What are members views on leaving the heating on in the van in the winter ? Our van has an Alde system and is outside the house with the electric plugged in. It would be simple to set the temperature to say 12 degrees and let the heating come on and off in the winter. I wondered though if this would cause condensation rather than keeping the van aired ? I know if we were away we'd use the heating but of course the door would be opened now and then etc which would cause some ventilation too. It's a new van 2015 model.
Leaving the heating on in winter
- Thread starter Pinto
- Start date
If you want to waste your hard-earned pennies by heating air moving through the van then go ahead. Our van sits in storage during the winter with no heating, as do many others, and they do not suffer any detrimental effects. 
hmy: We don't use salt crystals either as they attract moist air into the van.
hmy: We don't use salt crystals either as they attract moist air into the van.
My thoughts would be to leave the heating on but at about the lowest setting you can, do you use your van during the winter.?
We use ours all year round, normaly once or twice a month in the winter, but I store mine in a covered storage, and a day before going out bring it home, take out the moisture traps , 5 of them and have the heating up to 20c for the day and night before going away. i always lift the cushions and open all lockers and cupboards.
Hutch.
We use ours all year round, normaly once or twice a month in the winter, but I store mine in a covered storage, and a day before going out bring it home, take out the moisture traps , 5 of them and have the heating up to 20c for the day and night before going away. i always lift the cushions and open all lockers and cupboards.
Hutch.
I rhink this is going to be interesing about the salt crystal traps. Wait to se what the Prof has to say. ?
Hutch.
Hutch.
The Alde system is set to 5 degrees - you can set it no lower so will always kick in below that (assuming the electric is on or the gas) Our other vans. have never been heated in the winter - it was just a thought especially in view of the wet weather we have been having - far worse than normal here in Wales. We don't caravan much after the end of November due more to the gales than the rain.
I have the heating on in my van at this time of year and keep it at approx 10c the blown air keeps the air moving and I have never had a problem with condensation problems, the only downside is that you have to pay for the electric. I use one of these with the sensor picking up the current at the fuse / rcd box it tells me at a glance what power has been consumed, at the moment it's averaging £1.54p per day, i can live with that....
We don't heat over the winter unless we're away in it. A complete and utter waste of money in my opinion. Moisture traps just bring in the damp through the vents so at best are a waste of time and at worst are causing more of a problem than they are supposed to solve. All you need to do for winter is make sure the van is clean so as not to encourage visitors, lift mattresses and seats, leave cupboards and drawers open and take out everything you want to, especially any food sources.
The reason mine is kept warm at 10c is because everything stays where it is .... in the van...
Each and everyone to their own choice
Each and everyone to their own choice
Sproket said:Each and everyone to their own choice
If the van is in storage 10 miles away with no power source then there is no choice.
The good thing is with this one we can all be right in what we do. With the exception of the moisture traps of course. :dry:
Hello Hutch,
You do like to challenge. :evil:
When air or other absorbent materials are warmed, they can absorb more moisture. When they cool down they tend to give it up to the air, and that is where condensation comes from.
Without going into too much detail, the moisture content of a caravan will rise as you use it because we tend to keep caravans warmer when we use them. Also the fact we breath out lots of moisture and water vapour is produced when we heat the kettle or do cooking, so a caravan will most likely have more moisture content at the end of a period of use.
Because caravans have an amount of fixed ventilation distributed both at high and low level, there is always some air exchange with the outside which will naturally allow a caravan to return to the ambient moisture content..
There is a case to use dehumidifying when you start a period of storage, as this should help to remove any excess moisture. But once the moisture levels have dropped to that of the ambient air, the dehumidifier is just trying to extract an endless supply of moisture from the exchanged air.
The use of heating to keep a caravan warmer, actually means its moisture content will also be higher than the external ambient, because the warmth will attract more air exchange, and the materials of the caravan will be grabbing moisture from the air. So in reality keeping the caravan warm has no real advantage to the moisture levels, but it will feel more comfortable, but who will feel the benefit?
Keeping a heater on a frost watch setting may help to protect the construction of the caravan from ice jacking, but more than that has no real benefit.
You do like to challenge. :evil:
When air or other absorbent materials are warmed, they can absorb more moisture. When they cool down they tend to give it up to the air, and that is where condensation comes from.
Without going into too much detail, the moisture content of a caravan will rise as you use it because we tend to keep caravans warmer when we use them. Also the fact we breath out lots of moisture and water vapour is produced when we heat the kettle or do cooking, so a caravan will most likely have more moisture content at the end of a period of use.
Because caravans have an amount of fixed ventilation distributed both at high and low level, there is always some air exchange with the outside which will naturally allow a caravan to return to the ambient moisture content..
There is a case to use dehumidifying when you start a period of storage, as this should help to remove any excess moisture. But once the moisture levels have dropped to that of the ambient air, the dehumidifier is just trying to extract an endless supply of moisture from the exchanged air.
The use of heating to keep a caravan warmer, actually means its moisture content will also be higher than the external ambient, because the warmth will attract more air exchange, and the materials of the caravan will be grabbing moisture from the air. So in reality keeping the caravan warm has no real advantage to the moisture levels, but it will feel more comfortable, but who will feel the benefit?
Keeping a heater on a frost watch setting may help to protect the construction of the caravan from ice jacking, but more than that has no real benefit.
Back to basics my old dogs
Did you buy your caravan whereby the manufacturer or dealer said you must apply heat during the winter? No! !
I have no wish to regurgitate "winter preparation".
But make sure all fluids have been properly drained down and taps left open
Draw blinds and curtains and also leave all locker doors open.
That's it.
Did you buy your caravan whereby the manufacturer or dealer said you must apply heat during the winter? No! !
I have no wish to regurgitate "winter preparation".
But make sure all fluids have been properly drained down and taps left open
Draw blinds and curtains and also leave all locker doors open.
That's it.
Just had a look in my hanbook about storage, Coachman, recomend that all windows, roflights and doors are correctly fastened and locked.
So It looks like they don't say yes or no about salt crystals, I think your reasoning Prof about getting the humidity down is a sensible Idea, so maybe in my case, using the crystals for the two weeks would be a good idea.
Am I correct in thinking if your using gas to heat your going to put moisture into the caravan as against the dry heat of an Electric heater. But I suppose using the Alde heating is dry air whichever you use.
Hutch.
So It looks like they don't say yes or no about salt crystals, I think your reasoning Prof about getting the humidity down is a sensible Idea, so maybe in my case, using the crystals for the two weeks would be a good idea.
Am I correct in thinking if your using gas to heat your going to put moisture into the caravan as against the dry heat of an Electric heater. But I suppose using the Alde heating is dry air whichever you use.
Hutch.
Martin24 said:
I disagree! They are not a waste of time and anything which dries the air is beneficial. I take my caravan to Spain for four months from the start of November and for the two weeks before I leave home, I place a dehumidifier in the van. I have it set to dry the atmosphere to 55% and for the first day the machine works almost flat out. But gradually it switches on less and less, thus proving it to be a fallacy that "I am trying to dry out the world". Not only is the van's interior drier, but it also feels warmer.
Damian
Moderator
Quote " Am I correct in thinking if your using gas to heat your going to put moisture into the caravan as against the dry heat of an Electric heater."
NO, you are not correct.
The gas heater is totally room sealed, it draws combustion air in from outside, and discharges the exhaust to the outside.
All the gas is doing is heating the heat exchanger, giving dry heat.
NO, you are not correct.
The gas heater is totally room sealed, it draws combustion air in from outside, and discharges the exhaust to the outside.
All the gas is doing is heating the heat exchanger, giving dry heat.
Jaydug said:
Hello Jaydug,
I cannot argue with your experience, but I do challenge your conclusion.
Take outside air and measure its humidity, lets say its 80% now raise the temperature of the air and the apparent (Dry bulb) humidity will drop depending on the temperature difference it could be as low as 55% yet it still contains the same quantity of water!
hmy:The internal volume of a caravan will almost always be slightly warmer than the outside, because of the almost stationary air inside vs the breeze outside. The caravan will be subject to solar heat gain, and if you are using an electric dehumidifier, it will be adding heat from its motor, Consequently the interior humidity will appear to be somewhat lower than the external.
It is entirely up to you if you wish to continue your practice, and I would agree it can make a caravan feel more comfortable.
Martin24 said:
........I agree with that as no two cavanners caravan in the same way
Some caravans can be laid up for almost half the year.
Lets face it, it is often a case of out of sight out of mind until Easter Time..... they will often be on a distant storage site with no power available.
Other owners who may want to use their caravans in the winter months will have a problem of how to keep internal damp at bay.
The UK winter climate is such that the hygroscopic materials used in caravan construction means the caravan will literally absorb water from the air.
The Prof has already explained how this happens and that it is impossible to stop the process.
However the process is slow and happens over time and can be reversed by the temporary use of heating to transfer any water absorbed by the materials back to the air. This heated moisture laden air must then be removed from the caravan to have any affect at all.
Both Jaydug and I have a requirement to use our caravans in the winter months and we both store our caravans at home with available electricity.
He removes absorbed moisture as he describes and I remove it by the use of heat from an electric convector heater in conjunction with a high level 4 inch 12volt extractor fan.
(I only heat for 1 hour/day)
Neither of us is really interested in drying out the air as such ......we are interested in removing moisture from the internal fabric of the caravan before we use it as living accommodation.
PS........only 22 days before the off John :cheer:
We leave some clothes, duvets, bedding etc in the van. I take the food out, though in past vans have left things like sauce, vinegar in there. This is a brand new van August 2015 so would guess it is better spec than our last one we had for 11 years. I think I'll just check it and play it by ear. I was thinking more of putting the heating on once a week for say 4 hours than every day all day. I don't like the moisture traps. Thanks for all the replies. When you see all those hundreds of vans on dealers yards, they aren't heated are they.
Gafferbill said:
Hi Bill - bet you can't wait! And yes, you're right. The fact that I collect a couple of pints of water in the first few days, with the quantity gradually reducing as the days go by, convinces me that I'll be sitting and laying on upholstery which is drier than it otherwise would be.
Have a good journey. Hope to see you at some point.
We are in the using the heating camp, we keep it on a low setting over night, as we use the van all year round it just makes it feel more a comfortable space when we go away.
having just bought our first van in September last year this is the first winter we have had a van. Our van is in storage so we don`t have the option to heat during the winter but we have removed everything and closed the curtains ect and have been checking on the van regularly I just checked the van yesterday and am happy to report everything is looking fine.
I'd be careful with that - in a long run it could increase the risk of installation becoming overheated.
Devonboy said:
Agree Devonboy, but we use a 650w oil-filled radiator, set at 12 degrees, then a couple of days before going away, turn it up to max.Toasty!
Yes, which post ? Our Alde will only kick in if the internal temp drops below 5 degrees. We have only had one frost this winter so it's not going to be going 24/7
TRENDING THREADS
-
-
-
-
12v supply to fridge fault after testing voltage !! Help please
- Started by Joggerdude
- Replies: 5
-
-
Facebook
Twitter