served from a 25l underslung LPG tank and powered by the 12V battery for the fan and ignitions. It can also run off mains electric if on EHU. Overnight I frequently leave it set to come on if temp drops to say 15C. Seems very efficient and not a problem against battery or LPG use.

In cooler weather a good external windscreen cover that also extends over the front vent grilles makes a lot of difference to the inside comfort levels.

Ditto

 

[sweet caroline]

come on Lenny these are far to difficuilt questions start with the easy ones , do you know where the batteries are ? and how many having found an extra one on my van last year Im sure once Broken Link Removed has had the meet she will be better informed

 

[sweet caroline]

That's very True ! I have NO DEA WHERE BATTERIES ARE?? As for hooded mm, I'd rather not on that one. But do have a fleecy onesie with hood,so think that with a double sleeping bag might be my solution. But if u hook up surely the ekectric is free to heat anyway isnt it?
Or are u still using calor gas as well ?
Back to confusious once again haha.
I've a medical degree but system working is driving me to onset dementia at this rate haha

 

[Nanniemate]

That's very True ! I have NO DEA WHERE BATTERIES ARE?? As for hooded mm, I'd rather not on that one. But do have a fleecy onesie with hood,so think that with a double sleeping bag might be my solution. But if u hook up surely the ekectric is free to heat anyway isnt it?
Or are u still using calor gas as well ?
Back to confusious once again haha.
I've a medical degree but system working is driving me to onset dementia at this rate haha

I found I had a second one when I got stranded in Seaton for a week , no big deal but no leccy nothing works including the loo flush, so went through a lot of bottled water and lit the gas with lighter , had a wonderful week met some really lovely people and spent it on the sea front free after pm so moved during the day. I do have solar but not good if the battery is duff. They were the original batteries so 16 years old
I have never been cold in the van but do take double quilt, PJ's especially if wild camping in case your need to move quickly in the night - never happened yet, and extra throw blanket, if you take too much to start with you can always take out but being cold can be miserable and spoil the experience.
main needs
loo roll cheapest not the quilty stuff it will not dissolve well
tea or coffee mug/cup
milk/sugar if your use it
Most on here will mention alcohol - for drinking not for sterilising
Put some bottled water in you always have some then
Bio washing liquid or tablets for your toilet cassette lot cheaper and nicer than the horrible blue stuff
remember your starting in the UK so your never far from a shop
plenty of undies and socks even then if your out longer than you expect every supermarket sells them
toiletries
and some food of choice
Fuel in the tank
Enjoy
dont be disappointed if every trip is not brilliant I had one was late getting off the drive got to location and only had 1 night and came home cant say why but just cold not settle when I arrived back my lovely neighbour down the street put me right on that

 

[Tombola]

Yes when plugged into ehu...switch over to electric for the heating. Can take a while to warm up esp when cold so we start with gas then switch over sometimes.

If you must use gas over night remember it will use a fair bit. Probably best just keeping chill off.
I have 10 degrees set when I want it.

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[Lenny HB]

But if u hook up surely the ekectric is free to heat anyway isnt it?

It depends where you are a lot of sites charge up to £7 a night in winter for EHU. In Germany & Spain a lot of sites are metered, France €3.5 to €5.5 a night. If you are using an ACSI discount card EHU is normally included. If EHU is charged normally cheaper to use gas, we don't have a problem as our heating is gas only, so don't bother with EHU.

 

[Turboboy]

Doesn’t Autocruise use an Eberspacher diesel heater?

 

[bigalw35]

you forgot never sleep naked ............

always

 

[IanFraser]

We have often left our heating on overnight on the lowest gas setting, no blower, just to take the chill off.

Just out of interest - as we don't normally head off in winter so no experience but toying with idea more - how long does a gas bottle last if you were turning on heating every night on a low setting? Just after a rough idea I just got 4-5 years out of a 6 kg bottle that we only use for cooking i.e. gas rings & oven.

 

[Nanniemate]

Just out of interest - as we don't normally head off in winter so no experience but toying with idea more - how long does a gas bottle last if you were turning on heating every night on a low setting? Just after a rough idea I just got 4-5 years out of a 6 kg bottle that we only use for cooking i.e. gas rings & oven.

I only have baby bottles so sorry can't help and I turn it off when I'm in bed

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[Lenny HB]

Just out of interest - as we don't normally head off in winter so no experience but toying with idea more - how long does a gas bottle last if you were turning on heating every night on a low setting? Just after a rough idea I just got 4-5 years out of a 6 kg bottle that we only use for cooking i.e. gas rings & oven.

Too many variables to give an accurate answer but I expect one of our 14kg bottles would last 4 or 5 days.

 

[LesW]

Just out of interest - as we don't normally head off in winter so no experience but toying with idea more - how long does a gas bottle last if you were turning on heating every night on a low setting? Just after a rough idea I just got 4-5 years out of a 6 kg bottle that we only use for cooking i.e. gas rings & oven.

We have two 11kg refillable bottles, I've never kept any records etc, they last a long time though, sorry can't be more specific.

As Lenny says there are many things to consider, the fridge, cooker and occasional hot showers all use gas too.

 

[Mally Boo]

NEWBIE Question

I plan to take Dollie, out all through the Winter, and might even think about wild camping, can you have your heating on all night from the gas bottle, or do you need the electric, to circulate the air, or does this come off the auxilary battery to keep you warm off site please.

Yes as i said pretty naive here hahIah

 

[Mally Boo]

Hi, I usually set the Truma thermostat to approx 10-12 degrees overnight when I know it will be cold during night, so only switches on when it drops below the set temp.

 

[sweet caroline]

on gas or auxillary battery? whlst wild camping

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[LesW]

on gas or auxillary battery? whlst wild camping

Gas..

 

[Nanniemate]

on gas or auxillary battery? whlst wild camping

Have you seen the silent night self heating mattress cover on offer in tesco , looks like a bargain

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/313601717?sc_cmp=ppc*GHS+-+Grocery+-+New*MPX_SHP_All_OT_Smart+Shopping+Home+Entertainment_Online+Budget_1007093*Home+%26+Entertainment*PRODUCT_GROUP313601717*&ds_rl=1116322&gclid=CjwKCAiA2fmdBhBpEiwA4CcHza2B4gZ9GRN8Hd2lNSZzo3lbRPpes-okPutyBkmi4fyqHanEnSms5RoCb_YQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[stewartwebr]

No heating for us overnight, don't need it with a good winter duvet. Whoever wakes first switches it on then jumps back into bed waiting for the van to heat. We always sleep with a window slightly open, but we are hardy Scots

 

[Brains]

2018 Hymer MLT

We were in the van in the really cold snap in December.
We found the electric heating in our van was not upto much even at full blast on EHU.
However when we switched over to gas/electric mix we could heat the van to any temperature.
Gas heating seems a lot more efficient.

I understand if it's minus figures outside and you want double figures inside you can go through an 11kg bottle in about 3-5 days

In a northern European summer an 11kg bottle will last us about 3-4 weeks (cooking and fridge)

 

[sweet caroline]

No heating for us overnight, don't need it with a good winter duvet. Whoever wakes first switches it on then jumps back into bed waiting for the van to heat. We always sleep with a window slightly open, but we are hardy Scots

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[sweet caroline]

2 bodies is always better than 1,I suspect! Haha

I thought you were a youngster still in your 60's.

A Combi just has blow air heating outlets, might help if you tell us what the van is.