# Truma heating and winter camping



## Kilcoosy (May 17, 2009)

Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to know from you experienced guy's do you leave your heat on in the van overnight when your sleeping? Coming into winter I would imagine that this would be a necessity as the temp can drop quite low inside.

Just this weekend we had temperatures of 10 degrees inside which is baltic when you love your heat as much as us!

So question is: 

1. If on 240V hook up is it safe to run heating all night at a comfortable setting?

2. I believe my boiler will automatically dump it's water when the temp reaches below 4 degrees celcius. How do I know if the Truma boiler has dumped water? Will I do any harm if it has dumped and I start heating or will it not start and show tthe red fault light?

Many thanks 

Mark


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## Coulstock (Sep 2, 2008)

*Van Heating overnight*

1.0 If youre on EHU then get yourself a neat little 500w oil filled radiator (I got mine from B&Q) - we use ours all the time - even recently on our trip up to Scotland - just leave it running - keeps the van warm all night and all day.

2.0 If you're in the van and keeping it warm (as above ) then fit a clothes peg over the dump valve - ie stop it 'moving down' - I've had my clothes peg fitted for a year - I've kept my fresh water system and Truma boiler 'topped up' right over the winter -even at a rally at Southsea where it got down to -2.

Harry


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## waspes (Feb 11, 2008)

Hi, I leave the boiler on low to heat the hot water, it also keeps us nice and warm as it is under the bed. We also use a 500w oil filled rad and leave it on all the time.

Peter.


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

When not on EHU (the norm!) we are perfectly happy to leave our Truma C6000E on gas heating all night.

We do turn it down at night though, to about 15°C.

Next project is a remote control system (possibly a long stick!) so that we can turn it back up to 20°C before we get up!

When parked up at home we leave it on EHU with the heating just cracked on at the lowest setting.
It prevents the dumping scenario.


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## Nauplia (Sep 30, 2007)

*Heating in winter*

Hi

The dump valve on the boiler is triggered by the temperature in the space that the boiler sits in. It is not set off by the outside temperature - unless its the same inside your van. Our boiler is inside a locker and the locker has the trunking for the hot air heating passing through. While ever the heating is on then the boiler will not dump. We were in the Alps skiing last winter and one night it dropped down to -21C. We were snug inside and the boiler still worked.

We were on an EHU and paid for 10 amps of power. This ran the Truma Ultraheat 24 hours a day, plus the fridge etc.. We occasionally used gas to boost the temperature. 10 amps was a bit expensive but like you, we don't like to be cold.

Hope this helps but above all enjoy your van even when its arctic outside.
Oh yes and trying skiing. Its great.


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## hogan (Oct 31, 2006)

I was going to post a reply as most of our camping is done in winter down to -20 but all the above is sound advice .


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## Kilcoosy (May 17, 2009)

*Re: Heating in winter*



Nauplia said:


> Hi
> 
> The dump valve on the boiler is triggered by the temperature in the space that the boiler sits in. It is not set off by the outside temperature - unless its the same inside your van. Our boiler is inside a locker and the locker has the trunking for the hot air heating passing through. While ever the heating is on then the boiler will not dump. We were in the Alps skiing last winter and one night it dropped down to -21C. We were snug inside and the boiler still worked.
> 
> ...


Thanks Nauplia,
Just out of curiosity is your MH winterised? We do ski and would love to take the MH but I reckoned that it would have to have the addition of the Dethleffs winter pack. Is this the case?

Thanks


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## jhelm (Feb 9, 2008)

I think it's more important to worry about the MH when it's stored in Winter than when you are using it. We use ours for weekend ski trips and it's a pain each time we come home to put it in storage, drain water, etc. if you don't blow the water out of the pipes they may freeze. We put a bit of antifreeze in each drain. Of course if one can keep a small elec. heater inside it's much easier, but also costly.

We leave the gas heat on at night turned down to around 15. Sometimes we use a small radiant electric heater when on EHU. Especially when we are out for the day rather than using up our gas. For the water one can turn off the space heating but leave the hot water turned on to prevent it dumping the water. I've thought about the clothers pin on the valve solution but I'm afraid to try it as the consequences of a frozen heater would be very costly. 

I don't believe our year 2000 Hymer has any particular winterizing beyond the basics. Our grey water tank is outside so it's valve will freeze up. Some people let it drip a bit to keep it open.


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

_Some people let it drip a bit to keep it open._

I am of that age too!

Actually, does that work? Surely the contents of the grey tank would freeze anyway. Plus, leaving the drain tap open would let cold air into the tank, speeding up the freezing process.


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## jhelm (Feb 9, 2008)

Some drips do seem unavoidable.

The valve is only left slightly open so I'm sure there is no added cooling. It does seem to work. The other solution is to leave it completely open with a bucket under it and empty the bucket as needed.


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## Bob45 (Jan 22, 2007)

We have a small oil filled radiator (Bambi I think) and place it between the seats at the front of the motorhome which is the coldest part as the large windscreen is not double glazed. It has a thermostat and we often leave on all night, even in summer if it is cold. If it is really cold we put the outside screens on. 
Snug as a bug in a rug!

Bob


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## Nauplia (Sep 30, 2007)

*Winter Camping*

In answer to your question, our m/h is not winterised. It's a Swift Sundance which is about as basic as you get! Both the fresh water and waste water are underslung. The fresh is insulated though.

We found that the fresh water tank did not freeze but the neck of the tank protrudes into an underseat locker where the pump is located. Also there is the water heater and the trunking for the blown air heating. I cut the trunking and added an air bleed section so that the locker was always warm. This is sold by Truma. I did the same for the underbed section.

The waste tank would have frozen but I left the valve wide open and put a bucket under to catch the waste. Amusingly, this froze but was easy to dump. After a week the van was surrounded by what looked like frozen sand castles. The weakness was the feed for the loo flush. This did freeze a couple of times and we had to use a jug of water from the tap. All in all we managed very well and were never cold.

As others have said the achilles heel is when your van is not being used. I drained the system but forgot to leave the taps open. I guess that leaving them closed caused a vacuum and the water trapped in the bathroom mixer froze and split the plastic body of the tap. An expensive lesson!

Hope this helps.


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## tramp (May 25, 2005)

hi kilkosy,
enjoying the van then? the "Dethleffs winter pack" is NOT available for retrofit only when stated as option as the van requires extensive fitting out at the factory to the tune of £1000 plus. Ours was done by the previous owner and is brill at -16.

but seriously you dont need it just comensence we run the heating like most on gas 24/7 when below freezing as this provides warm air to all PARTS of the van as designed to , so no condensation anywhere  .

when you use electric heaters etc you run a big riskof cracking the truma heater and getting a cold bed  pay your money and get refillable gas and use the van as intended as they are tested to -25 in scananavia so a Uk winter should be no problem :wink: 

If on mains hockup the battery is recharged automatically so no probs with the blown air , off the grid you`ll need at lest 220amp capacity for long stays or just run the van engine for a hour each day to keep battery topped up.

tramp


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Truma*

Hi

I run my heating overnight on the EHU 1800 watt setting in winter. Never had a problem and also have the added benefit of hot water in the morning when I wake up.

Equally, I slept with the heatong on overnight on Friday on gas as I was not on EHU.

Russell


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## 127493 (Aug 31, 2009)

*Truma heating*

I own a bessacarr e560 and always keep the heating on at the 800 watts setting and also have a 800 watts oil filled heater for the cab end as that is the coldest due to the windscreen, but with the insulated outside winscreen cover that helps and also doesnt let any condensation build up un the winscreen.


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