Do you leave your heating on ?
I have noticed that a rather nice new caravan I walk the dogs past most days always seems to have its electric plugged into the house . I assume it's for heating ? I thought at first it was getting the fridge ready for the next trip or something but it is
plugged in every single time . I just air mine occasionally when not being used and perhaps put on the fan heater occasionally. Does anyone else leave their heating on ?
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Mine is similarly parked on my driveway, behind locked gates, and is always plugged in to the house supply. This means that I can go into or use the van at any time of the year and, in particularly chilly weather, I can plug in a small electric fan heater to keep the van aired.
I often go out there and either listen to music or read whilst enjoying a coffee or a glass of wine and we do use it as a spare bedroom when we have house guests.
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Our motorhome is plugged into the mains all the time although the connection is only live at certain times of day as its linked the the garage light. We do it mainly to keep the battery topped up. Sometimes we put the heating on and before we go away we
have the fridge on.David
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Thanks both - I think it's a good idea to use the caravan to drink wine in
. I could leave the fridge on to keep it cool . The problem is though I would probably move out there permanently! I hadnt thought about the battery actually but that makes sense too
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That makes sense ( the alarm) - its one of the new Bailey's ( Cadiz or whatever) so probably quite expensive!
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We have never left the van plugged in, neither did we leave the caravan plugged in. We've not had damp or mold in any of our vans. If we are going to use the van then we just pack it as normal and put the heating on once on site, usually on gas to start
with and then onto electric once its got warm. With the M/H the habitation gets a bit of warmth from the cab heating while we travel (one of the things I love about a M/H) Our friend has his M/H plugged in all the time and a small heater on just above frost
setting.0 -
Tammygirl - That's generally what we do - leave heating off and on site just use the gas to take the chill off then back to the electric . Thankfully my caravan isn't damp at all ( thank God) but I do give it a few blasts of heat over winter to make sure
. However we use it most of the year so I think that helps ( first trip end of the month !)0 -
We plug ours in when the forecast is showing the temp is going below freezing, we leave the heater on a frostat, not needed so far this winter. In between we set the solar panel to keep the battery topped up, even in this dark wet weather it has worked
ok. We use our van all year round.0 -
I leave mine plugged in all the time, not to run the heating but to keep both the engine and leisure batteries charged, but you do need a charger which automatically swithces to maintenance mode when the batteries are fully charged. If you leave them to discharge and then have to recharge them you are shortening their life.
peedee
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Hi ,my first time on here,just returned from a week in Durham Grange over new year and I leave my electric plugged in all the time ,it charges the battery keeps the heating system active with the temp set at 10 degrees so the system activates when the temperature
drops I also go in to my van sometimes and sit as it's nicer than my house also its ready for action any time I get the urge to go!0 -
We store our van at home and have never kept it plugged in, and have done so for 30yrs or more. The only time I connect up is to boost the charge a day before we head off. Admittedly we are only at home for a maximum of 4 weeks at any one time.
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Our van is on the drive and plugged in as we are putting it away because we cannot connect the lead once it is in place as it is up against a fence and tall hedge. We don't put the heating on though unless we are going into it when it is very cold, the grandkids
love to go in there when they visit, or when we are packing it to go away in winter, the fridge is kept on though. A word of warning if you just take the lead into the house and plug it into an ordinary socket though. If there was a fire in your house and
the electrics damaged, it could pass to your van if you don't have an RCD/surge protector between them and your insurance could be invalid too.Alison
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...... A word of warning if you just take the lead into the house and plug it into an ordinary socket though. If there was a fire in your house and the electrics damaged, it could pass to your van if you don't have an RCD/surge protector between them and
your insurance could be invalid too.Alison
and who told you that little tale?
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Absolute waste of money leaving heating on in a van purely to keep it warm and dry never done it in twenty years never had a problem. Batteries are a different matter but even then a good charge once a month will be enough.
Write your comments here...disagree, we had to replace our furnishings in a caravan that we left unheated,in another particularly damp winter, Mould, which was impossible to remove, since then, we always heat the van.Much cheaper.Perhaps you have been lucky,or more likely us unlucky, either way,small cost for large saving,and peace of mind.
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.......disagree, we had to replace our furnishings in a caravan that we left unheated,in another particularly damp winter, Mould, which was impossible to remove, ..
Would that not be due to lack of ventilation rather than lack of heat?
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Surely this is an issue only of any relevance if you haven't got your caravan in storage. Bearing in mind that those in storage seem to survive the winters quite well without any mains supply, I would have thought that the same applies to those left at home,
so having the heating on can only be described as a luxury. I would assume that most who leave their caravan in storage remove the battery first so that can be topped up elsewhere.0
the firedragon perhaps?
