What is the best way to heat Van

October is not a particularly cold time of year compared to December and January. We have never been away in snowy conditions but we have with heavy frost so below freezing outside in December. We tend not to leave the heating as a matter of course over night but if we wake up and its cold we have been known to put the electric heating on. Generally it only needs to be a fairly low setting, say 15/18 degrees to keep the cold at bay. In a caravan you have a slight advantage over a motorhome as the cab area can be a source of cold depending on the layout of the sleeping accommodation. 

David

Electricity wins hands down especially if the cost is included in the site fee.  You will use a lot of your expensive gas if you use it to heat the caravan.  If you use gas, the flu is vented to the outside and should be checked on the service if it goes out the safety turn off should operate.

Gas will generally heat up van quicker. Then use electricity to maintain temperature.  Depending on night time temps we would leave heating on  15C overnight, electric if on ehu otherwise gas.

We do not caravan mid winter, but have had early Feb temperatures with frost. Gas to warm up quickly as the Truma unit is generally about 3.5kw. After that electric on low works well.

Colin

We caravan all the year round, regardless of the weather, provided of course that we can get to our chosen sites, and heat the van during the day using our electric heating. We always switch it off before going to bed, (and if we go out for the day), but will switch it on prior to us getting up in the morning if we feel cold. We do carry a small electric heater which we will use occasionally on arrival on site while we are setting up, before switching over to the van's own system. We don't use gas for heating except in dire emergencies.

Should have said earlier that we prefer using electrics for heating. Would only use gas, with the electrics  if we needing a quick boost to the temperature. Obviously it depends where you are camping and whether you have electrics available. Like Nellie we don't leave the heating on if we out out during the day, always found the Truma heating quite quick to warm up on the return to the van. 

David

Gas wins hands down especially if the cost of electric is metered and your gas is cheap and is pumped into a refillable supply. You will use a lot of expensive metered electricity if you use it to heat the caravan, especially in very cold weather.

With an external gas flue it's perfectly safe to heat the van using gas whether you are awake or asleep, after all, the fridge can run on gas overnight when not on a hook up.

in essence, if you've paid for your leccy then use it, if not then gas will be better, or even use 'mixed mode' which uses more gas at heat up time but gradually cuts out and leaves the system using just electric once up to temperature.

No single answer, different circumstances demand different options.

I use a convector heater, which is nearly always just used on a very low setting to take the chill off on cold days, which is not too often, as i don't tour between November and March.  I don't leave it on if there is no-one in the van nor overnight.

Whilst we are on the subject, personally I would much prefer a lower pitch price and a pay as you use it, electricty charge.

Digressing slightly, I was very surprised not too long ago when it was hot weather, to find the radiators on in the facilities block, at around 6 am in the morning and wondered if they are on all night, even throughout the summer months.

We tour all year round, even in the coldest periods, and in snow. We prefer to use electric heating if hooked up, best thing we invested in heating wise was a very small oil filled radiator that sits in the cab, silently, and with a thermostat, overnight. Safe, silent, and we never wake up with that dry, fuggy head that being too warm can give you. We paid £20 at Dunelm. It slots away behind passenger seat when not in use. We might use gas heating to get a quick boost when arriving back on pitch. 

We also use the van all year round and if there's no financial penalty, will heat it using electricity.  However, we are on a CL with metered electricity next week and I know from our previous trip there, that running on electricity will cost us over £10 per day (if it's cold) whereas running on gas will bring the cost down to just over £5 per day. Quite a big difference.  Plus with two Safefills we have plenty of gas and it's cheap!

I did think about going the whole hog and getting a big portable solar panel but since Skybarn is the only site we have encountered (so far) with meters, I would have to use an awful lot of electricity to justify the cost of going solar.

One little device I bought last year which has proved to absolutely brilliant is one of those plug-in ceramic heaters.  Cost about £15 and only uses 500w - so cheap to run.  We use it in the bathroom for 10 minutes prior to having a shower (the bathroom is at the end of the blown air run and is always cold) and it's really effective.