heater

[Freedomfairy]

Awaiting the arrival of our new Freedom Sunseeker. After a lifetime of wonderful camping trips we have decided to upgrade from tent to small lightweight caravan. We are very excited!
As the caravan doesn't have heating (and I can imagine we wont be able to wait for the warmer weather to take our first trip) I would be grateful for advice regarding a suitable heater. We have a small fan heater but wonder if there is a preferable alternative.
Many Thanks.

 

[intransient1]

As long as the heating elements are fully enclosed any heater should be fine.
Personally I would recommend a convector heater with a built in thermostat as it would be silent in operation.

 

[ProfJohnL]

A convector heater will provide a good source of heat, but as hot air rises it will tend to collect at the top of the caravan, leading to hot head and cold feet syndrome.

Consider also having a portable oscillating head fan which will be fairly quite in operation to move and mix the air to reduce the hot head cold feet issue. The fan will also be useful in hotter weather.

A fan heater can work quite well , as it moves the hot air it produces, also if its blown along the floor, due to the bernoulli effect it will try to stick to the floor until it either looses its forward motion or it hits something like your legs and then starts to rise. The down side is the fans tend to be noisier than the ventilator fan above.

 

[WilliamH]

As I joined in on your previous thread on heater recommendations I thought I'd have another go. .

It may be you don't like the idea of currents of warm air in the caravan whether by convection or fan. I get eczema and the drying effect of a fan heater has me running for the exit!

Radiant floor heating really is an option. You don't need an expensive installation as lightweight portable plug in heater mats are now available. Try googling 'fitting caravan floor heater' for options.

Whether it's enough to be your sole heat source will depend on the available floor area (and hence the size of the mat you can use), how well insulated the caravan is, the temperature outside, and your own preference for ambient temperature. A radiant floor heater won't directly heat the air the same way a fan or convector heater will.

Hope this helps!

 

[ProfJohnL]

................ A radiant floor heater won't directly heat the air the same way a fan or convector heater will.

Hope this helps!

Hello William,

Honestly I'm not trying to pour cold water on your posts, but I do see some technical inaccuracies which may give the wrong impression about the abilities of a product.

You acknowledge We have discussed the capability of of underfloor heating for caravans in another thread, and we agreed that underfloor heating on its own would be insufficient to heat a whole caravan. Interestingly this article also raises the same concerns.

http://www.caravantalk.co.uk/caravan-advice/electrics/electric-underfloor-heating
I have to take issue with your last paragraph (quoted above) The fact is the amount of heat a body (or floor) can radiated is determined by the temperature difference of the surface of the body to its surroundings.

As it is generally accepted the surface temperature of a heated floor should not be allowed to exceed 29C (302K) and for comfort the surface temperatures of the surroundings in a caravan will be about 20C (293K) the conditions will not allow a great deal of radiated energy to be released. This actually means the majority of the heat produced will be lost by conduction into adjoining materials, and convection from the surface. Consequently its a bit misleading to call underfloor heating a radiated system, it does heat the air above it through conduction, which will begin to circulate by convection.

Even with that changed perception of its operation, underfloor heating does have some value in a caravan. Most people find having cold feet quite uncomfortable, and they can even tolerate lower ambient air temperatures if their feet are warm, so the UFH can achieve this by conduction.
In addition the combination of gentle convection of the warm air rising around the lower legs and the long wave length IR radiation also means the occupant does not have to work so hard (Cardiovascularly) to keep their lower limbs warm, so they feel more naturally relaxed.