Alde vs. Truma heating
Looking for some advice. We currently have a 2015 Bailey Barcelona with Alde heating which I have to say, I think is brilliant. However, we are now looking at swapping the van for a new Knaus Starclass 695 which as standard has Truma blown air heating. Alde is available as a £2000 option.
My only experience of blown air heating is from about 20 years ago and my opinion based on that was that it was pretty mediocre, to say the least.
I would really appreciate anyone’s experience of modern Truma heating to help me decide whether the extra £2k for Alde is necessary.
Thanks - Richard
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All I can say is that I first experienced Alde 8 years ago. So using Truma Blown air a little bit later than you but on a similar age 'van - not the most recent. How good the blown air system is must vary from layout to layout and installation however.
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Installation and design thereof is crucial. Many UK vans go for the cheapest options ie reduced run lengths and lack of bleed outlets in bunks. a "proper installation runs around as much of the van perimeter as possible and includes hot air bleeds into voids which convects up behind the seat wall boards. When installed properly I would think heating performance is very close although the air fan noise maybe more noticeable than the water pump.
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I’ve got the Alde system and it’s excellent. But as others have said I think that it is down to the installation. Hopefully Knaus know what they are doing and haven’t cut corners. An acquaintance of ours last year changed from a lunar caravan with Alde to a Motorhome with the Truma system and he was praising it last time I talked to him.
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It’s my opinion that the Truma blown air system has improved tremendously over the years. We have a combi system without the fire front and it has surprised us with its performance.
Having said that, it doesn’t provide the same level of even heat distribution and consistent temperature as Alde but does still keep us nicely snug and warm. However, we are talking about the confined space of our 6m PVC and I can’t speak for the larger space of a caravan.
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Agree. Although my caravan experience of blown air systems is limited, I have better experience with boats. Of the last three, two were good and one was rubbish due to too many bends in the ducting which seriously restricted air flow.
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We have the Truma system in our caravan and as others have posted any system is down to how it installed in different layouts,we have not had the Aldi system,in the past had poor heating because of the "designers?" ideas of what is needed, but the Truma we have in our Bailey keeps us warm (and we use the van all year)on the lowest fan setting which is quieter than the noise of the pumps in two of our friends (one Bailey M/C and Coachman C/V)
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Having experienced both systems I would not countenance a return to a blown air system, but £2000 extra does seem very expensive.
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We've had both and to be honest both have their pros and cons. What I liked about our Alde was the ability to use heat from the engine to warm the habitation whilst travelling. Liked the wrap around warmth too with cleverly placed radiators around the habitation area right up to the cab. Didn't like the need to change fluid every three years or the cost involved. Occasional small airlocks although easily solved were annoying.
The Truma is slightly noisier but cheaper although heat distribution is limited to where ducts can be effectively placed. In my experience the longer habitation and bigger vans really benefit from the Alde in this respect with fewer if any cold spots. I note the new Truma has the ability to be 'on' whilst travelling these days, anyone tried this?
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Our Truma can be used while travelling but we haven’t tried it so I can’t tell you how effective it is.
I think Micky has summed up the differences perfectly.
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Our Lunar Cosmos Caravan has the Truma blown air heating system and we have found it fine. Our fan does not have a fire just the air ducts. We have used it all year round and always been warm in the van. One thing I would say is that when we first start it we run it off the gas as it heats up quicker and then switch it to elec one up to a suitable temperature.
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We have just changed our 2016 Elddis Affinity (with Alde heating) to a Knaus Starclass 480 (with Truma heating).
It's early days but the Truma system in the new van seems excellent and very quiet. The Alde system in the Elddis was very good, apart from a persistently dodgy pump and the cost of changing the fluid after 2 years!
We thought £2000 was a bit much to go for the Alde system.
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This year we changed our caravan from an Elddis Crusader that had Alde heating that we found to be very good, we brought it new and kept it four years.But at the start of this year we traded it in for a Knaus Starclass 565 with Truma Combi heating which is a lot better than we thought it was going to be. We had blow air heating in our other vans in the past but the new Combi is much better. Also the Knaus Starclass range have electric underfloor heating the full length of the van. The 695 is a great caravan and we would have had one but it was to wide and long to fit in the parking space in our back garden. It's your choice but we would not spend £2000 extra on Alde.
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We`ve just moved from Truma to Alde, the Alde gives a more consistent heat throughout the whole van without drafts, as per previous posts the thing that counts with both systems is the number and position of the outlets/radiators and in the case of truma how the ducting is run. Some vans with a rear bathroom have the duct run under the van which leads to heat loss and a cold bathroom, the last outlet on the system is also often weak and not hot enough, Alde does seem to avoid these flaws. Alde isn't instant and doesn't use an on/off timer in the conventional sense, the system is on and you make timed adjustments to the temperature whilst the system is on to get the best out of it. Is it worth an extra £2000, not in my opinion, you can take a £10 fan heater (if you are on mains) which is something I do in winter just "in case" anyway.
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We have recently moved from a MH with a Combi 4 blow air system, we felt it was much improved over the older versions.
We now have a caravan with a Truma Combi 6 blow air system, this is much improved over the Combi 4, its quieter, has 2 speeds of fan rather than just 1 speed, we can pre-set it to come on at what ever time and temp we like. Much better.
We've never had Alde but I believe it will eat into your personal weight allowance, also you have the issue of having to change the fluid which I believe costs a fair bit.
I guess it depends on the time of year that you tend to caravan, if its all year round then maybe the Alde would be worth it, if its only April to Oct then you possibly don't need it. Just a thought.
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I guess it depends on the time of year that you tend to caravan, if its all year round then maybe the Alde would be worth it, if its only April to Oct then you possibly don't need it.
My thought too, TG. We used to have a blown air system but now have Alde in our Unicorn, and it's great. We only changed our fluid this year, ie after using the van all year round for 7 yrs, and it was a bit pricey, about £150 I think, but nothing like the £2000 for a new system.
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Another slight disadvantage to blown air is that by nature the air is being mechanically forced around the van. This can feel rather drafty, particularly when warming from cold, where as the better distributed warmed air convected circulation of the Alde system is far more gentle and comfortable.
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One other factor to keep in mind when speaking to dealers about trading in and prices is that the profit margin on a van of that price must be quite high, so if you go for the Alde system then try and get the price knocked down off the £2000, because they don't sell 695's every day. but I still think it's a caravan for life, so try and get it right and not regret latter. Our 565 is a smaller space to heat and is OK for us.
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Had both, no preference, both do their job, just specd new van with blown air. If anything it gets a bit warm in the night for me even in freezing temp but OH likes it toasty. Blown air is simple, less maintenance and always been reliable for me. Alde is better for the bathroom as I have end bathroom and you need to close some of the living room vents to get decent flow all the way to the back with blown air. No real hardship though.
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Thank you for all the useful and helpful comments - especially from those who have recently bought a Starclass. I am reassured that the Truma system seems to be up to the job - especially with the underfloor heating in the Starclass, despite the fact that Alde probably is a better system.
However it is now unlikely that the deal we were looking at is going to happen unless I sell our van privately. The dealer in question is offering 2 695s - one with Alde and the other with Truma (2k differential) both already with substantial discounts for 2018 models - but the trade in value is silly so that discount isn’t what it appears. We will see who budges first bearing in mind the dealer will soon have two, year-old vans on his hands but I don’t think it will be me!
Nevertheless - thank you for the responses - all useful for the future.
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the Truma system os far more controllable since the introduction of the CP Plus control panel....
as mentioned by TG earlier, it allows user selected fan speed (not previously possible) and the ability to prioritise water heating over van heating (or vice versa) by using a 'boost' option.
having said that, the biggest factor in how well a blown air system will perform in in the installation....
ideally, the unit should be centrally placed with each of the four main heating tunes of roughly equal length to give equal heat distribution.
in a large caravan or MH it will be imbalanced if the unit is placed at ine end of the van.....
the vents nearest to it will be warm and powerful, but those outlets right at the other end will be weak and only warm.
the user can offset some of this by using the gas-only or mixed mode settings as the introduction of gas significantly increases the through flow of the system...
however, some owners are a bit gas averse, especially if they buy it in small (expensive) quantities.
so, IMHO the installation (and size of van) is pretty critical in what you'll get back from a Truma Combi system.
we have a Combi 6E in our MH, it's installed just aft of centre of the van and the van is quite short at 6.4m, so good design and good performance.
I think this is the main difference in a 'fluid' system (ALDE) over an air system (Truma) in that air loses heat very quickly and fluid retains it far longer enabling the heat to be better transferred to the outlet/radiator...
which is why we have fluid central heating at home, I guess....
however, the Truma system is lighter, cheaper and less complex and in many installations is an ideal system....
in MHs the ALDE can take advantage of engine heat via an exchanger to provide (free) on the move heating, but the Truma can also be used in the move with the latest crash safe refulator and supply hoses....
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in a large caravan or MH it will be imbalanced if the unit is placed at ine end of the van.....
the vents nearest to it will be warm and powerful, but those outlets right at the other end will be weak and only warm.
Agree with all of that BB, like all (?) caravans our unit is right at the front and it is exactly as you describe, roasting at the front, warm at the back, closing off the forward vents helps but not a lot. Also it doesn't help that the ducting may go outside underneath the van, we've lagged ours but what a 'silly' design?
It's not uncomfortable just as you say unbalanced.
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B.B
I agree with the points you have raised, our Combi is fitted under the O.S front seats like I would think most other caravans are, this for us works fine because that's were we spend most of the time in the van. We no longer use the van in the winter as I think age brings on home comforts were in the past we have come back home from Moreton-in-marsh in a foot of snow and the Shogun never spun a wheel once with 1900 kg behind it.
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Like BB’s, our combi is situated slightly aft of midships with 2 outlets in the rear lounge, one in the washroom and one just rear of the cab. It definitely favours the lounge area but the cab, as happens with many MHs, is the coolest point. That suits the design as we live in the rear lounge rather than the cab. The washroom can become very warm as it’s tiny but that vent is great for drying towels.
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Sequel to this is that the dealer has now come back with a much improved offer which we have accepted so I am about to find out how good the new Truma system is!
In 2 weeks time we will have a new Starclass 695 and am looking forward to enjoying the build quality and features that the brand is famous for. Just a bit apprehensive about the width, though!😀
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