Electric awning heater

[Anseo]

The awning I have in mind is approx 2.5 metres long and 1.8 metres in depth, and I would like to keep the cold chill minimised in late season use.

New products are always being introduced, so I thought it best to ask the opinions of you who are more in the know than I am

Fan, ceramic, halogen and other variants ?, can I ask what you use and how effective is it, any recommendations please.

Thank you,
John

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

Fan, ceramic, halogen and other variants ?, can I ask what you use and how effective is it, any recommendations

Don't use any, they waste valuable resources. Put an extra layer of clothing on.

 

[Gabsgrandad]

Most sites rightly ban awning heaters.

 

[bertieboy1]

Not aware of this Gabsdad,
Never come across this in all my years of caravanning,can't beat wearing 10 layers of clothing (including gloves) and trying to use a knife and fork and keep the grub warm at the same time.

 

[Dustydog]

John
Would you seriously sit in your house in the winter with all doors and windows open?

 

[Martin24]

You beat me to it WC

i also get very cross about this practice. Totally unnecessary and the sort of behaviour that has caused sites and CL's/CS's to increase their prices over the years.

 

[Anseo]

I did not think I might be opening a can of worms with my post

The modern world of caravanning is quite new to me, I see many adverts for awning heaters and have read topics such as "what is the best awning heater" on sites and in publications.

Perhaps heaters are unnecessary and impracticable, with draught excluders etc. I (perhaps naively) assumed that heaters could be quite efficient.

I certainly had no idea that awning heaters were banned on most sites, and I take the point about energy usagecosts.

But I was just making an inquiry, no intent to irk or stir up contentious debate

Thanks for the replies, I find them all helpful.

John

 

[ProfJohnL]

I did not think I might be opening a can of worms with my post

The modern world of caravanning is quite new to me, I see many adverts for awning heaters and have read topics such as "what is the best awning heater" on sites and in publications.

Perhaps heaters are unnecessary and impracticable, with draught excluders etc. I (perhaps naively) assumed that heaters could be quite efficient.

I certainly had no idea that awning heaters were banned on most sites, and I take the point about energy usagecosts.

But I was just making an inquiry, no intent to irk or stir up contentious debate

Thanks for the replies, I find them all helpful.

John

Hi. Anseo,
I hope the answers so far do not put you off posting in the future. Sadly we have had our fair share of illegitimate posters who seem to be intent on causing distrust between contributors, but genuine questions should not be dismissed.

You say that you thought the heaters were quite efficient, well yes electric ones are, but whilst they convert energy to heat very efficiently, (Actually 100% efficient) awnings are terrible at keeping the heat in.

As for being banned, you would need to check with each site, as there are no blanket regulations covering such matters., but morally I think they should not be used.

As the subject of awning heating has been raised, just a word of warning. Some people thought it might be a good idea to heat their awning or tents by using a charcoal BBQ inside. Sadly BBQ's as mass producers of Carbon Monoxide (CO gas), and they were fatally poisoned by it. BBQ's must only be used out of doors.

PJL

 

[emmerson]

When we used to use an awning we heated it with a fan heater, which was very effective, and safe.
In my defence against those who are now preparing to shoot me down for wasting electricity, let me point out that we have never had a television, xbox, elertonic games or any of the other seemingly "must-haves" for the modern caravanner, and therefore probably use less leccy than most!!

 

[chrisbee1]

My caravan came with an 'awning heater' consisting of a controllable outlet from the normal interior blown air heating, blowing out of the side of the 'van. I can't tell you how efficient it is, never having used it.

 

[Anseo]

Hi PJL,

The replies posted have not at all put me off from asking for advice and opinions here.

I asked a question, I received replies and from that I have gained some further insight to what is going on in general relative to caravan use and accessories etc.

I'm happy that I asked the initial question, I have not heard anything that I did not want to hear, so thanks again all, a good forum should have balanced views and I am finding the collective insight helpful.

I'm not long enough a member here to recognise trolling posts, I know that trolling is an undesirable fact in a great number of forums. Any caution by longer served members is very much understood an accepted.

As said already, replies appreciated, I'm with all of them

Regards, John

 

[Parksy]

Hi PJL,

.......I'm not long enough a member here to recognise trolling posts, I know that trolling is an undesirable fact in a great number of forums. Any caution by longer served members is very much understood an accepted.

As said already, replies appreciated, I'm with all of them

Regards, John

Don't worry about trolling posts John, we've had flame baiters and keyboard warriors in the past but they are long gone and won't be back.
As for awning heaters I have no opinion on them. We only use a porch awning and it's used mainly for removing footwear and storing the picnic table and chairs. Being just the two of us we're either outside enjoying good weather or warm and toasty inside the caravan on cooler days and evenings.

 

[Robtel]

Never used an awning heater myself, if it's a bit cool a jumper gets pulled on and if that doesn't work then it's inside the van for me. I know some sites certainly ban awning heaters but couldn't say what percentage of sites that would be.
A site we were on this year in Devon (Ross Park) was quite strict on this, giving the reason as Fire Safety and saying their ruling was following advice given by Fire Service. They had a copy of article from a local newspaper, including photograph of a burnt out van, there had seemingly been a fatal caravan fire in the South West which the Fire Service believed was caused by an awning heater.
On other sites I believe the reason for the ban is more down to the excessive use of electricity and associated cost. The information regarding the ban is sometimes included in the terms and conditions and might not be so obvious at first look of a website.

 

[Dustydog]

Hi PJL,

The replies posted have not at all put me off from asking for advice and opinions here.

I asked a question, I received replies and from that I have gained some further insight to what is going on in general relative to caravan use and accessories etc.

I'm happy that I asked the initial question, I have not heard anything that I did not want to hear, so thanks again all, a good forum should have balanced views and I am finding the collective insight helpful.

I'm not long enough a member here to recognise trolling posts, I know that trolling is an undesirable fact in a great number of forums. Any caution by longer served members is very much understood an accepted.

As said already, replies appreciated, I'm with all of them

Regards, John

That's a fair honest answer John
What I do carry for emergency use in the caravan is an 800watt infra red oscillating heater. The beauty of this one is its simplicity and relative safety . It cools very quickly . If knocked over the power is automatically cut off.

 

[chrisbee1]

Never used an awning heater myself, if it's a bit cool a jumper gets pulled on and if that doesn't work then it's inside the van for me. I know some sites certainly ban awning heaters but couldn't say what percentage of sites that would be.
A site we were on this year in Devon (Ross Park) was quite strict on this, giving the reason as Fire Safety and saying their ruling was following advice given by Fire Service. They had a copy of article from a local newspaper, including photograph of a burnt out van, there had seemingly been a fatal caravan fire in the South West which the Fire Service believed was caused by an awning heater.
On other sites I believe the reason for the ban is more down to the excessive use of electricity and associated cost. The information regarding the ban is sometimes included in the terms and conditions and might not be so obvious at first look of a website.

I wonder how they enforce it? With my on-board heater I can have 3kw ( yes, I know Woodlands ) of electric heating directed into my caravan or out into the awning. I can't see it as being a fire safety issue.

 

[pitpony]

My caravan came with an 'awning heater' consisting of a controllable outlet from the normal interior blown air heating, blowing out of the side of the 'van. I can't tell you how efficient it is, never having used it.

Took the words right out of my mouth, blown air from the caravan system in to the awning,

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

Remember that the caravan is thermally insulated, whereas the awning is not, and therefore heat loss from the awning will be much more rapid than in the van, requiring a lot more heat to be pumped into the awning.

 

[Mel]

Never used an awning heater myself, if it's a bit cool a jumper gets pulled on and if that doesn't work then it's inside the van for me. I know some sites certainly ban awning heaters but couldn't say what percentage of sites that would be.
A site we were on this year in Devon (Ross Park) was quite strict on this, giving the reason as Fire Safety and saying their ruling was following advice given by Fire Service. They had a copy of article from a local newspaper, including photograph of a burnt out van, there had seemingly been a fatal caravan fire in the South West which the Fire Service believed was caused by an awning heater.
On other sites I believe the reason for the ban is more down to the excessive use of electricity and associated cost. The information regarding the ban is sometimes included in the terms and conditions and might not be so obvious at first look of a website.

I wonder how they enforce it? With my on-board heater I can have 3kw ( yes, I know Woodlands ) of electric heating directed into my caravan or out into the awning. I can't see it as being a fire safety issue.

Presumably the heater was faulty, because I can't see how it would be a fire risk otherwise: although probably inefficient and expensive. Mind you , there is always the Darwin phenomenon. Once we watched a couple unload one of them gas patio heaters from their car and put it under a gazebo with the gazebo roof about an inch above the top of the heater. They were about to fire I up and OH just about to run over, when they thought better of it.
Mel

 

[Robtel]

Presumably the heater was faulty, because I can't see how it would be a fire risk otherwise: although probably inefficient and expensive.
Mel

I tried a google search Mel, to try and find the newspaper article they had pinned up in reception but without success. I did come across references to a caravan fire in North Wales in 2011 which the Fire Service believe was caused by an extension lead to an awning heater overheating and sparking off the fire. Also depending on type of fire I suppose having items too close to the fire, e.g. Trying to dry off towels could be enough to cause a fire.

 

[Raywood]

Given the thin walls and the fact that they are only pegged to the ground I cannot see that they can be heated effectively and the energy wasted is far too high. To me they are only for those who do not care about the world as for wasting power they must be near the top just behind patio heaters.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I do wonder if our continental cousins may have a case for awning heaters. In many cases they take their caravans to a site and pitch them for a season, rather than touring. As such they may have access to better awnings that offer a proper degree of thermal insulation, in which case the hot air outlets system sold by Truma may actually have a real chance of taking the chill off their awnings.

But All UK awnings I have seen are just single layer canvas, with virtually zero insulation. In these cases hot air heating will be next to useless, but radiant infrared heaters could provide some heating as the radiant heat does not heat the air through which it passes but the objects it falls on..

 

[Hutch]

I wil agree with you Prof, my French and Dutch friends, tend to just sleep in their caravans and have a large awning to "live" in for the season, as the temp drops at the end of the season out comes either an oil filled electric radiator, which I also have, or an infra red heater like DD's. Just to take the chill off , at 20c. .
Used our oil filed one one November in a big awning as there were 8 people in two caravans, and having a birthday party and after 20 minutes had to turn it off. Too hot.

Edit, a lot of the French in their caravans dont have heating or cooking facilities.

 

[Tuningdrew]

Up until now we have used an Infra Red heater, the type that heats the surfaces rather than the air but this year we've bought a Dyson AM09 fan heater. We have Isabella 3 metre awnings we use all year round but the winter one is only 3/4 length as it's easier to heat.
We only ever have the heat on when we're actually there and it's only used to take the chill off rather than become a sub tropical micro-climate, thank heavens for a Dunelm onesie!

 

[saint-spoon]

An interesting topic with some polarised views. Personally I don’t own one but then we mainly use a porch awning and sit inside our insulated caravan. I can see why folks with more than one family sharing larger awnings use them but they are by default very wasteful. I think that it is because of this that they are banned in many places, you are essentially chucking energy to atmosphere with very little benefit. We have just come back from a week in West Bay and the site stated that the maximum power usage for each EHU was 2kw… good luck with that one… but it goes to show that power usage is high on the site owners agenda and awning heaters will just convert electricity into wasted energy all day long. There is something to be said for a hot meal and layers of clothing if you want to sit outside.

 

[Raywood]

Possibly excessive use will encourage site owners to go for metered electricity.