Truma - gas or diesel?

[seakay22]

I'm getting close to buying a van at the Düsseldorf show. Does anyone have any experience of the diesel fuelled version as opposed to the more commonly used gas fuelled heater of the Truma Combi? The diesel one's a bit dearer but to me it makes better sense to burn what's in the tank than deplete the gas cylinders if used during winter.

 

[The Wino]

We have a diesel heater the main drawback is the pump makes a bit of a clicking noise and it uses a lot of electric on start up. Some love them others don't we have been lucky with ours so far (5 years) others say they can bre difficult to fix if they go wrong. They are very economical to run.

 

[ludo]

We had Truma 6D in our last van and we wish we had it now. It is brilliant and if we were ordering a new van tomorrow we would have it again. Much better than gas.

Electricity consumption is about the same as gas. There is no high pressure pump with the Truma, as in other diesel heaters. Instead, the fuel is drip fed onto a steel mantle that is initially heated by a glow plug until combustion takes place. Little, if any, service required, no new nozzles every year.

Extremely efficient, quiet and economical. Go for it, you won't be disappointed!

 

[rob0114]

Another thumbs up for the Truma 6D - much quieter than an eberspacher fitted to last van.

Love the flexibility it gives you not relying on gas for heating/water when off grid or skiing etc when you might get through a lot of gas.

It has been mentioned that gas is a cheaper fuel source than diesel however imo the convenience compensates.

No jet engine sounds/ loud pump noise with the 6D.

 

[Potty]

Have had 2 vans with diesel heaters, a Webasto and an Eberspacher. Noisy and smelly! Even though the exhausts were on the opposite side to the hab door, the fumes could be smelt as soon as it was opened and then entered the van. Not good for my OH’s asthma! Both vans were new.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Tude]

With truma i think after experiance nowt wrong with diesel just not as reliable as gas just my opinion.

 

[Minxy]

Gas is a lot cheaper than diesel and with the way diesel powered vehicles are being 'persecuted' the price of the fuel is unlikely to get any cheaper, gas on the other hand is not likely to have such a 'hard time' from the green cabbage munching fanatics and the price is likely to stay more stable, add to this the lower cost of the kit, it being able to be in a combi unit which can also be used on electric, then I'd go for gas.

Apart from some of the comments above about the noise and smell of some diesel heaters if you have it on too much you may reduce the amount in your fuel tank to such a level that you haven't got much left to drive the vehicle the distance you need to get to a fuel station, no worry about that happening with gas and the worst that would happen is that you might not be able to make a morning cuppa or might have to use another blanket if its cold! I know some fit a separate fuel tank purely for the heaters but that just adds extra complexity and expense.

Diesel heaters also draw quite a lot of electric on start-up, so if your batteries are low you could end up not being able to use one anyway, something that doesn't happen with gas ones. Also I believe you have to have most diesel heaters serviced regularly to keep them running well, something that you don't normally have to do as often with a gas one.

Whilst I can understand the appeal about being able to reduce your gas requirement I think there are more downsides than upsides.

 

[EuroTrotters]

Gas or Both like we used to have

 

[The Wino]

Gas is a lot cheaper than diesel and with the way diesel powered vehicles are being 'persecuted' the price of the fuel is unlikely to get any cheaper, gas on the other hand is not likely to have such a 'hard time' from the green cabbage munching fanatics and the price is likely to stay more stable, add to this the lower cost of the kit, it being able to be in a combi unit which can also be used on electric, then I'd go for gas.

Apart from some of the comments above about the noise and smell of some diesel heaters if you have it on too much you may reduce the amount in your fuel tank to such a level that you haven't got much left to drive the vehicle the distance you need to get to a fuel station, no worry about that happening with gas and the worst that would happen is that you might not be able to make a morning cuppa or might have to use another blanket if its cold! I know some fit a separate fuel tank purely for the heaters but that just adds extra complexity and expense.

Diesel heaters also draw quite a lot of electric on start-up, so if your batteries are low you could end up not being able to use one anyway, something that doesn't happen with gas ones. Also I believe you have to have most diesel heaters serviced regularly to keep them running well, something that you don't normally have to do as often with a gas one.

Whilst I can understand the appeal about being able to reduce your gas requirement I think there are more downsides than upsides.

If they are all fitted like ours the fuel take off for the heater leaves enough in the tank to head for a service station if required before it gets too low to run the engine. It sounds like the Truma ones are different to the ersbasher one in ours if there was no clicking and no outside fan noise I would go for diesel again.

 

[StephDeLux]

There is the matter of altitude.

If you stay higher than 1500m, then you need the high altitude kit for the Truma. If you don't have it and go above 1500m, it will initially work, even for a while but the combustion is not complete and you end up with a dirty burner that is hard to clean. If you go much higher than 1500m it simply won't work.

With the high altitude kit, it is garanteed to work up to 2750m.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[martin2603]

Forget blown hot air. Aldi every time for me.
Silent heating !

 

[Southdowners]

We have Alde heating and a gas tank. It's a very efficient heating system with no noise and we find that using gas is cheap and readily available.

 

[seakay22]

Underfloor heating is not an option unfortunately, it's a Malibu panel van I'm looking at. I'd get refillable cylinders (2x11kg) for longterm European use so in one respect I can top them up when refuelling. Just liked the idea of running the heating off the fuel tank.