Overnight running of a carver gas heater??

[TheTravelMan]

Hi there,

My friends have a 1991 Elddis caravan which has a Carver room heater which runs from gas only.

Now that winter is on its way, they would like to know if it is safe to leave this heater on overnight to keep caravan warm?

Many Thanks

Andrew

 

[RogerL]

I wouldn't.

The Carver is room-sealed so no flue gases will escape into the caravan IF, I'll repeat that, IF the heater is working properly. If it has a fault you find out the hard way.

An oil-filled electric heater is the safest heating to use if your caravan doesn't have built-in electric heating.

 

[TheTravelMan]

Thanks for that, they had thought of buying a oil filled radiator instead of using the carver gas heater.

What power rating of oil filled radiator would you recommend buying to suitably heat the living area of a 1991 Elddis 4 berth caravan, with side dinette and rear bathroom.

Would they need a 500 or 800 watt or a 1kw?

Many Thanks

Andrew

 

[DeliDave]

you could always use a carbon monoxide detector,around

 

[ProfJohnL]

I agree with RogerL as far ensuring the heater is working properly. This is best achieved by the annual inspection check and repairs if necessary.

BUT, I cannot agree with his conclusion about not running it at night;.

There is a fundamental flaw in his logic;.If a heater is unsafe to use at night because it vents Carbon Monoxide, it would be equally unsafe to use during the day.

Conversely, provided the appliance is safe during the day, it will be equally safe over night.

Attwood, Carver, Electrolux and Truma only ever produce room sealed heaters, which means the air used for combustion is drawn from under the caravan, mixed with gas and burnt in a tube. The exhaust end of the tube either went back through the floor (1800 models) or up to a roof mounted flue terminal. 3000 and 5000 series heaters)

It would require a series of major faults to arise with any of these appliances before they would emit dangerous levels of CO into the living space.

There is far greater danger from the burners on the cooker, grill and oven which vent directly into the caravan, and where the flames are quenched by pots and pans.

Technically there is no reason to turn a room sealed heater off at night if you are concerned about CO poisoning. But as previously said regular inspection and servicing will reduce any risk to very very low levels.

 

[Gafferbill]

Andrew

Asuming your friend will be using and paying for an Electric hook up in his 1991 van.

Save money and be safer by not using gas for heating.

I use a slimline electric convector heater with a 1kw or 2kw thermostatically controled output.

These have an overheat cutout and are very safe. They are silent in operation and slim enough to stand infront of a carver heater. They cost less than

 

[RogerL]

John L

There is a fundamental and critical difference running any gas appliance in the daytime and at night.

At the point where the fault first starts there's a good chance during the day that occupants may notice they're feeling unwell - at night there's no chance.

Without a working CO detector, there's no way I'd use any gas appliance during sleeping hours.

 

[RogerL]

My attitude is based on reality - vibration from unbalanced wheels can cause the flame window screws to work loose with potentially dangerous results. It happened to us, I don't believe that we are that exceptional.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Roger,

It is of course a matter of personal choice whether or not to use a gas or electric appliance over night, and of your choice may well be coloured from personal experiences. I am sorry to read of your particular experience.

Because of my work, I am familiar with the window arrangement on the Truma heaters through standards testing I had to carry out, and even though they appear to be very close to the burner assembly you might expect there to be positive internal pressure that would cause combustion products to be expelled if the window was unsealed or missing. In fact the average pressure is negative and will draw air into the combustion tube, unless there are abnormal wind pressure acting on the flue. If the wind conditions are sustained the flame is baffled and the appliance will extinguish and cut off the gas supply, so the danger of the failure you describe is in reality minimal.

This seems to be one of the inherent safety features of the products of this type.

Any leak of CO is of course serious, but again the generic design of caravans is such that they have fixed ventilation, which should prevent a continuous leak of CO from any of the appliances in a caravan from building up to a lethal level.

I have had to report on one installation where a gas heater had produced levels of CO that made the occupants of a caravan very poorly. In fact one of them was lucky to survive. The cause of the problem was that the caravan owner had removed the heater from one caravan and attempted to install it in another. The flue pipe had not been connected properly, and the path the flue took allowed condensate and rainwater to collect and partly occlude the flue. The gas supply as from a propane bottle with an industrial adjustable regulator fitted and the pipe pressure was found to be 120mB

(should have been 37mB) and the fire way was caked in soot from over gassing.

It may or may not surprise you to know it the owner was one of those who cannot be mentioned.

Perhaps because of my background I have a greater understanding of the arguments for and against, and I personally have no qualms about using a properly serviced gas heater over night.