[mike1986]

Tried leaving a small plug in radiator in back of van overnight but equipment is still freezing up! What's the best way to deal with this?

[nathankaye]

What size van is it and what watt radiator?

Mine is a fiat scudo so probably smaller, but a large plug in radiator keeps the frost of mine nicely. I dont have it on frost setting but high. On a timer to come on at midnight for a couple of hours and throughout night till morning.

If your having problems, do you drain your hoses, especially pole hose after finishing last job?  Fetch your main hose inside and throw an old blanket/duvet over pump etc.

Alternatively, have some sort of hot water system perhaps.......element or gas heater etc.

[SeanK]

Cover your tank, pump, DI vessel if used in van with old sleeping bags or similar and if possible remove hose reel and
bring it inside.

[JandS]

Does radiator work Nathan....though all the heat would just rise to the roof and dissipate.
Anything low down would not benefit.

[Smurf]

You know when it's really cold as can end up with the water in the van tank  frozen solid too.
In prolonged sub zero temps when you can't work for day's/weeks in bad winter months cheapest form of frost protection is to just drain everything down properly including the van tank/s and bring kit indoors.

There is no point in trying to beat mother nature.

[Dave Willis]

Immersion element and a quilt over the hose reel.

[robbo333]

My van is parked a little way from the house making it awkward to run electrics. Yesterday I made a pump box so now everything can come inside. Job done.

[nathankaye]

Does radiator work Nathan....though all the heat would just rise to the roof and dissipate.
Anything low down would not benefit.

I got carried away with the silverlined bubble wrap when i did my tank. I was fortunate when i got my van, its all fibregalssed. But like you said the van roof is just a sheet of panaling and so i sprayed glued two layers of wrap on it.

I sit my radiator inbetween my pump and hose reel and drop my pole hose close to it as well. This works for me

[stu_thomson]

Tropical fish tanker heater in tank?
Reasonable wattage
Will act like a giant radiator then wrap duvet over everything

Stu

[duncan h]

Never had tank water freeze but all pipes have. the smaller the pipe, the more it will freeze.
I put a oil rad in van. Never freezes if I do. I have to leave a note on house door, so I don't drive off with extension in back door lol

[Nick_Thompson]

Tropical fish tanker heater in tank?
Reasonable wattage
Will act like a giant radiator then wrap duvet over everything

Stu

Same as that, Stu. ☺

[Frankybadboy]

oil filled rad and never had a problem,
dont wait until its frozen to turn it on,get it on as soon asap and keep it on until your ready to drive off

[mop-n-scrim]

Dehumidifier & heater on frost stat.
Never a frozen van.
But we have the benefit of being able to run elec.

[dazmond]

oil filled rad and never had a problem,
dont wait until its frozen to turn it on,get it on as soon asap and keep it on until your ready to drive off

exactly.you need to keep the radiator on all night on max setting IMO.forget using timers or min settings.mine is placed in between my reel and pumpbox at the back of my tank.it costs about £1-50 a night in electric.

if its forecast crazy low temperatures(like -15!)which is very rare then id also use an  aquarium heater dropped into my tank and a duvet over tank.

[Richard Stevenson]

Has know one on this site got a gararge. If you have take all that junk out and put your van in, my Vivario fits perfect plus its not going to get stolen or broken into.

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

diesel night heater . pull up switch on and forget it where everits parked job done

[slap bash]

I use a 500 watt fish tank heater hanging into my tank this prevent my tank and hoses freezing and low cost soluting.

[tomasxguty]

The new propex/heatsource hs2000  night gas heater comes with a frost stat setting. It kicks in when the temperature inside the van drops to around 2°C and turns off  when it reaches 5°C. It's quiet, small and economical. Perfect for window cleaning vans.  Insulating the roof with the silver bubble wrap makes quite a difference too. Stay warm,  stay safe

[Tom White]

You know when it's really cold as can end up with the water in the van tank  frozen solid too.
In prolonged sub zero temps when you can't work for day's/weeks in bad winter months cheapest form of frost protection is to just drain everything down properly including the van tank/s and bring kit indoors.

There is no point in trying to beat mother nature.

Are you in Scotland, Smurf?

I think only once has it come close to that in SE Wales.

[Michael Peterson]

ive had the tank freeze in morpeth when it had to go to the garage for a week once