Alde control panel
As I'm new to Caravanning I hope this is not a silly question. I have a 2016 alde wet heating system installed in our caravan. My question is what does the kw setting do? Options are 1,2 or 3kw. I've looked on line and people try to explain about converting
amps to kw by dividing the amps with my mother in law then taking away the first number i thought of ... blah blah. If someone could explain in layman's terms that would be great.
Comments
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I'm a long way from being an expert FG but I'm sure they're just levels of heat. Similar to gas/electric hobs that go up in number thus increasing heat. The KW being Kilowatts. 1 is lowest comfort setting, 3 is the highest(more heat). Dont forget the disclaimer-I'm
no expert
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The higher the kW setting the quicker the heating and water will heat up . once it's to the thermostat temperature, it will maybe just use 1kw to maintain the heat . We were out in our van in February and I used gas and electric to warm everything up quicker
, I think that was the equivalent of 5 kW . Hope this helps .Paul
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I am no technical expert but think this analogy works. Think as your heater as a three bar electric fire each bar being 1kw in power the three settings turn on one of the 'bars' so 1kw uses 1 and 3kw uses all three. 3kw gets it hot sooner but uses more power
to do it and uses more amps in the process.Someone will go into more technical detail but that's how I see it
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Thank you so much Paul and Rocky 2 for your explanations. Now I've got it. Happy days.
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whilst on an unlimited electric supply, turning the power up to 3kw for faster heating wouldnt be a problem, but as even club sites 'only' have a 16 amp supply you will need to be aware of what other electrical items are being used at the same time...
16 amp equates to a total availability of 3680 watts....or 3.68 kw.....
so, if you have your heating set to 3kw, youve used over 80% of the available supply at the bollard.
try putting your 3kw kettle from home on and ypu will trip the supply.....hence why some turn the heating down to 1kw if other items like kettles or toasters are going to be used....
youll soon get the hang of it....
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A good investment, if it is not already fitted, would be the "load monitor" accessory.
This allows you to set the limit of amps for the site and the Alde will automatically adjust its use down and up (if you set it to say 3kw) , to take account of your total use. It will work no matter what you set the Alde to.
However, it only cuts down the Alde, if you use more that the site limit using kettle etc alone, it will not stop a trip.
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The above posts demonstrate why some buy low wattage kettles. 800-1000w, for example.
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We always use it on 3kw and we have never tripped the electric. Our kettle is a holiday kettle so it's lower wattage, I vacuum or use my hair dyer and having the tv on!...it's fine.
We drop it to 2kw if on a rally with no electric and using gas.
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I have always though the ability of the control panel to show things the Alde cannot do, a bit of a failing. The system in our Bailey has a separate mains switch. I have often thought I have turned the heating on, when in fact both the electric and gas are
off. You would think it would beep, or show a warning. You soon realise of course, but you would realise sooner if it was more interactive,0 -
Ours beeps when a button is pressed.
If you ask it to heat using gas and the gas is not on, it shows "gas out"
When we move between sites we leave the electricity on 1kw. but turn the heating itself off, it shows "off" on the panel.
You must have a different panel to us.
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The system in our Bailey has a separate mains switch. I have often thought I have turned the heating on, when in fact both the electric and gas are off. You would think it would beep, or show a warning. You soon realise of course, but you would realise sooner if it was more interactive,
My Alde is wired similarly but if the mains supply is switched off or not present for what ever reason the little symbol of a plug in the top right hand corner of the control panel is not visible.
peedee
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The system in our Bailey has a separate mains switch. I have often thought I have turned the heating on, when in fact both the electric and gas are off. You would think it would beep, or show a warning. You soon realise of course, but you would realise sooner if it was more interactive,
My Alde is wired similarly but if the mains supply is switched off or not present for what ever reason the little symbol of a plug in the top right hand corner of the control panel is not visible.
peedee
Ours I think is the earlier, and it does have the little electric plug if mains is present, although this is not quite as clear as the one on your display. However, ours also shows the heating as on, even when both electric and gas are off. The pump even operates, as this is 12 volt and the temperature is below that set. As I said not really a problem, you soon notice.
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We have started using the Alde heating early mornings and late evenings, last few days, quite chilly but warm enough not to need it in the day. Typical Autumn!
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As Bratak I run mine on the 2kw setting. Whilst in may take longer heat up than 3kw from first switching on the 2kw easily maintains the tempreture even in winter use. By leaving it on 2 kw we never experience a trip out when using other appliances including
a low wattage kettle.0 -
TBH. I am not sure how you do it. We can set a priority so naturally I set electricity as the first choice. In reality we are normally without ehu so it can't select electric because there isn't any! If we are on ehu I am not sure if it gives a full 8kW power, 3 electric plus 5 gas. We only got Alde heating last year and the winter was pretty mild so not a big test. I was concerned about heat up time but it doesn't seem to be an issue in our van.
You can get the Alde manual online if you are interested.
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