Alde Hot Water/ Heating System (I'll post here for starters)

[supergranne]

Hope someone throw some light on this problem
We have a 2012 Lunar Delta TI twin axle fitted with this system. We have had no reason to use the heating side of it before now. We were away over Easter and due to the very cold weather we had the heating on but even though we left it on for 12 hours it never reached above 18 deg celcius. I contacted Alde by email and their reply was to check if the caravan was grade 3 insulated and if not to run it on both gas and electricity. The caravan is grade 3 insulated so where do we go from here? Alde have not replied to this question.

Thanks for reading
Anne

 

[NigelHutson]

What was the thermostat set at?

 

[supergranne]

Thrmostat set at 24 deg C

 

[NigelHutson]

Did the system shut off, as if it had reached the full temperature?

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Supergranne.

I assume you have read the operating instructions and set it to use both gas and mains to provide the heat.

Unfortunately Alde may have supplied the heating system but it will have been specified and fitted by the caravan manufacturer, and I know from first hand experience that often the manufacturers will fit appliances selected by cost rather than performance, so it is quite possible that the heating system is not ideally matched to the caravan in the conditions we have been experiencing.
All a heater will do is to raise the caravans internal temperature by a number of degrees above ambient (unless a thermostat modulates the heat output). So for normal UK winter a heater might be capable of producing a 25C temperature difference.
We have been experienceing uncharateristically UK cold sub zero temperatures, and quite strong winds which also produce a wind chill factor. the BBC weather reports have shown actual temperatures and the corresponding wind chill figures and over this period a difference of -5C has been quite common.
So for a caravan where the heater could raise the temperature by 25C over ambiaent, given a real external temperature of -2C and wind chill of equievelent of -7C the heater will only achieve +18 inside the caravan!
If you still feel this is not good enough, then its not Alde or the caravan manufacturer you should be contacting, but your caravan seller who is obliged under theSale of Goods Act to supply goods fit for purpose.

 

[supergranne]

Thank you Prof John I'll pass the info on to my husband

 

[Jennifer2]

As you have not used the heating before, I would think your problem is air in the system.
You need to find the vent points on the system and release the air.
Afterwards you will need to top up with 50/50 glycol/water.
You will probably need to do this a few times to get rid of all the air.
When it is very cold, to warm up the van quickly, use both gas and electricity to start with.

 

[JTQ]

As you have not used the heating before, I would think your problem is air in the system.
You need to find the vent points on the system and release the air.
Afterwards you will need to top up with 50/50 glycol/water.
You will probably need to do this a few times to get rid of all the air.
When it is very cold, to warm up the van quickly, use both gas and electricity to start with.

It cant be air in the system if it gets the van to 18C in these abient temperatures; the air will either cause an "air lock" or be finely enough dispered to be be automatically purged from the system. As it gets to 18C then it is flowing, if it is flowing then in minutes it will purge any micro bubbles.
There has been another contributor complaining on many forums about the poor performance of the Alde in this particular caravan model. As others have said it cant be Aldes fault as the apprpriate kit is available and if correctly selected etc is more than adequate to do the job, it is the van maker not specifying, paying for or correctly installing it. In some van designs the owner can block the adequate circulation of air by overloading lockers; Alde however recommend that lockers have double bottoms to avoid this but I know some van makers cost and weight save by not following the advice.
In that other case the general impression given though was that the contributor was for some reason resistant to use gas and had unrealistic expectations of what just two kWatts of electricity could achieve with such a size van in these recent ambients. It might hold a higher temperature but will take an age to raise the structure up to it, particularly whilst the van has the appropriate ventilation.
Unlike a blown air system it does not offer a location where you can sit and be blown very warm air, it warms the van as a whole, thus overal more comfort but without that tosty finite warmer spot.

 

[NigelHutson]

The Alde system should be quite capable of getting up to temperature, even on 2kw. Ours certainly does, as I generally have it set to 20 degrees in cooler weather. Indeed, over the Easter weekend, when night-time temperatures were well sub-zero, I set the 20 degrees to start from 07:00, from a night-time setting of 12 degrees. By 08:30 it was up to 20 degrees. It does seem strange that the caravan is two years old though, and the heating's never been tried before.
On the Lunar models, the pipes/radiators are quite high up under the bunks, so shouldn't be covered by anything which would prevent the heat.
It could be air in the system, in that certain parts would be getting hot, but the fluid would not be circulating properly depending upon where any high spots are. Alternatively, there is an offset in the control panel. I asked the OP whether the system was shutting down or continually running. If it's continually running, then it's possibly air, but if it's shutting down, thinking it's got to temperature, then they may need to use the offset.
Another thought. Was it on the 2kw setting?

 

[graham_somersham]

I have a 2010 Delta and on the 2kW setting it does struggle to get up to anything above 20C in very cold weather without some form of supplemantary heating or going to gas. A Delta is a big caravan to heat on just 2kW and for some reason Lunar decided not to fit the 3kW heating elemement which would have been a lot better in very cold weather. I use electric under carpet heating mats in the winter as a supplement to the Alde or even just on their own on slightly warmer days. They are low wattage and put the heat where you need it. The other thing to look at is the airflow through the under bed spaces and it is required to get the convected air to rise from the rads and up through the back panels. A slight problem is that the under bed spaces tend to be fairly poorly insulated which means the rads have to raise the air temp from a lower starting point. Extra insulation in these spaces helps (don't block the air vents!).

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

...... and for some reason Lunar decided not to fit the 3kW heating elemement which would have been a lot better in very cold weather.

Probably due to the fact that 3kw on hookup would be getting close to the limit before tripping if another device was switched on. The poor wardens would be even grumpier being called out all the time in the cold weather.

 

[Surfer]

I raised the exact same query on another forum and suggestions that I had not set it up correctly which I disputed. We were very lucky to achieve a temperature of 20C after the ehating had been on for two days. The Lunar Delta does not appear to be a winter caravan. We had tor esort to using gas in order to boost up the temperature. Very disappointed.
As stated a 3kw heater may have been a better way to fo plus more radiator heating areas. Seems silly to have two right in front wheere the front cushions are located and the bottom bunk cushion comes up against the bulkhead trapping the heat there. I have emailed Lunar about this and now waiting for a response.

 

[GrahamDerby]

As someone said lunar seem to fit the cheapest options, my 2009 delta ti has the cheapest alarm system you can get, i have had it updated to a remote system as the key one was a swine to set, even Keen alarms argued with lunar that someone paying £20k for a van should have a better system, but to no avail.

 

[Danddandy]

Graham. . I like the idea of undercarpet heating. . Where can I purchase these?

 

[Surfer]

As someone said lunar seem to fit the cheapest options, my 2009 delta ti has the cheapest alarm system you can get, i have had it updated to a remote system as the key one was a swine to set, even Keen alarms argued with lunar that someone paying £20k for a van should have a better system, but to no avail.

Is your Delta TI the one with the island bed at the rear and the bathroom in between? We are also looking at under carpet heating for mainly the front area as there seems to be quite a draught coming in from where the slats are stored. I hate cold feet!

 

[xtrailman]

First of i would be checking that the 2kw element is actually working, it could be just working on 1kw.
I would check it with my Owl current monitor.
Second thing i would check is the speed setting on the circulating pump, it may need increasing.
If it hasn't got the boiler mounted pump i would get one fitted.
My Unicorn has a 3KW element, but i rarely use it, if we want a quick warm up we also use a 1kw fan heater, once up to temperature one or two KW is enough to maintain 20 degrees.