16' Series Effectiveness of heater
- Thread starter expandafor5
- Start date
We found out the hard way last weekend in Mildura that the rooftop heater doesn't work if the temp drops below 4*c .... Now needing some other options as we mostly camp without power,
The Trumatic is gas, it runs of the gas in the van. I couldn't recommend it highly enough. Out camper is normally about 0.5 degrees warmer inside than outside. We were down near freezing temperatures recently, but had it up to 22 inside
Yep gas for us, we were free camping west of grafton on the boyd river last week and it was cold maybe 2 degrees and we had the heater on all night for 3 nights and we were very comfortable no jumpers on inside. It means we will defiantly use the van more over winter.
Up in the Rat on the weekend we brought a column oil heater along with us as we weren't sure if the roof top was going to work. We found we'd run the roof top to heat up the van and then use the oil heater to keep the chill at bay.
@17triton is right though... we found it imperative to bloke the door vent. When we didn't the draught was huge. I would also think about blocking the roof top ventilation as long as you're not running anything on gas. In the end, a huge amount of heat will be lost through bed ends. Pulling the curtains will help, as would dropping the roof, but really... who wants to faff around and do that?
Best bet... rug up and get the scotch/whiskey/bourbon/red wine/tea/coffee into you...
Don't go the Port! We had it out at Gordon Country and if not at room temp (20+) it just doesn't warm you up!
We will be going for a diesel or gas heater when we can.
BJ
As we've found out, our Air Command unit works very well when plugged in at camp. But it's a no show when running on battery, along with the microwave. I assume this is due to the drain these things would put on the battery. So... if we were off the grid and freezing our butts off, I suppose our main option would be a genny of some sort?
Yes genny or better than that is the diesel or gas heaters as others said.
Hi Smergen,
We will be on power this weekend but at other times we have a portable heater to give us some comfort at night before bed and in the morning when we wake up. Thanks for the info. It's very helpful
To those that have diesel heating, what position in the van have you installed it and how big is the unit?
Here you go this may help, thanks for to the forum members for posting these threads
http://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/truma-e2400-gas-heater-advice.1427/#post-15132
http://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/diesel-heater-install.5063/#post-74099
http://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/17-56-2-diesel-gas-heater-location.4674/#post-66764
http://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/truma-e2400-gas-heater-advice.1427/#post-15132
http://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/diesel-heater-install.5063/#post-74099
http://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/17-56-2-diesel-gas-heater-location.4674/#post-66764
Hi Smergen,
We will be on power this weekend but at other times we have a portable heater to give us some comfort at night before bed and in the morning when we wake up. Thanks for the info. It's very helpful
Yep, we packed the oil heater and left that on all night instead of the unit on the roof. Much quieter and hopefully useful if we're off the grid. Should be strong enough to just take the chill off.
We've had both types of heater, wall and roof in our previous and current vans. They failed to warm the van, we carry a small fan heater to do a quick warm up and then run a small oil heater to maintain the temperature.
So ... In busselton and it's pouring with rain. No bed end covers ... So we bought cheap yoga mats and put them between the canvas and the beds. It's working.
However ... The heater was exceptional and kept the van at 19 degrees all night. 2 thumbs up!! Yeah!!
Hi Michelle,
For the wet weather you can purchase covers that go around the beds on the outside of the van so that you don't get wet bedding on the inside (because the canvas isn't water proof).
We don't have them and were worried we would get wet bedding, but we sorted a solution
If you're interested in bed end covers there is a thread going pretty strongly on here at the moment. Check it out
That's a really good solution. We're holding off on the bed end purchase yet and were thinking about the pool noodle thing, but small yoga mats could be a really good option. Neater and less stress on the canvas.
Hi Guys just got back from our first trip in the new Outback I will start a new thread soon on this. But I found the roof heater not very good Yes it would warm the van pretty noisy but then it would start blowing cold air in then warm air then cold instead of just switching off or running lower rpm? I also found to get the van to say 18C you had to set it to about 28C. if temp got down 7c or below it was useless. . Had some other issues that all new owners of the outback will need to know as it failed registration when I got back to WA.