What are everyone's thoughts about leaving a blown air heating system on overnight ??
I have an old caravan and I must admit on the odd occasion I have left mine on overnight I do have concerns over the fact the incredibly hot heater element could be a fire risk ??
If you're worried get a small oil filled radiator.
------------- XVI yes?
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I use mine during the night. Tend not to leave it on when van unattended though.
I've got, as should everyone, a fully functional smoke detector that should the 'Mk1 nose' fail to detect smoke from overheating, then hopefully that should, also got a readily accessible fire extinguisher should the worse happen!
The Truma Combi units have a in-built overheat safety trip switch. Other brands/models would also likely have as well.
Never heard of a problem with them causing a fire, but as with all electrical/gas devices there must be a small inherent risk by very nature of the device, but not great enough to deter use.
I would have thought any oil filled radiator worth it's salt would have kept tripping the old electric all night?? I guess not though if you are using them.
A 2kw oil filled rad will draw under 9amps so provided you have at least a 10amp ehu supply it will not trip. I find an 800w oil filled rad ideal though & much smaller & lighter than a 2kw.
We had ours around 8 years now, always use it. Only once tripped the mains, that was due to microwave and kettle all on at the same time.
If, when this fails, I will defo get another👍👍👍.
Had a titchy one before..👎👎👎..P*ss poor to say the least. ( Could have just been the brand tho! ).
You shouldn't have any trouble leaving the electric heater on overnight, we do when it's cold. Don't fall for the old trick of turning the heating element selector switch down from the 2Kw setting. This wll usually result in cold air blowing, the last thing you want ojn a cold noght. The selector is there for low amperage supplies like 5A, most now use the blue 16A supply.
As for danger of overheating, the Truma fires are protected by thermal cut-outs so no problems with it catching fire (do make sure the fire cleared of fluff etc regularly, when serviced)
Dave
------------- Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day,
Teach a man to fish and you can get rid of him for a whole weekend.
Do caravans have habitation services like MHs, when Heating (and a lot more) gets checked. If you’ve not had one done for many years, it would give peace of mind to use the caravan’s system. We leave our MH blown air heating on overnight, set at 14 degrees so it’s only clicking on now & then.
We used a small oil filled radiator in our previous MH, it only kept the temperature tepid when it was cold outside. And we turned it off when boiling the kettle. Tripping the hook-up is embarrassing.
Before we got our current van with Alde heating we used to use an oil filled radiator. We had a 1.5kw one but it had 3 settings, 500, 1000 or the full 1500 so you could use whichever setting was appropriate to the electricity supply. We always left it on low (500w) overnight when we were away and it was perfect for keeping the chill out of the van without making it too hot. The one we had, had a thermostat so it would switch itself on and off throughout the night which was great and the best bit was that it was totally silent. Our blown air system sounded like a helicopter starting up every time it came on which was not conducive to a good nights sleep!
A mate of mine goes round turning everything off every time he leaves his van, no matter the conditions outside. I tell him he's crazy, but he's of the 'rather be safe than sorry' brigade. He doesnt want it burning down or flooding when hes out. The fact that he must be relying on it not to burn down or flood whilst he's in bed seems to go over his head, as its the same systems that will or wont fail.
We rely on the hot water being on low for a bit of night heat, as the blower is too much. And, we do sleep with the window behind us ajar as well for fresh air.
I fitted a thermostat and extra 13amp socket in my caravan today. I will use a convector heater at night with the thermostat set at 5 or 6 degrees. The advantage is that a convector heater is silent, while blown air makes a noise which can be annoying at night.
I can use the same set up to stop anything freezing when the caravan is stored at home over the winter
------------- We camped for years. In 2019 we bought an Elddis Avante 454. We like it as it is short (6.9m) and fits in our driveway and has a fixed bed.
We had 127 nights away in the caravan in 2023.
Quote: Originally posted by John4703 on 10/5/2021
I fitted a thermostat and extra 13amp socket in my caravan today. I will use a convector heater at night with the thermostat set at 5 or 6 degrees. The advantage is that a convector heater is silent, while blown air makes a noise which can be annoying at night.
I can use the same set up to stop anything freezing when the caravan is stored at home over the winter
I just use the vans own heater/stat.over winter at home. That way, i know its going to be working once on site. And, it wont smell of 'burning' for an hour after its put on for the first time in months, like they do.