Alberts Toastey Tummy!

Hi, Ive not been around for a while as usual but thought Id show you the heater I have installed in Albert to allow us to extend the season a little longer!

Its a small convection heater from Clas Ohlsen (£20). It fits great and runs off of the 240 volt hook up. I have a webasto as well but only run it when the engine is running.
I have installed it with a flex connector so that it can be removed in the summer. It mounts on a bracket. I think it will work a treat. its only 500w but seems to throw out plenty of heat for a van. it has a frost setting too

For about 26 quid all in and easy to fit I think its a good addition. It relys on a hook up pitch but in the winter I cant see the restriction of that being a problem.

Rust worms seem to have started to eat Albert in the usual places! you dont get any rest from their pesky attacks...... only a few tiny patches, but they spread quick!

Nice one cb. You might want to fit some kind of plastic caps on the ends of that bracket when the heater isn't in situ. Health and Safety and all that.

The corrosion spots are a cost free retro style option!

Looks good, we have a 500w oil radiator we use in exactly the same way. The heat probably doesn't get moved around as much as with a convection heater, but there are no noise issues either as its completely silent.

Cracking value too at £26!

A really handy addition. We usually try for a couple of nights away in the October half term and take a little electric heater. We also put an electric blanket under our sleeping bags and keep it on the low setting throughout the night. Does make getting up on a chilly morning a tad tricky!

Now thats what I call luxury, a pre-heated porta potti.

how do people find condensation when the heaters on?

chairboy_paul wrote:

how do people find condensation when the heaters on?

By looking out the window !!

Sorry thought it was a joke and couldn't resist.

What's wrong with a 3 season sleeping bag ?!? (not a joke, but funny answers appreciated).

Condensation is caused by the difference in temp inside and out so will always increase in the difference is greater.

Adding some ventilation will of course help, but only because it will release some heat and decrease the difference, but this defeats the point of adding a heater in the first place.

We have a couple of rechargeable moisture traps that help but unless you manage to install double or triple glazing there's not a lot you can do about it.

Rechargeable Moisture Trap - Pingi

JLS 62 wrote:

What's wrong with a 3 season sleeping bag ?!?.

Must admit, I have an "ice line" rated Rab and find it very snug. I do have a heater as well but had to enjoy the benefits of my Rab after I found the heater had killed my battery. (Something I hadn't appreciated until the recent Northern meet. What's the point of having a petrol heater if it knackers the battery so quickly? Another reason to change the shockingly poor performing battery provided by Danbury.)

I've yet to experience "extreme" camping but winter's coming. Did enough "Northern" rub off on this Southern softy or will the first sign of single figure temperatures mean Sunny just becomes a run around?

You don't need your heater on all night !!! It's there to give you a quick fix of heat ,once in bed you should be warm if not ,look at what your sleeping in. As for the southern softy I'm sure you have toughened up a little bit at the northern do chris ,it's a good job we had mild weather!!! You may want to miss camping in the dales later in the year though.!!!!

Ps ,watch the convector heater doesn't get any material dropping over the vents!!! As you may need your extinguisher

lilyvdub wrote:

You don't need your heater on all night !!! It's there to give you a quick fix of heat ,once in bed you should be warm if not ,look at what your sleeping in. As for the southern softy I'm sure you have toughened up a little bit at the northern do chris ,it's a good job we had mild weather!!! You may want to miss camping in the dales later in the year though.!!!!

Our oil rad has a thermostat so we crank it up to start with then turn it down before falling asleep so that it keeps us on the right side of toasty through the night.

Agree ,but sorry I was really pointing that to the webasto heater,too hot!! And as sunny found out ,it WILL flatten your battery. We tend to use our fan heater too if too cold while socialising on evening and first thing in morning to get dressed ,but it does create a lot of condensation so try to keep it to min

lilyvdub wrote:

You may want to miss camping in the dales later in the year though.!!!!

Too right. I wouldn't want to be travelling on those roads in the winter

Good fun eh?!!!! Hope you had good journey back,