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Topic: caravan heating

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Ray Clayton

06/3/2017 at 11:11am
Location: Ilkeston. Derbyshire
Outfit: Disco 4 Unicorn Barcelona 4

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Alde in van, great system once you get your head around it.
And convector heater in awning. Best heater i ever bought.

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Cheers
Ray

Discovery 4 & Bailey Barcelona 4

Opensauce

06/3/2017 at 11:55pm
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Give us a clue op. How much do you wish to spend on this caravan? Then you can get some answers that can actually assist your choice. It depends what your priorities are. Theres no point in spending out on what you do not need. The more it costs, the more it costs to fix & the older it gets the more fixing it needs.

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chrisn7

07/3/2017 at 2:02pm
Location: West Yorkshire
Outfit: Bessacarr Cameo 625 2011

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An interesting question - the implication, if I read it right, is that if the OP has a budget for a cheaper van then he shouldn't go for Alde in case it has to be fixed at whatever cost?

But, the less the van costs, the more it is likely to have other issues and the older it gets the more of them there will be.

It doesn't matter what the budget is, the only sensible thing to do is get a van professionally inspected before purchase to minimise these risks.

Opensauce

07/3/2017 at 2:22pm
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The budget does matter because if you are looking at cheaper caravans you are going to be spending all your money on 'professional checks' & end up with no caravan because no old caravan is fault free.

A check is a snapshot of the caravan as it is now not as it might be in a few months time. Particularly when it comes to fitted equipment like heating systems. Fact remains that a busted Alde heating system is an expensive fix & will probably require the attention of one of your 'professional fixers' at commercial rates.

So keep things simple. Don't buy an older caravan that was top of range when new & then when bits do go wrong it will not be such an expensive fix.

What I try to do when giving advice on here is make it apply across the range. Specific advice applicable to those who have the means to buy a new caravan is not necessarily right for those who wish to caravan on a much smaller budget.

Post last edited on 07/03/2017 14:45:18

Colin21

07/3/2017 at 9:00pm
Location: East Herts
Outfit: 1992 Elddis Wisp 450CT + X Trail

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My budget is almost non-existent, so I just use a cheap convector heater with a built-in thermostat. A simple plug-in timer-switch and the set-up is complete. I'm paying through the nose for EHU anyway usually, so I use electric heating. Simple, cheap, but effective. My ancient old van is warm and toasty whenever I want it to be. Horses for courses probably.

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Best Regards,
Colin

chrisn7

07/3/2017 at 9:25pm
Location: West Yorkshire
Outfit: Bessacarr Cameo 625 2011

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Sadly there are stories every season of unfortunates who come seeking advice after buying a rotbox because they tried to save the cost of an inspection, which is peanuts compared to the cost of say damp repairs. There's one of these on the forum right now, trying to get his money back. Sometimes these people lose everything through uninformed purchases, and I hate to see that.

The reality is that any defect in a major appliance could be costly, not just an Alde boiler. Incidentally the Alde in my old van was from 1998, never failed and was still going strong when I sold it 18months ago, so I have great respect for them. You might want to check out even second hand fridges and cookers and their own eye watering prices.

I try to help on the basis of 30 years caravanning experience, and doing my own repairs and improvements. I wish to be as economical as anyone else, and certainly have never bought a new van, nor will I ever.

Compressorman

10/3/2017 at 8:18pm
Location: Swadlincote
Outfit: Coachman 545 VIP. 2015.

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I have Alde and would never ever change back.

This is what changed my mind on heating - 20+ years of blown air and either being too hot or too cold and most of the time too cold. I had 3 new vans with blown air and none of them could be used comfortably in winter months - the heater would always get hot but the blown air bit was always tepid - the toilet compartment which had plastic walls as it was also a shower was like being in a fridge.

Two seasons back I was parked up on a site in Tenby in my 8 yrs old Swift with blown air heating - on the next pitch rolls up a new latest model Swift with Alde heating.

I got talking to the owner and the subject turned to heating and winter use of the caravan - he told me that he used it in severe cold weather and the heating was so good he could sit comfortably in shorts and a T shirt with snow and ice outside.

Being a bit more mature in years than him I took his comments with a pinch of salt - but he was correct - it's perfect heating - without a doubt.

As I write this I am in Derbyshire on a small site - it's well cold outside, although not freezing - and we are very comfortably warm at a controlled even temperature - so it's Alde for us every time.

It's set at 23 dregs at the minute and we will lower it to 18 when we go to bed.

Supatramp

18/3/2017 at 3:49pm
Location: Ayrshire Scotland
Outfit: Santa Fe CRDi + Swift Conqueror 645

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Something which hasn't been mentioned is........the size of caravan!

In a small/medium sized van blown air heating will probably do. Notice I say "do". However, with a larger van/twin-axle, Alde is a no-brainer.!!

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David.

I used to be indecisive, but now I'm not so sure!

boff

18/3/2017 at 8:01pm
Location: N Wales
Outfit: Hymer Nova 590GL

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I read posts like if I couldn't have Alde heating we wouldn't have a van. Let get a bit of perspective here. It's very very good but not having it wouldn't stop us having a van. And we have the full fat version of Alde which includes a fan blown convector and underfloor heating.

em1982

01/4/2017 at 8:26pm
Location: Eastleigh Hampshire
Outfit: Sprite Major 4 FB

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This is something hubby and I have been talking about and thinking of changing our van for as we have blown air, have just down first year on winter seasonal and it was ok but if alde heating would be more comfortable we are even thinking of getting an older van (our current is 2013) to get it. Can't look at anything as new as we would like and waiting on some poss changes at hubby work before we do anything.

shrew

09/4/2017 at 8:07pm
Location: sussex
Outfit: oztent rv1 & elddis hurricane

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blown air propex is the cheapest for after factor fitment as alde has to be put in from new

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