16' Series Effectiveness of heater

[expandafor5]

Hi all,

In January this year we bought a 2013 outback (16ft). We have gone away in it multiple times since then, but as it gets cooler we are wondering how effective the heater in the van actually is.

We are wanting to go away next weekend and the temps are tipped to be around 5 degrees overnight. We are staying in a caravan park and it's near the beach.

We have 3 small kids and I don't want them to freeze. Does anyone have any opinions or suggestions on heating?

 

[17triton]

What type of heater is in the van, is it roof mounted or in the wall? We run our wall mounted all night. Others have run fan heaters or the oil column type. If not running anything on gas I suggest you block the vent in the door with some cardboard to stop the draught coming through.
Oh and welcome to the forum.

 

[Fabulous]

Or you can get a small portable heater. You'll find that it will warm up the van pretty quickly. If you stay in a caravan park, you can leave it on all night if you need to.

 

[Paul Watterson]

Hi, we have the 16.49.2 with the reverse cycle wall mounted and had it away on a coastal area late May (near Seal Rocks). It was pretty cold outside with the kids (3 & 2) in thick jumpers and beanies whilst outside but inside overnight we were all toasty warm with the heater running all night inside. I'd take them away now confident of not turning them into icy poles overnight except we have a 4 week old and want to give it a bit longer before venturing out with him.

 

[expandafor5]

What type of heater is in the van, is it roof mounted or in the wall? We run our wall mounted all night. Others have run fan heaters or the oil column type. If not running anything on gas I suggest you block the vent in the door with some cardboard to stop the draught coming through.
Oh and welcome to the forum.

Hi! Thanks for the reply. It's wall mounted. We went out and put it on for an hour or so a couple of weeks ago and it was about 4 degrees warmer in the van than what it was outside. We have used a portable heater in the past and it was fabulous, but couldn't use it all night.
I don't want the kids to freeze because I want them to have a great time so they will be more accepting of going again in winter

 

[17triton]

Take nice warm bedding and pj's and they should be fine.

 

[Colsar]

We take an oil column heater in winter, keeps the van as hot as u want and safe. We also have a thermal heat pack( the type u use on injuries, contains wheat) heat in microwave 2 min. Wrap pjs and place in bed, kids love it come bed time.

 

[jacbaz]

When we went through the centre a (quite) few years ago, there was snow at Alice Springs - we were in a camper trailer at the time and I remember the boys waking up through the night saying their eyeballs were cold!!! We told them to keep them closed No heater in that sucker!

 

[dagree]

Hi @expandafor5 and welcome to the forum.....
We had a Herron wall mount in our previous 16'er and used it a few times overnight on warm and cool. They do work hard to get the temps up or down but once there they maintain them well.

Only issue we had with ours was one morning we woke up to find it not running (Had to do it on a 2 degree morning :smow: ). Checked what I could but couldn't find anything so off to Google it was!!!!! Found that they had a problem with an internal plug vibrating loose.
Unscrewed the four screws on the front cover and found the white plug in question.... Pushed on it and "click" as it was pushed home. All good and never had another problem.

NOTE: If the above check/fix is required ENSURE that power is disconnected to the aircon prior to opening any covers

 

[expandafor5]

Before we bought the expanda we were in a 1980 camper trailer that had leaks in the roof. Worst holiday EVER in that thing ... and previous to that we were in a tent. We went out about 4 weeks ago and the kids were rugged up and doonas on everyone, but they still got cold, so we're really wanting all night heating.

Are we soft or what?!

 

[brotys]

Hi all,

In January this year we bought a 2013 outback (16ft). We have gone away in it multiple times since then, but as it gets cooler we are wondering how effective the heater in the van actually is.

We are wanting to go away next weekend and the temps are tipped to be around 5 degrees overnight. We are staying in a caravan park and it's near the beach.

We have 3 small kids and I don't want them to freeze. Does anyone have any opinions or suggestions on heating?

Howdy we away at moment with 3 little boys heater set on 21 deg nice and comfortable inside outside cold think it snowing just run it all night one tip get a groegg temp egg best investment changes colour with temp best way to keep van at rite temp not to hot not to cold

 

[expandafor5]

Howdy we away at moment with 3 little boys heater set on 21 deg nice and comfortable inside outside cold think it snowing just run it all night one tip get a groegg temp egg best investment changes colour with temp best way to keep van at rite temp not to hot not to cold

Hi broyts,
Thanks for the info. We can't set our heater to any specific temp. but I love the idea of keeping some sort of thermometer around to check the temperature.

 

[crackacoldie]

Hi broyts,
Thanks for the info. We can't set our heater to any specific temp. but I love the idea of keeping some sort of thermometer around to check the temperature.

Other thing we have found is to put a thin blanket under the sheet on the bed ends, keeps the bed warmer.

 

[achjimmy]

I have found it best to crank the AC heater on. Keep beds ends curtains closed until main van is warm then open curtains and get into bed. As Cracka said get something underneath the sheets or mattress, Wool underlay, sleeping bag etc. the nature of expandas are always going to make them hard to keep warm. Remember if its cold enough you can always drop the roof, makes a vast difference.

The carton in the door vent is good idea too, better if you drink the contents first. But make sure you have nothing gas running or you risk a very serious situation.

 

[jvp]

I used my diesel heater last night for the first time since installation. Forecast 0 degrees. No problem at all.
jvp

 

[davemc]

Last week in Bendigo we had the roof Truma going the first day until the morning it dumped water on me inside the van. We then got out the Ceramic heater I brought as the roof top supposed to cut off around 4c. It actually heated a lot better although no way I leave it on while I sleep. Maybe a oil column heater be a good idea I had those when I rented as fan heaters used to blow the fuse.

Yes a Gas/Diesel be nice..

 

[crackacoldie]

I used my diesel heater last night for the first time since installation. Forecast 0 degrees. No problem at all.
jvp

Just out of interest, what was the diesel heater worth?

 

[jvp]

Just out of interest, what was the diesel heater worth?

I bought a planar 2Kw single vent on flea bay around $760 with exhaust muffler extra.
Overall works great. I use it on heat only setting ( no thermostat operation ) because I can't work out thermostat operation.
Used on low heat (shorts & t shirt) & f cold outside, it used 1.5 Ltrs. for 15 hours of comfort.
The metal fuel tank supplied showed rust in no time so I cold galv'ed & painted it.
Works for me.
jvp

 

[Matthew keough]

Just out of interest, what was the diesel heater worth?

I was talking to a bloke from Tassie recently, said they all have em down there. About $2500 installed

 

[Smergen]

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...