Gagakev said:
Have the van on the drive warming up for family tomorrow.
Am I right in thinking that you get the same heat output weather it is on the 500w, 1000w or the 2000w setting.
Only ever used it on 500w on sites.
Don't want to use the gas whilst un attended.
Thanks in advance.
Hello Kev
Incidentally the manufacturer of your heater is Truma not Trauma.
The heaters 500, 1000+ 2000w settings represent the electrical input and heat output rating of the electrical elements. Each rating will have a different maximum potential temperature rise, with the 500 being the lowest and 2000 the highest.
The actual maximum temperatures each will achieve depends on the average insulations values of the caravans construction, its surface area, and the external ambient temperature and any wind chill factors along with the humidity.
Consequently you might find that 500w may be sufficient to maintain an adequate internal temperature in some conditions, but you may need to use a higher setting in colder or more windy situations.
Because the rate of temperature rise within a caravan follows an exponential curve, you will find that by using a higher power setting you will achieve your desired temperature more quickly.
Looking beyond your current question:-
By using a thermostat you can control the temperature inside the caravan However if the external conditions are too cold. the minimum heat input setting may not achieve your desired comfort level, effectively the low setting even when running all the time cannot raise the temperature high enough, so by switching to a higher input setting the temperature may be raised enough to allow the thermostat to regulate the temperature.
Thermostats have to have some temperature differential between the turn off point on rising temperature and the turn on point in a falling temperature situation. This is called its hysteresis, and is typically between 0.5 and 2C. However in practice the actual highs and lows of temperature can be more than this, and one reason is the elements remain hot enough for a few minutes after they have been turned off to produce some heat, and they take some moments to come up to temperature when they are turned on. This is unavoidable overshoot, and it is made worse if you use the highest element power setting. Sometimes finding the lowest power setting that maintains desired temperature gives better control.
Also when the electrical element has been turned off under thermostatic control the thermal convection currents are also stopped. This means there is no mixing of the hot and warm air in the caravan and the hottest air will rise to the ceiling and the coolest to the floor. This natural stratification can produce some quite severe top to floor to ceiling temperature differences. For a person sitting, you can develope a marked hot head cold feet feeling. This will persist until something like the elements turning on again causes the air to move. THis is where blown hot air systems begin to make a real difference by keeping the air mixing and reducing these big temperature differences.
Alternatively with the Truma/Carver type heater, let the gas side take the bulk of the heat load, The built in gas thermostat works differently by proportioning the gas flow according to the temperature demands and also use the electric element to maintain the fine control. The fact the gas side has a pilot light of a few hundred watts output keeps the thermal convection currents working to mix the hot and warm air to some extent.
Hope that useful
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