New to caravans, overnight heating question

[Kennelman]

Picked up our first caravan yesterday, a Coachman Pastiche 420/4 2005 model. Had the heater on and all works well but I have a question about keeping it on all night.

My concern is that when the beds are made up, they are right next to the heater. I'm worried that the ends of the duvet make land on top of the heater during the night. Is that safe? Anybody else have the same issue?

Maybe a daft question but I'm completely new to caravanning and just want to make sure all is safe.

Many thanks

 

[rosies]

Hello and welcome to the world of caravanning . I hope you and your family enjoy and have many good and sometimes strange memories to come . As regarding the caravan heating , I'm sure your system is blown air and popular and well tested . In practical terms I do not think you will normally need any heating on overnight unless its really icy , you'll be surprised how warm it will /would get with leaving the heat on overnight . If you look at the warm air exit nozzles you will see that these usually turn to close them off . but saying that you never ever close ALL the nozzles off , but the odd one is OK . If you ever did leave the heating on overnight then you would certainly set it to low heat , if you didn't then believe me you would wake up literally roasting . So to try and answer your question - if overnight your duvet did slip over one of the outlets then as long as the majority of the other outlets were free of obstruction and fan/heat was set the a minimum I can't see a problem . Usually in the height of a really cold winter its so nice to turn the heating right down at bedtime or slightly before , then experience lying in bed with warmth rising into the mattress , mmmmm BLISS .

 

[rosies]

By the way kennelman , there are never such things as daft question , only daft answers . We all have to learn at times and you will keep learning everyday with caravanning , we all do even after many years .

 

[Kennelman]

Ok thanks for your reply. It's not the nozzles that I'm worried about, it's the heater on the wall I'm worried about the duvet covering. I would have it set to blown air on a low heat but am still unsure of the safety aspect of it getting partially covered. As you say, it's a tried and tested system but would just like to check.

 

[colin-yorkshire]

hi, Rosies, is correct, there is nothing to worry about, we used to have the heating on during the night, but always on the lowest setting, the van just got too hot otherwise,
think of this another way, if there was going to be a problem as you describe. do you not think the manufacturer of the van would not know about it, and either changed the position of the beds or the heater. it's common sense really.
but if you not sure just ask, there is no such thing a daft question. only the one you never thought to ask.
and welcome to the forum by the way.

 

[Kennelman]

Ok thanks, I suppose you have just confirmed what deep down I thought, it's just reassuring to hear if from someone else!

Looking forward to some trips in the Caravan!!

 

[colin-yorkshire]

Ok thanks, I suppose you have just confirmed what deep down I thought, it's just reassuring to hear if from someone else!

Looking forward to some trips in the Caravan!!

absolutely enjoy every minute, it a wonderful hobby, when you get into it you will wonder why you never did it years ago and lament on the time one was without one,
sadly though it does not last forever, but then you will have wonderful memories of the time spent in the van.

 

[rosies]

Just an aside to whats been said , the outer casing of the main fire unit only really gets warmer if you're running on gas . I would imagine that if you did actually leave your heating on overnight then electric would be more cost effective ( if on EHU ) . The electric element is further inside the unit so the main fire body doesn't get very warm Kennelman . Hope this helps . ( assuming you have dual blown air heating )

 

[Theteaboy]

We have been using our new to us caravan with the heating on overnight and had no problems at all, and we are both quite nesh people so have the heating on about 1/3 power and no problems at all.

As said if it was going to be an issue there'd have been a big law suit by now!

Regards
Matt

 

[Len_Cuff]

Luckily our heater is towards the front of the van and we sleep in the rear so no problems with accidentally covering the heater. We have used it on low overnight when it's been really cold and never had a problem but we never run it on gas, only electric and I'd be surprised if there isn't some sort of overheat cutout fitted anyway.

Have fun

 

[Thingy]

As has already been said, close the nearest butterfly on the heating to where you are sleeping. Leave the vans central one and bathroom open and have the heating on low. However, I have yet to find myself in a situation where I want the heating on at night, just gets too stuffy.

The pain is getting out your maggot in the morning to turn the heating on. As the wife, as all wives tend to use the loo every ten minutes, I usually make sure that she is awake and then wait patiently, and lo and behold - heating.

 

[Dustydog]

Kennelman
I agree with all the last posts.

I am intrigued you have a heater that is adjacent to the bed whereby a duvet could cover the fire.
What model and make do you have?

Truma say in their handbook not to cover the fire. You say your fire is by the bed / duvet. That's a no go for me.
Whilst on air blown 500watts whilst I think you will be okay Truma may say no to covering the fire. If the air blown system failed during the night there could be a build up of convective heat, enough to cause a problem or at worst a fire.

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

I am intrigued you have a heater that is adjacent to the bed whereby a duvet could cover the fire.
What model and make do you have?

Our previous van (Avondale Avocet) also had the fire at the foot of the bed such that the duvet could drop over it during the night. We made sure the offending corner of the duvet was well tucked in under the mattress to prevent such. Our current van of similar layout has a cupboard between the fire and the foot of the bed so no problem now.

 

[Mel]

Our current van; an Elddis Avante has a fixed bed and a blown air heater in close proximity. The heater is under the wardrobe and the cut off corner of the bed almost opposite. If I kneel between the two I can put one hand on the fire and one hand on the bed. They are so close that I had to tell the 3 year old not tot get onto the bed by putting one foot on the fire! I can see the OPs concern. However on electric the heater itself is not too hot to touch so I am not too concerned, that and we don't put it on at night anyway.( LOACA ).
Mel

 

[Kennelman]

I am intrigued you have a heater that is adjacent to the bed whereby a duvet could cover the fire.
What model and make do you have?

It's a Coachman Pastiche 420/4 2005 model.
One of the bench seats goes from the front of the van to the kitchen units, the other goes from the front of the van to a small cupboard which has the heater placed on the front. When the bench seats are converted into a bed, they sit right against the cupboard which means when the duvet hangs over the bed it sits straight on top of the heater!

Thanks for all your replies, I'll speak to the dealer and se what they recommend and if in doubt use sleeping bags!

 

[Thingy]

Still dont think you will need the heater on, it will get too stuffy. Most of us open the windows a crack to let the air in.

However, if in doubt, you could always get a small thermostatically operated fan heater.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I have to offer different advice to what has been give by most respondents.
The appliance manufacture does not offer advice in their instructions designed to frustrate owners, so when Truma say do not cover the heaters outlets that what they mean. It is an important safety message and it would be ill advised to ignore it.

I know Truma's fitting instructions tell installers to make sure the product is not fitted where there is a danger the heaters front case convection outlet may be occluded.

The Truma heater when fitted and used correctly is perfectly safe to have running overnight, but as with any heating device if it is impaired in anyway it does have the potential to become a hazard.

Check your caravan handbook to see what advice it gives about using the heater when the bed is set up. If there is no specific advice on the matter and you believe there is a real danger that bedding may occlude the heater then you should discuss the issue with your seller, as they are legally responsible for selling faulty or unsafe goods.

With the exception of using an alternative heater, other replies given with the best of intentions may appear to reduce the issue, they don't completely remove it.