Mugged at the N.E.C
Well, nearly mugged. Travelled to the show today and enquired about two caravans; Bailey Brindisi and Sterling Eccles 560. Salesman insisted that the Alde heating on the Eccles is not optional........I could only buy the caravan with it fitted even though my visit to the Swift stand confirmed that I could place an order with just the blown air rather than Alde. Salesman still insisted he would not place an order unless I included the Alde option. Result......we walked away from the deal and will not be back. Just what was he on? 
Comments
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Maybe the company whos stand you were on had some on order to take advantage of an early delivery and the vans as ordered were so fitted?
Write your comments here...Thanks. No, the conversation we had was clear in that we understood we were placing an order to the factory rather than buying an allocated order which, as you suggest, may have been pre-ordered with the Alde. He even used the
"unfairness" of it to push us towards the Bailey.0 -
We've not had a van with Alde installed yet, however I'm not sure that it is the be all that some say
if only staying for 1
night I would expect you wouldn't get the best out of it, for instance. I'm sure that for long stays then it might work out better but isn't it a lot heavier? We currently have the Truma combi and are very pleased with it (now we have got to grips with it)0 -
I'm quite happy with the blown air in my van. Alde does appear to add additional complications. KISS.
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I love the Alde heating. However if I toured in winter stopping only one night and arriving say late afternoon then I would have second thoughts. We tour from early April as Far as start of October usually staying 5 nights on each site. We are always on EHU. Some 10amp but mainly 16amp.
When we are away for a couple of weeks over Christmas and if the weather is very cold we use the Alde on 1KW to heat the fabric of the van and a fan heater on 2kw to heat the air for quick warm up. The Alde seems slower to heat up the air but heats the whole fabric of the van better and evenly.
This year if it is very cold we will set up the van, put Alde on 2kw and beetle off for lunch. (Won't leave a fan heater on in the caravan unatended.)
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We've not had a van with Alde installed yet, however I'm not sure that it is the be all that some say
if only staying for 1 night I would expect you wouldn't get the best out of it, for instance. I'm sure that for long stays then it might work out better but isn't it a lot heavier? We currently have the Truma combi and are very pleased with it (now we have got to grips with it)I can't see any argument supporting the thought that over night only stop overs in anyway negates the advantages of a wet heating system. Indeed to the contrary with a motorhome, as there an engine to heating system heat exchanger can be fitted or will be in higher specified vehicles, so keeping things warm in transit.
They will be a bit heavier, probably about 10 kgs like for like, so about 0.3% in 3500 kgs.0 -
If it's very cold I ramp up the Alde to 3kw plus gas and it's warm within 20 minutes or so. It's the first thing we switch on when we've pitched so it's warming up whilst we're doing other jobs like connecting the water, waste, making the fixed bed if it
hasn't been made prior to leaving.To me Alde is a huge advantage over the other systems and you don't get any cold spots unlike with blown air.
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Our Alde only has up to 2kw but I agree if using both gas and electricity to start up it is significantly quicker. For me and our use I do much prefer the Alde for comfort.
To add when Alde engineer was making checks on our system he asked if I minded him using my gas rather than hooking up as it was much quicker.
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Well, nearly mugged. Travelled to the show today and enquired about two caravans; Bailey Brindisi and Sterling Eccles 560. Salesman insisted that the Alde heating on the Eccles is not optional........I could only buy the caravan with it fitted even though
my visit to the Swift stand confirmed that I could place an order with just the blown air rather than Alde. Salesman still insisted he would not place an order unless I included the Alde option. Result......we walked away from the deal and will not be back.
Just what was he on?w0 -
whatever you do dont buy a van with blown air whale system. it is so noisy
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whatever you do dont buy a van with the blown air whale system. it is so noisy
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Our Laika MH has Alde heating and also has a heat exchanger under the front seat. If you leave the pump running on the Alde System then the waste engine heat warms up the MH. You can also travel with the heating running on gas which warms everything up nicely and stops that horrible cold draught between the front seats.
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We had Alde fitted to our Bailey Valencia and it was so good we swore never to go back to the blown air that all our previous caravans had. Now we have a motorhome and it has blown air BUT the MH is more compact and better insulated so the blown air works
fine. I think Alde did a great job in developing their super lightweight radiators and lightweight boiler so it really isnt much of a weight penalty.0 -
Hmmm, would you change your central heating system at home for a blown air system?
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Surely the point here is that the Eccles van comes as standard with Truma heating and Alde heating is an optional extra. If that what he wanted then that's what the salesman should have quoted for.
You can argue about the relative merits of the systems but if the customer has a preference and that is supposedly offered as standard then thats what he should have.
Looks like what has happened is the Truma system is quoted as standard to give a lower headline price. The Alde system is seen as a premium product therefore charge more for it. More importantly sell it at a better margin.
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Surely the point here is that the Eccles van comes as standard with Truma heating and Alde heating is an optional extra. If that what he wanted then that's what the salesman should have quoted for.
You can argue about the relative merits of the systems but if the customer has a preference and that is supposedly offered as standard then thats what he should have.
Looks like what has happened is the Truma system is quoted as standard to give a lower headline price. The Alde system is seen as a premium product therefore charge more for it. More importantly sell it at a better margin.
Fully concur. It appears my original post became lost in a battle between Alde and non-Alde. All I wanted was the choice that the marketing literature and a Swift employee on the Swift stand had stated should have been available to me. I'm just the customer
after all. What do I know.
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Hmmm, would you change your central heating system at home for a blown air system?
...Blown air heating systems are available for domestic premises,there are several estates here that have them fitted,no radiators to take up wall space
I am aware of that, but I for one wouldn't want one, having experienced one in a friends house.
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