Hi Guys.
Looking for the most effective and most affordable way to heat my van up overnight to stop the waterfed pole tank and accesories freezing at 0 -0 temps over winter.
Ie
Greenhouse battery powered by leisure battery (do i have to charge this every night)
Thermostatic fan heater.
Best way to supply safe power to this, prefer leaving it in van without plugging into mains. I have a small lock up with electric supply, but can barely just get van in and its a little distance away from home.
Help with this greatly appreciated!!
And why do i drop flow rate over time with water. Using sureflo 100psi pumps and Brodex electronic pump controller. starts off great and starts to die after just a month or 2.
Looking forward to getting help with this, especially the heater.
Thanks
Paul
www.sumitwindowcleaning.co.uk
How often do you charge your leisure battery. 1 to 2 months seems like a flat battery - but then winters is here and batteries don't work as well when cold. Sounds like its a split charge relay system. Split charge relay charging has been discussed on many threads as well.
Also, where is the battery situated? If you look at a couple of complete van systems, you will find the battery is raised - not sitting on the cold, bare van floor. We have got some rubber conveyor belting under our batteries.
As far as your van heating, you will not find anything more than what a forum search will reveal. This subject is dealed with on a regular basis.
By WFP heater, Nat is referring to a gas water heater.
edited; covered by Nats additional postAs you are unable to park outside your lockup and connect the van to a power supply, the best way of doing it is with a Propex gas heater. Several have commented over the years that they work well and not a drain on the battery. Personally, if I was considering this route, I would get a Auto Gas vapour tank fitted and fill it up at the garage. You won't have an insurance issue with this.
However, it is expensive to heat the van this way considering the price of the heater, and gas cylinder. You could also consider a 'loose' gas bottle which is refillable at the garage but you need to confirm that your local autogas forecourt will permit this. (Propex heater £550 and refillable gas cylinder £150. Other bit and pieces probably £20.00. The best thing about this heater is that it draws air from outside the van and also exhausts the hot exhaust gas outside the van, so needs the be mounted on a floor section of the van devoid of any chassis structure or fuel tank underneath. If the unit doesn't come with a thermostat, then that will be extra.
If you are interested, then ask about propex heaters on a seperate thread.
My son in laws van isn't heated and parked in the street. He switches the stop cock off from the tank to the pump, removes the filter bowl, empties it and then switches his pump on. He has an external van port with a stop valve Hozelok so puts a joiner in. The pump will suck air and push 95% of the water out of the pipe to the outside. Switches the pump off and screws back the filter bowl.
The next morning he opens the tap. If there is any ice in the pipe to the stop cock then we will have to warm the pipe up with a hair drier. We only have had to do that twice last winter. Once you get the flow going then the water flowing from the tank will help dissolve the remaining ice.
He also has a split charge relay on his van, but does a bit of mileage so his van manages to keep the battery more or less charged. We top it up every few weeks. Our other vans don't do much mileage at all and need more regular supplementary leisure battery charging.
