Alde water heating time
Considering a change of caravan. Fed up with the inadequacies of the Truma combi boiler system and want something different. We loved the Whale ivan system but only a limited number of vans have this option. Can anyone who uses Alde tell me what the water heat up time is like please? I have read a lot of discussions about how long it takes to heat the van but none about the water. With Whale we could have 2 showers within 15 minutes of each other but the Truma system is still struggling to get up to heat after 45 - 60 mins even when operated on a mix of gas and electric. We don't want to choose a van with Alde only to find that this is no better. Any advice would be gratefully received.
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How long is a bit of string question!
The boiler holds about 8.5 litres. If on gas and electricity with a 3 kW version with the propane's extra 5.5 odd kW gets 8.5 kW available. Given the input water is 10C and you want the legally hottest shower [42C]. then it could take about 2.25 minutes to get there.
Realistically, you probably want a warm bathroom so the boiler's duty is shared. Plus some here have an aversion to using "their" gas so with those somewhat longer though one can expect to have their shower within 15 minutes of the other.
An older van might have a 2kW not 3 kW electrical heater system specified.
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I have got no experience of the Truma system but with the Alde system we can have two showers within 15 minutes or so. The Alde system also has the capacity to boost the water heater basically switches off the heating for a period of time Obviously heats up faster on gas. I like the Alde system but I do believe it does depend on the installation.
Ps Truma own Alde, it’s a little known fact.
Work intervened between writing and posting so basically a duplicate of [Deleted User User]’s comments
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We only have the 2kw version, but in summer, using the water boost, the water takes no more than 15 minutes to re heat.
It will be re heating while the first person is showering. We always turn off the shower while soaping up.
Using gas will give an even faster re heat.
The colder the water from outside, the longer the re heat will take.
We carry a small fan heater as a back up, so in winter use that to keep the shower room warm, using 1kw, while the Alde (on water boost) can use 2kw, or we use gas instead/as well.
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We have the Truma Combi 4 can't say we have any problems with not getting enough hot water for showers. The boiler holds 10 ltrs, I turn it to 2kw prior to getting ready to shower and leave it on that while having a shower, by the time I've dried and dressed OH gets in the shower and there is still plenty of hot water for him. We turn the shower off between soaping and shampooing, don't think we even use the full 10 ltrs.
Recently we had the pleasure of visiting friends in their caravan which had Alde heating, it was lovely and consistently warm, no hot then cold moments. As it was cold and wet outside we took our shoes off, yet the floor was nice and warm and we didn't get cold feet unlike all the caravans we have had before.
So if I was to be changing vans it would be to one with Alde heating.
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Recently we had the pleasure of visiting friends in their caravan which had Alde heating, it was lovely and consistently warm, no hot then cold moments. As it was cold and wet outside we took our shoes off, yet the floor was nice and warm and we didn't get cold feet unlike all the caravans we have had before.
I assume that their van was fitted with the optional under floor heating? As far as I know only Buccaneer and Vanmaster fit it as standard. We have it in our Hymer and I can confirm it’s loverly.
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I agree with TG above, I'd be wanting to know why the Combi osnt working as most others find it...
on EL2 (1800 w) you should get a tank of 60-70 deg water (in 20-25 mins) which, mixed with a little cold to bring it down to a comfortable heat, should give about 14 litres of good hot showering water.
using the typical method as mentioned above, we get two consecutive hot showers.....and believe me, I'd know if it wasn't up to snuff...
by all means think about another caravan, and ALDE heating, with fluid based radiators is a great system, but I'd be getting the Combi Cnecked first.....
i expect their may be a bit of operator 'inexperience' as the combi has a few foibles.....if you want hot water in 20mins as above, it must be on water only...
if you're heating the van and have water on as well, 40 mins is nearer the mark for a hot tank of water.
good luck...
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Thanks for all the useful information. Truma did come out on site and checked the system and gave us the full tutorial but still disappointing. Personally I like the heating on while I shower and an efficient system should allow for that rather than make you choose. We do the typical thing of turning the water off while soaping but even leaving a decent interval between showers the second person risks the water turning luke warm or cold before the end. It is better using gas with electric but the water heater sign on the control panel flashes for between 30 to 60 minutes before it is up to temperature again. I suppose we are comparing it all the time to the Whale system where we could shower one after the other and wash up without thinking about it even on electric only.
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Boff, not vague at all... 'summer mode' in Truma Speak means water only, no heating.
20 mins for a hot tank of water is pretty much what I and others have suggested is the usual heat up time.
it needs to be noted that, irrespective of which Combi one has (2/4/6 kw) only 2kw is used to heat water on has only...
with regard to back to back showers, IMHO it's far better to have the 2nd shower immediately following the first....otherwise, the cold water which replaces the hot used in the first one will drag the temperature of the tank down (just as in a domestic system) and it will do this faster than the water can be heated, hence it seems to take a long time to provide a second hot tank...
just dive in and have the second shower while the water is still hot, or be prepared to wait for a fresh (cold) supply to be fully heated...
there is definitely a knack to hetting the best out of any heating system.
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Although we could go to 3kW, we invariably run our Alde system on 2kW and it heats the water in 15 to 20 minutes. There is usually enough hot water in the tank for two showers, if I go in first. If Ros goes in first, there isn't!
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Just finished the first year of a new van with Alde heating fitted. In general it is brilliant and I really like the nature of the heat, being even etc. I have found that running it on both gas and electricity works best for us as it responds far more quickly (at least when very cold outside). The water, especially when on boost is very quick and definately 20 mins have a full tank of water. We have a rule that only the wife uses the shower in th van...but she always drains the tank to being clap cold even with it on boost. I think at warmer times of the year, just running on electric is fine unless you need the quick heat up.
What has worked for us was 6 years ago I bought a Safefil cylinder for the van. At the time it probably wasn’t worth the investment but now having the Alde and not worrying if it starts pulling in gas I use a lot more. We had 4 days away over Easter. Weather was atrocious and near to freezing point. Hammered the gas (even though using electric as well) and just refilled the safefil with 10 litres of LPG so a lot used but very cheap! Certainly glad I bought the cylinder now
For iinformation. Van just had First service and I had them look at the Alde as I was having issues with a significant disparity between what the Sargent control panel said the van temp was and the separate wall temp read. 5 degrees in total which meant the heating kept cutting off as it thought it was up to temperature. The disparity between the two temp reads has fluctuated significantly. Dealership said they have reset a load of settings...not sure what they are but said they have seen it before so fingers crossed but would be interested to hear from those more Au fait with Alde if they have better knowledge of what the problem was
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MDD10, I would be interested to know at what temperature you set your thermostat. We use our Alde in winter on the 2kw setting almost exclusively (gas is set to off) and it is normally sufficient to keep the van at the daytime setting of 22C even at freezing temperatures. Whilst we were away in one if the cold spells last winter it was getting seriously cold to minus 8C or so. Even at these extremes the van held at between 18 / 19C.
I have never really investigated as we don't have cheap gas but I believe it is possible to prioritise fuel type. Is it possibly set to use gas in preference to electric, given the quantity you have used.
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Alde state somewhere, maybe as a faq, that a 6kg bottle of gas should last a winter weekend. My experience is it will but on occasions only just. Our system is permanently set to prioritise electricity then gas. If we are off ehu then this works without any further changes. Arrive on site press the button on the control panel and hardly look at it until we switch it off as we leave.
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We have Aldi and would be reluctant to have anything else. I am always surprised after setting up on site, with only 2K elec', how quickly the water gets hot. I'd say within 10 mins we have hot water in the kitchen. We leave it on all day so when we want a shower, its there.
From some of these comments it seems like some people arrive on site and cant wait to have a shower straight away! We usually have a shower in the shower block before leaving last site, or home.
When we first got Aldi we had issues with unbalanced heating, front v back, left side v right side. I emailed Aldi who immediately replied with simple instructions on how to bleed the system, without touching the radiators and holding a bucket! It was sorted in 10 minutes and has not let us down now for two years.
BillC
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Steve. I normally have it set at 22 degrees but the problem is that the temperature that the Sarant control panel shows fluctuates dramatically compared with the reality. I have therefore had to mess about with it and turn it up as the heating kept cutting off much to my frustration....with the wife complaining she was cold.
The Alde comtrol does allow you to prioritise gas or electric, but I don’t think that the Sargent one does, despite its sophistication in other areas. I am tempted at times to revert to using the Alde control, but the disadvantage is that the power limiter cannot then work
i find using the electric on its own is ok, if not too cold outside, but using the gas as well really quickens up heating things up. Maybe the size of the van is part of the reason as it is nearly 8 metres long.
I think a factor is that the wife likes a temperature that she could grow palm trees in!
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