Winter caravaning

If you find it very cold when you get to the site - run it for a little while on gas full blast - that warms up quicker than electric heating - in my van anyway but I am not modern enough to have a fan heater (nor is my van)

I stand corrected,

After reading the manual, the heating is indeed 240v,

I assumed it would work as I could hear the fan operating on 12v.

Well thats the difference twixed newbie and a seasoned owner!

So I`m gonna blast the heating on gas for an hour before we set off, then high tail it to bridgnorth, hopefully that will take the chill out of the van  

We find that using a small portable electric heater in the van, as soon as we have power in the van, heats it up nicely as we get on with the rest of the jobs of setting up. We then just use our onboard electric heating and don't bother with the gas heater.

There is certainly a lot to learn!  I am still learning on different experiences and I first went caravanning in 1952!  One size doesn't fit all that's for sure!  Winter caravanning is really great too - for people like me who prefer away from the madding crowds.  The only thing I miss - is a REAL fire as I have at home - but safely placed candles help that one - floating ones being the safest. 

Gas will be much more effective at heating the van up quickly. I was in the motorhome today (back garden) and put the heating on gas in order to empty a gas cylinder and it warmed up very nicely in no time at all.

David

Dependant on your heating system you may be able to use both gas and electricity at the same time which will obviously warm things up quickly, then switch back to elctricity only to maintain the temp and conserve your gas.

Down here in Cornwall you will be most unlikely to find it cold enough to freeze anything up, we've only had a couple of mild frosts so far this year.

if you set the heating to 'mixed mode' (gas and electric) the gas portion will reduce automatically as the van heats up leaving only the electric part doing the heating.

should the electric not be sufficient to maintain you desired temperature setting, the gas will gently feed back in to give support until reached.

saves flicking backwards and forwards between modes....

We more of less do the same, usually we just switch on the caravan's electric heater unless it is very cold then we use a portable fan heater that we carry to get a "kick start" then switch to the caravan heater, we let the caravan heater heat up for approx. 20 minutes before we switch on the fan to distribute the heat via the warm air ducts.  We tend not to switch off the heater until we leave the site at the end of our stay, we find that by doing that and controlling the heat output using the thermostat it keeps the caravan very cosy and warm.

By default we only tend to caravan in the UK between October and March. We have an insulated cover for the water barrel but to be honest its got to get very cold (below 0C) before you need to worry. Insulating the pipe from the barrel essential for those properly cold days.

Gas Propane. Never had a problem with this. Anything inside the van will be fine. With new vans you should not have a problem with condensation but do remember ventilation when cooking.

After a few days you get used to a lower temperature. Enjoy.

Alan

Are there still arrivals/departures, toilet cleaning etc on Christmas day or do the wardens shut up shop and have a well earned  Christmas break?