New CamperVan owner

jamesd

We purchased our first camper van last week , a 2004 Champ Lunar 670A on a 2.9ltr Fiat - 6 berth with a U Lounge, Double dining and a double up front on top.
For cooking there is a 3 ring gas hob and all is working, heating is a truma trumatic C 6002 - C (603-E) - there is 1 control for it and allows heat only or hot water and heat. I have not tested the heating as yet as from the manual I think I need to put water in somewhere first but I need to re-read this.

We decided to do a test run in the camper last Saturday night, we plugged it into our house for power, and ran an electric blow heater before bed and switched it off then when going asleep - we woke around 3am and found it so cold. What is the best way for night heat (think clean as we have kids in the camper ) , we don't think we would like to leave the truma going overnight as it runs from the gas , should we look at the diesel heater's or should we look at just plugging in onsite and leaving an electric heater running but on a stat ?

autumnalcore

Id be more worried about a plastic fantastic fan heater than a truma. When fan fails in the modern junk you have to pray the overheat thermostat / thermal fuse goes before then plasti does. Truma has lots of failsafes and is designed to run for long periods. For an electric heater I would run a radiant panel or a oil filed rad (hate these feckers) Or buy some long johns

Macy0161

We're now former motorhome owners but when we did, we used a "bambino" oil filled rad when on sites and paying for hook up (which was most of the time). If nothing else, you're paying for hook up...

If not making sure the gas has been properly serviced, I definitely wouldn't run the gas overnight without a carbon monoxide alarm.

jamesd

I actually have an electric oil filled rad in my office so thats a good idea and easy enough to transport, I had never heard of radiant panels before - they look much neater and tidy.

Is the norm when you connect up onsite that you pay and fee and use electricity at no extra charge ?

Any views on the diesel heaters ?

autumnalcore

Been to plenty of irish sites that will trip out at 6-8a so make sure your heater has a low setting thats less than 1200w.

Diesel heater if you fit it yourself will set you back 900-1000 quid new with all fitting and will require drilling the fuel tank to install the standpipe, cutting sizeable holes in the floor, taking up room inside the van. They can be a little noisy when they start up.

Macy0161

You generally pay extra for hook up, up to 3 or 4 euro a night in some sites. We never experienced amps as low as that in Ireland. But if it trips, it's just flick up the trip switch on the hook up post in my experience. We had an electric kettle, toaster and microwave in our van, and never tripped anywhere.

jamesd

So maybe if we plan on staying onsites then get a good oil heater / radiant panel to plugin / If we end up going off grid a good bit then the diesel heater is an option for us.

autumnalcore

Or you could just use the truma like hundreds of thousands of people before you it has multiple safety features its far more likely to refuse to work at all than fail dangerously. You should have a CO and Gas alarm fitted anyway.

jamesd

autumnalcore wrote: »

Or you could just use the truma like hundreds of thousands of people before you it has multiple safety features its far more likely to refuse to work at all than fail dangerously. You should have a CO and Gas alarm fitted anyway.

I will test it out at the weekend, going to get the CO and Gas alarm eitherway for safety.

Odyssey 2005

jamesd wrote: »

I will test it out at the weekend, going to get the CO and Gas alarm eitherway for safety.

Aldi have them now,good price too

karmaan

if you set the truma wall stat to around 15 youll be grand, close your blinds including your skylight blind, i recently got an outside set of silvers from silverscreens.

jamesd

karmaan wrote: »

if you set the truma wall stat to around 15 youll be grand, close your blinds including your skylight blind, i recently got an outside set of silvers from silverscreens.

Do the silver's go onto all screens or just the front window and drivers/passengers window?

autumnalcore

Habitation windows are double glazed plus foil backed blinds you lose a huge amount of heat through the front windows in comparison.

jamesd

autumnalcore wrote: »

Habitation windows are double glazed plus foil backed blinds you lose a huge amount of heat through the front windows in comparison.

I've sent them on an email there now to see which option would suit my van.

Odyssey 2005

Close the blinds and if your van is fitted with curtains close them too,they make a massive difference.

jamesd

Odyssey 2005 wrote: »

Close the blinds and if your van is fitted with curtains close them too,they make a massive difference.

Ok this might be some of the cold problems we had, there is a big roof vent in the van and we left the blind open to let in some light and then over the bed my wife left a blind half up as the 3yr old said it was too dark - Plus we did not close the curtains at all.

I got a mail back from the silverscreens people:
Thank you for your enquiry,
The Para-gon external fold down Screen for your vehicle is £189 fully inclusive of delivery (when stock levels allow).
The Silver screen is for all year round use and will keep your vehicle warmer in the colder months, cooler in the summer and will cure the condensation 100%.
We provide F.O.C a thermal shaped pad which blocks the vents at the base of your windscreen and just behind the top of the bonnet (no need to cover the complete bonnet).
I have attached a few pics for you to see how the Silver Screen would look and you can also watch our short fitting video here:
https://youtu.be/AWLx_hAuzT4
We can also provide you with the 'Priva-see' panel (mesh) which is an add on 'summer' product and costs an extra £40 when purchased with the Para-gon Silver Screen(£49 at any other time.)

From using it - does it make a good difference ?

jace_da_face

Odyssey 2005 wrote: »

Aldi have them now,good price too

I got me self an Aldi CO alarm today. Good price indeed. Didn’t see any gas alarms tho. I’ve been to stingy to fork out for a second Fire Angel, so was taking the one from the house on trips with us in the van ( if I managed to remember ).

karmaan

jamesd wrote: »

Do the silver's go onto all screens or just the front window and drivers/passengers window?

its an A class with an alu track over windscreen and the 2 front side windows, the silvers slide into the track and tie off at the bottom., its very effective.
Think it cost 260€ delivered.

jamesd

karmaan wrote: »

its an A class with an alu track over windscreen and the 2 front side windows, the silvers slide into the track and tie off at the bottom., its very effective.
Think it cost 260€ delivered.

Will be placing an order for it, watched a few YouTube videos there on them.

jamesd

Spent last night in the camper, put the oil heater on at a low setting and no complaints at all from the cold.

Parked at a waterways Ireland campervan site, didn't realise we needed a card for the electricity but another van gave us a card for power so that was great as had wife and child with me.

This morning another couple in a van gave me the run through on emptying the toilet as I had never done that before - great community.