very simple Q about diesel blow air heaters (1 Viewer)

[enuf]

hi, a question from a very ignorant campervan owner, my van has a diesel blow air heater. Is it safe to have it on for several hours, and do they use much diesel, the book I got with the van was a not very good photocopy of the original and not very informative. Thanks for any advice

 

[mike mcglynn]

Hi, Enuf I dont know much about them but wagon drivers leave them on with a thermostat all night while they are kipping in their bunks.

 

[jonandshell]

We use ours 24/7 for weeks at a time, doing what it's designed to do.

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[jonandshell]

Diesel use will depend on how well insulated your van is and cold it is outside.
As a guide, at between -5 to -20 outside, when skiing, half a tank will last us a week keeping the inside of the van at 20 degrees C.

 

[ivorantony]

I put ours on as required but always turn it off at night, I would say it's very frugal as far as fuel in concerned, but cannot give you definite figures,

 

[PhilandMena]

Webasto claim their diesel heaters are cheaper to run than any other fuel source.

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[scotjimland]

my van has a diesel blow air heater.

would be helpful if you have the make and model ..?

this is the technical specs for the Webasto range of heaters ..

 

[MichelleRyall]

We have an Eberspacher, very economical and efficient. The trick is to start it on full and gently adjust to a comfortable temperature. Toasty, toasty

 

[Nirvanauk]

Agree with the above. Very efficient and frugal. We leave it on all night as required.

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[ronidog1]

Good heating system and seems economical to use in my panel van

 

[scotjimland]

Eberspacher Airtronic technical specs with fuel consumption..

 

[Puddleduck]

hi, a question from a very ignorant campervan owner, my van has a diesel blow air heater. Is it safe to have it on for several hours, and do they use much diesel, the book I got with the van was a not very good photocopy of the original and not very informative. Thanks for any advice

We have one, love it. It gets toasty warm and appears to use very little diesel. It can stay on for many hours but check your batteries if not on EHU as the blow part does use electric. You can even use them when travelling - which you are told not to do with gas heating.

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[peterc10]

You can even use them when travelling - which you are told not to do with gas heating.

The Truma Combi 4 and 6 are designed so they can be used whilst travelling. However to do that you also need to have a gas safety shut off device , such as the SecuMotion regulator.

 

[scotjimland]

However to do that you also need to have a gas safety shut off device

AFAIK>> not a legal requirement.. it's a recommendation..

most US motorhomes have gas on while traveling for the fridge as they don't have a 12v option. .
mine didn't have the cut off valve.. I also ran with air heaters on in winter..

 

[DBK]

They do push out a lot of heat but as already mentioned, if it is very cold and you leave it running all day it will use a significant amount of fuel.

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[scotjimland]

leave it running all day it will use a significant amount of fuel.

indeed.. the 4kw heater uses .51 l hr.. 12 lts per 24 hr day

main concern is the 12v power used. = 40 watt = 480watts per 12 hours or .. 40ah

 

[peterc10]

AFAIK>> not a legal requirement.. it's a recommendation..

most US motorhomes have gas on while traveling for the fridge as they don't have a 12v option. .
mine didn't have the cut off valve.. I also ran with air heaters on in winter..

Jim, quote from my Truma operating instructions:

"Directive 2004/78/EC stipulates that a safety shut off device is required if motor homes are being heated while driving".

I assume that refers to European wide legislation.

 

[TheCaller]

They are definitely the dogs danglie bits. Use whenever & wherever you like.

Some of the older one in particular are a bit noisy, especially outside the van, so someone trying to sleep in a tent pitched right next door might not love you.

The main thing to remember is to keep plenty of fuel in the tank. So that the heater can never drain your fuel tank so low as to prevent you driving off the the nearest fuel station, the heater fuel pickup point is deliberately positioned some distance from the bottom of the tank. Once the tank level gets much below a quarter full, the heater doesn't get any more fuel.

I discovered this one crystal clear February night in the Yorkshire Wolds. It turned out to be the coldest night of the year, both inside & outside the van. That was in a poorly insulated T4 campervan. Toasty when it was working though - in all but the very coldest weather I could even put the roof up & stay warm.

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[scotjimland]

Jim, quote from my Truma operating instructions:

"Directive 2004/78/EC stipulates that a safety shut off device is required if motor homes are being heated while driving".

I assume that refers to European wide legislation.

stand corrected.. thanks.. I guess a lot of RVs are not EU compliant

 

[gozomike]

I had an Eberspacher on my last van, use of diesel was not a problem but as mentioned by others they do use a lot of battery power. I believe this is the fuel pump and pre heater for the diesel, not the fan, as once it had been running for a few minutes the current taken dropped down. Trouble is it starts up every little while so overall the power consumption is quite high. I always carried a fan heater and used that if I was on an EHU.

 

[spitfire]

They are definitely the dogs danglie bits. Use whenever & wherever you like.

Some of the older one in particular are a bit noisy, especially outside the van, so someone trying to sleep in a tent pitched right next door might not love you.

The main thing to remember is to keep plenty of fuel in the tank. So that the heater can never drain your fuel tank so low as to prevent you driving off the the nearest fuel station, the heater fuel pickup point is deliberately positioned some distance from the bottom of the tank. Once the tank level gets much below a quarter full, the heater doesn't get any more fuel.

I discovered this one crystal clear February night in the Yorkshire Wolds. It turned out to be the coldest night of the year, both inside & outside the van. That was in a poorly insulated T4 campervan. Toasty when it was working though - in all but the very coldest weather I could even put the roof up & stay warm.

Yes some can be b....y noisy if you are near . We were on a site with one two pitches away and praying they wouldn't leave it on overnight !

Here also at Pedro 's there was another and as the lady came out if the van she said ' Take off is at 9am lol '

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[pappajohn]

stand corrected.. thanks.. I guess a lot of RVs are not EU compliant

I guess none of them are Jim, they arent aimed at the EU market so why comply.

 

[DBK]

Yes some can be b....y noisy if you are near . We were on a site with one two pitches away and praying they wouldn't leave it on overnight !

Here also at Pedro 's there was another and as the lady came out if the van she said ' Take off is at 9am lol '

The Eberspacher is famously noisy but you can get silencers for them - but they not fitted in some installations.

 

[jonandshell]

You wouldn't know ours was on unless you were in a tent next to us!
They should be silenced, if not its worse than owning a gennie!

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[jonandshell]

I had an Eberspacher on my last van, use of diesel was not a problem but as mentioned by others they do use a lot of battery power. I believe this is the fuel pump and pre heater for the diesel, not the fan, as once it had been running for a few minutes the current taken dropped down. Trouble is it starts up every little while so overall the power consumption is quite high. I always carried a fan heater and used that if I was on an EHU.

Not with modern ones.
They don't continually stop and start. They tick over at a low output to save battery power.
Our Webasto has a similar 12v consumption to an equivalent gas Truma CombI.

 

[John.]

The Eberspacher is famously noisy but you can get silencers for them - but they not fitted in some installations.

Our new Eberspacher didn't come with a silencer as standard after it was fitted we decided to buy one off EBay for £21.
Money well spent as it made a big difference

 

[mitzimad]

Diesel use will depend on how well insulated your van is and cold it is outside.
As a guide, at between -5 to -20 outside, when skiing, half a tank will last us a week keeping the inside of the van at 20 degrees C.

not much info there as we dont know the size of your tank or is this itBroken Link Removed

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[jonandshell]

not much info there as we dont know the size of your tank or is this itBroken Link Removed

80 litres!