Truma heating on hookup (1 Viewer)

[Andrew gill151]

Hi Guys,

Been away and it got a bit chilly so turned electric heating on, found it was a bit hit and miss, sometimes nice and warm other times barely warm enough with the same settings, any ideas?

Andy

 

[WillH]

A lot depends on the wind direction and strength. As I have posted before, once the outside temperature gets down to around 5 the electric is no longer enough, the gas must be used as well. We carry a fan heater which we use sometimes instead of the gas though one must be careful not to trip the EHU.

 

[Andrew gill151]

Van was parked in the same place for the 3 days, think I am expecting too much from the electric system, got to below 1.

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[WillH]

The electric element gives only around 1800w, the gas can provide another 4000w. If you do use the gas as well be prepared for the fan speed increasing, dramatically, the first time we heard this we thought we were taking off!

 

[Theonlysue]

Use your gas to get it up to temperature, then the electric to tick over.
As previously said, the electric is less powerful than the gas.
If you need instructions and don't have them, a lot are on line now

 

[ambulancekidd]

Its cos Truma heating is crap, full stop.

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[Stealaway]

We have one of these if we are on hook up ---- £8.99 ----

 

[dave newell]

Its cos Truma heating is crap, full stop.

Nonsense! Truma heating systems are very good, its usually a combination of poor installation and users not reading and understanding the instructions that leads to poor performance.

D.

 

[adonisito]

Our gas only Truma heating is excellent, we spend Christmas in Germany or Alsace. It's not crap at all. Where did that come from ? it's standard on Hymers and does the job in our experience. In fact we have to turn it down as it's too good and we leave it on overnight when it gets to minus 5.

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[ambulancekidd]

Our gas only Truma heating is excellent, we spend Christmas in Germany or Alsace. It's not crap at all. Where did that come from ? it's standard on Hymers and does the job in our experience. In fact we have to turn it down as it's too good and we leave it on overnight when it gets to minus 5.

My comments come from years of Truma use closely followed by ALDE heating & that really opened my eyes as to how good heating can be. We have dogs & even when the Truma heating managed to get the van warm, as soon as the door was opened to take the dogs out for their evening walk, the van was like an ice box, all the heat shot out of the door. With the ALDE heating the fabric of the van was warm & not just the air. Hazel & I are not summer folks, we both prefer winter & have always been used to touring in the winter months, the winter months really sort out the wheat from the chaff in heating systems. One note worth mentioning is that the Truma water heating was superior to the ALDE.

 

[two]

The Truma heater is a gas heater that can have electric elements included as an option. The option is expensive but does provide some advantages if used to supplement the use of gas. The prime reason we Brits use ‘leccy is because there is usually no additional charge for it in the UK but you’ll be disappointed if you try to get by on electric only when you want space heating as well.

 

[golly]

Its cos Truma heating is crap, full stop.

Not as crap as Whale, will never have another van with that in, new van has Truma much better.

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[DuxDeluxe]

The electric element gives only around 1800w, the gas can provide another 4000w. If you do use the gas as well be prepared for the fan speed increasing, dramatically, the first time we heard this we thought we were taking off!

Was trying to figure out last time out why the van didn't really get warm under electric only when it was cold and figured out the answer (only taken me 8 years of motorhoming but then do have the brain of a duck) exactly as above. Blindingly obvious when I looked at the numbers and actually thought about it.

Thanks for confirming it

 

[DuxDeluxe]

Nonsense! Truma heating systems are very good, its usually a combination of poor installation and users not reading and understanding the instructions that leads to poor performance.

D.

Exactly as I found out. The gas bit is massively powerful and works very well indeed; but the idiot inside me thought that the leccy would be just as good when clearly it isn't

 

[WillH]

We've had both Alde and Truma, for getting the van warm, fast, when touring, nothing beats the Truma. When on EHU we use the fan heater sometimes but for instant heat the Truma wins hands down.

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[ambulancekidd]

We've had both Alde and Truma, for getting the van warm, fast, when touring, nothing beats the Truma. When on EHU we use the fan heater sometimes but for instant heat the Truma wins hands down.

Gotta agree with you there, yes the Truma used properly in mid winter does get the basics warm quicker. Using the electric & gas together was quite effective, but under the beds was always cold & around your ankles was like a fridge. The ALDE system's ability to warm the fabric of the van always won out & having a nice warm bed to get into was another plus point of the ALDE. However, I have no experience of the newer Truma systems & as we're in the market for a new motorhome we need to keep an open mind, but my experience of blown air heating is has not been good.
Very often people that comment that Truma is wonderful (& we have neighbour's who swear by Truma) are summer only tourers. The acid test is when its -10c with snow on the ground & a biting wind.

 

[sdc77]

@ambulancekidd it must have been the installation that was the issue.
In our chausson the truma on gas absolutely warms the fabric of the van. all water pipes are routed beside it and it warms the lower walls and is also piped to the overcab bed area.
It comes on quickly.. heats the space quickly and as you said does a pretty good job with the water too.
It's controls can be confusing and that's what most truma posts on here are about.
We use the van all year In UK, med and Alpine conditions .. have two dogs and don't recognise your problems at all.
-10 with snow and windy is uk weather. our van (and others) is more than happy at much worse than that.

 

[Gromett]

Its cos Truma heating is crap, full stop.

I have been fulltiming over 7 years now with Truma. the current self build is 6 years in use with a Truma I installed myself. I have experienced -20C in the van and the truma has been perfect. Keep in mind that I am in a panel van so when I open the door half my van is open to the elements, my van does cool down quickly when the door is opened but the Truma very, very quickly gets it back up to temp.

I love it.

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[Lenny HB]

We were going to have the Alde on the van we have just ordered but changed our minds and decided to stick with the Trauma on the heating side can't fault them, hot water side not as good as the older model.

The C6 with a CP Plus controller is an excellent bit of kit. Gets the van up to temp quick and once there the fan drops to such a low level you can't hear it and don't know the heating is on but it keeps the van toastie.

A lot of problems with Truma's is the installation can't blame truma for that. Our current Hymer the heat distribution is very good and we don't even have a double floor, looking forward to the new van that has one should make the heating even better.

We never bother with the electric option as it does not seem worth the extra cost particually when electric on a site costs far more for the same amount of energy as LPG.

When you take into account the amount of Truma's installed compared to Alde the Truma appears to be the more reliable unit.

 

[Lofty1]

The problem with the Truma heaters blowing hot then warm is that most have an internal thermostat behind the fire, You can buy an external one that you plug into the control box and route away from the heater, we did this made all the difference nice hot air all the time

 

[Lenny HB]

The problem with the Truma heaters blowing hot then warm is that most have an internal thermostat behind the fire, You can buy an external one that you plug into the control box and route away from the heater, we did this made all the difference nice hot air all the time

All the Combi's have a remote thermostat and with the CP Plus controller you can adjust the offset i.e. calibrate it.
I think you must be referring to very old systems, Combi's are a blow air system no fire. The fires were desgined for caravans.

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[Lofty1]

Caravan / Motorhome Truma Ultraheat fire space heater remote temperature sensor. on flea bay £15.99

 

[Lofty1]

All the Combi's have a remote thermostat and with the CP Plus controller you can adjust the offset i.e. calibrate it.
I think you must be referring to very old systems, Combi's are a blow air system no fire. The fires were desgined for caravans.

if you mean water and room heater combined then yes my van is 2014 still has the separate ie electric/gas for room heat truma ultraheat and truma ultrastore for water but who knows could be old stock when fitted

 

[Gaston aires]

Our truma heating is excellent. Used it last weekend when it was freezing outside. Like everything else, read the instructions and use it properly before you say its "crap"
Phil

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[peterc10]

We have had both Truma and Alde and both worked well. The Truma really needed to be on gas (or gas and electric) on cold days to work, especially when used to warm up a cold van. We now prefer the Alde we have because it heats more evenly and does not dry the air as much. However again I am not sure about using it on electric, although it can go up to 3KW whereas the Truma was only 1.8KW. Trouble is getting an EHU that will take that much power when you also take into account the other loads on it.

But we only have the Alde because it was on the van we bought, not because we specifically chose it over the Truma. Not sure I would pay a huge amount more for it though.

 

[Lenny HB]

if you mean water and room heater combined then yes my van is 2014 still has the separate ie electric/gas for room heat truma ultraheat and truma ultrastore for water but who knows could be old stock when fitted

I see yours is a British van they often fit the fire and separate water heater to keep the cost down you won't very often find them in continental vans.

 

[ambulancekidd]

@ambulancekidd it must have been the installation that was the issue.
In our chausson the truma on gas absolutely warms the fabric of the van. all water pipes are routed beside it and it warms the lower walls and is also piped to the overcab bed area.
It comes on quickly.. heats the space quickly and as you said does a pretty good job with the water too.
It's controls can be confusing and that's what most truma posts on here are about.
We use the van all year In UK, med and Alpine conditions .. have two dogs and don't recognise your problems at all.
-10 with snow and windy is uk weather. our van (and others) is more than happy at much worse than that.

Has Truma heating changed a lot in the last 6 or 7 years? I've had half a dozen vans with this heating & its never quite lived up to its promises. It was adequate in spring/autumn but we didn't feel that it coped with the worst of the winters weather, well I say that but I thought it was ok until I tried it back to back with ALDE. This was in the winter of 2010, we changed vans in december & it honestly was an eye opener.
I'm hoping that Truma have improved as that would massively widen the motorhomes that'd suit us when we bite the bullet & buy a new motorhome.

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[ambulancekidd]

We have had both Truma and Alde and both worked well. The Truma really needed to be on gas (or gas and electric) on cold days to work, especially when used to warm up a cold van. We now prefer the Alde we have because it heats more evenly and does not dry the air as much. However again I am not sure about using it on electric, although it can go up to 3KW whereas the Truma was only 1.8KW. Trouble is getting an EHU that will take that much power when you also take into account the other loads on it.

But we only have the Alde because it was on the van we bought, not because we specifically chose it over the Truma. Not sure I would pay a huge amount more for it though.

You've explained things between the two systems better than I could. I don't hate Truma systems, its just that ALDE as you say has a more even temp. Thanks.

 

[Lenny HB]

Has Truma heating changed a lot in the last 6 or 7 years? I've had half a dozen vans with this heating & its never quite lived up to its promises. It was adequate in spring/autumn but we didn't feel that it coped with the worst of the winters weather, well I say that but I thought it was ok until I tried it back to back with ALDE. This was in the winter of 2010, we changed vans in december & it honestly was an eye opener.
I'm hoping that Truma have improved as that would massively widen the motorhomes that'd suit us when we bite the bullet & buy a new motorhome.

Biggest item that effects Truma performance is the converters installation if they cut corners it will never deliver it's full performance. The CP Plus controller fitted to the latest installations gives much better control and it controls the fan speed much better.

 

[peterc10]

The other thing to remeber is that it also depend a lot upon the motorhome.

We previously had a coachbuilt Adria with the Truma. The insulations was not too bad for a 2008 model but there were 2 main problems. Firstly it only had a single floor and the air distribution tubes occasionally dipper below it. Secondly the Fiat cab area had little or no insulation and several drafts.

Our new motorhome is a Hymer A class. Slightly thicker insulation, but the main points are that it has a double floor that the Alde heating pipes run through, and the insulation extended into the cab area, including the doors. Even the cab windows are double glazed (except the windscreen).

The result is that I suspect that a fair comparison between Truma and Alde is not possible with our limited experience.

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