ALDE 3020 COACHMAN 560 VIP ALDE WET SYSTEM HEATING FAILURE.

[JTQ]

You may not, but the heating system requires nearly 8amp to operate efficiently and also deliver hot water

Simply not true, the Adle works as "efficiently" on 1, 2 or 3 kW; in colder times the more kW used the more effective.
Presently, with its modest heating levels 1 kW in a half decently insulated van, where the hot water is also not left draining away profligately, is adequate for many of us.

 

[GUMPY]

The setting you choose for your Alde be it 1,2 or 3kW will be entirely dependent on heat loss from the caravan which varies with outside temperature.
It's a whole can of worms that you really don't want to get into unless you are a complete anorak 😱
I am neck deep in it at present whilst trying to make my house heating as efficient as possible.

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[Dustydog]

+1 We also got a fan heater as a back up to our Alde wet heating system 🙏

I'd have thought your Alde on 3kw would be more than adequate 😉. How many Kw is your fan?

 

[ProfJohnL]

Not quite!
If that's all it does it's been incorrectly fitted and would serve no useful purpose at all.
It should be fitted in the main power intake and then it monitors the total use by the van.
If the monitor unit is set at 6 amps and the alde is on 2kw it will reduce the alde to 1kw thus staying below the 6amp total load.
If I turn the kettle on with the heating running it switches the heating off until the kettle has finished. It's just a current sensing coil the clever bit is already in the software of the 3020.
I have fitted one to my van as an extra and it works well and saves us having to remember when on low current EHU to switch the heating off when we need to use other 1kw items.

Alde Load monitor - Alde

Used to limit power consumption of the vehicle. Reduces the output of the electric element in stages if the load is too high. This prevents the circui...

www.alde.co.uk

Thank you. I stand/sit corrected!

However one of the points I was trying to make but clearly failed, was the monitor only affects the the Alde unit. it will not curtail or control power to other appliances. so regardless of what the monitor does (which is to reduce the power the Alde Units is consuming) the power to the kettle or TV etc is not adjusted.

 

[JTQ]

I'd have thought your Alde on 3kw would be more than adequate 😉. How many Kw is your fan?

The underlying "issue" is the Adle is a whole van heating system, including the structure and the hot water so the response time to be in a warmed air bubble is way longer than a directly used fan heater. Whilst this can be shortened with pumping in higher levels of power, experience is that is not as effective.
I am very impressed with our van and its Alde system, though the system has to be tailored correctly for each van, and I would be very reticent to buy a van without their system [assuming here the maker took Alde's design advice and spent on the kit required, not sure some have!].
However, it has this "slow" initial response time and like others where on an EHU we also use a fan heater for the first 45 to 60 minutes.
This gets round that issue, and then leaves the Adle doing what it does so well and why many of us specify it.

 

[GUMPY]

The underlying "issue" is the Adle is a whole van heating system, including the structure and the hot water so the response time to be in a warmed air bubble is way longer than a directly used fan heater. Whilst this can be shortened with pumping in higher levels of power, experience is that is not as effective.
I am very impressed with our van and its Alde system, though the system has to be tailored correctly for each van, and I would be very reticent to buy a van without their system [assuming here the maker took Alde's design advice and spent on the kit required, not sure some have!].
However, it has this "slow" initial response time and like others where on an EHU we also use a fan heater for the first 45 to 60 minutes.
This gets round that issue, and then leaves the Adle doing what it does so well and why many of us specify it.

I have a remote switch on my 3020 so when we are away I can turn it on an hour before I get back to the van so it's at temperature when I arrive.

 

[RogerL]

Such is progress. ☹️

The phrase "change is inevitable, progress is optional" was said by John C Maxwell but seems to apply to caravans far more than any other product.

 

[RogerL]

You may not, but the heating system requires nearly 8amp to operate efficiently and also deliver hot water

Not in my experience - although I do supplement the Alde in Spring/autumn with a 1kw fan heater - but during a Scottish summer it copes fine just on 1kw.

 

[Beachball]

+1
and the 3020 version is a lot simpler to use and set up than the 3030 we have in our latest van

I am pleased the 3020 version is easier to use my neighbour nextdoor got swift challenger he showed me how to use it on his and told me to download the Swift command app on my mobile phone done that today .

 

[Buckman]

Not in my experience - although I do supplement the Alde in Spring/autumn with a 1kw fan heater - but during a Scottish summer it copes fine just on 1kw.

I am sorry I was under the impression that you were on 1kew for hot water heating and overall heating. No issue with 1kw if heating is not required.

 

[GUMPY]

My Alde must be different In the Spring and Autumn it both heats the water and the van on the 1kW setting. Doesn't manage it in the winter mind, I have to switch it to 2kW then. 🫣