Heater fitting

Padders13 · Jan 3, 2016

Hi Folks
A very happy new year to all. We are hoping to extend our range somewhat this year and plan to treat our T5 beach to a parking heater. Having recently moved to Dumfriesshire, we'd prefer to go reasonably local (up here that seems to mean anywhere between the Highlands and Carlisle) and a company called Scot of Haddington are listed on the Webasto website as authorised installers and have an attractive offer for supply and fit right now. Does anyone have experience of using these guys before we let them start making holes in our precious chariot? Any other recommendations within a couple of hours of Dumfries please?
Cheers
Ian

MattBW · Jan 5, 2016

I've been pondering getting one too, will watch this thread with interest.

Padders13 · Jan 5, 2016

Hi Matt
I'll be sure to let you know. There have been other posts recommending an outfit in Trafford Park, but thats not convenient for us now. Bit handier for you, mind.
Cheers
Ian

soulstyledevon · Jan 7, 2016

Cant help you with that particular installer as I had mine done locally. But definitely get a heater fitted. It makes the van a lot more comfortable for camping. Its fantastic to take the morning chill off or warm you up on a cold evening :thumb

Padders13 · Jan 27, 2016

I've taken the plunge and booked in for the end of next month. I'll report back when it's done.

Padders13 · Feb 25, 2016

Padders13 said:
I've taken the plunge and booked in for the end of next month. I'll report back when it's done.

Just back from Edinburgh regions where we had a Webasto Air Top 200 fitted by Scot of Haddington. It's a nice neat job, they replaced the plastic moulding beneath the rear of the drivers seat with a fabric trimmed panel holding the rotating nozzle. The very simple controller is on the piller forward of the sliding door. We dropped the van off yesterday evening and had a nice daycoasting the coast; we had to go in convoy and take another car. It was a full day of a job, but Haddington is a peach of a town a few minutes walk from the garage if you just want to drop one vehicle off.

Mrs Padders and I just tested it on the drive and goodness me it is toasty, albeit reminiscent of a jet engine spooling up when it starts. We will do a full test of this and our new Cali Cozy (thanks Neil!) this weekend and will report back with pix.

SlidePods · Feb 26, 2016

We are now offical webasto installers and can fit them into any cali beach. We tend to reccommend the new multi controller from webasto as our prefered controler

soulstyledevon · Feb 26, 2016

SlidePods said:
We are now offical webasto installers and can fit them into any cali beach. We tend to reccommend the new multi controller from webasto as our prefered controler

That's awesome bud.
Do you know if a Webasto ever needs to be serviced...???

SlidePods · Feb 26, 2016

not really. They are pretty simple in principle there are a few replaceable parts eg glow pin, gauze etc.
Just keep running it until you experience a problem (doubt you ever will) then get it repaired.
To be honest there is a network of trained people (like us) who can fault find an aftermarket webasto however VW generally have the attitude of rip everything out and replace with brand new when they have to fix one at a cost of £1000's :Nailbiting

and approved fitters like us cant fault find the VW ones as effectively as the aftermarket ones due to them being controlled by the cambus of the van. :headbang

MattBW · Feb 26, 2016

That is awesome, I need to start saving I think it would be a good addition to my beach

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Padders13 · Feb 26, 2016

We gave ours another test today whilst reloading the van ready for the first camp of the year tomorrow. It was bitter in D and G today, but the van was roasting in no time, it's a really impressive bit of kit for any Beach owner who fancies one. Just to echo the SlidePods post, it really does need to be installed by an accedited fitter, the Webasto manual makes that quite clear. There are some pretty obvious safety issues involved and some legislative ones. Anyway, we'll see how ours and the new Cali Cozy stand up to what looks like being a very chilly night around Wigton tomorrow night.

Hotel California · Feb 27, 2016

The aux. heater is a must have imo. , always told so....
Sitting in a cold van , damped windows , wet clothes (and dogs as many here owns dogs) , would not fancy that!

Think @SlidePods is gonne have a lot of job fitting heaters.... :thumb

SlidePods · Feb 27, 2016

hotel california T5 said:
The aux. heater is a must have imo. , always told so....
Sitting in a cold van , damped windows , wet clothes (and dogs as many here owns dogs) , would not fancy that!

Think @SlidePods is gonne have a lot of job fitting heaters....

For anyone that's interested in having a webasto fitted with us you can drop me an email to info@slidepods for a proper quote. We only need your van for a day to fit a webasto heater but we will be moving into our new workshop in early march which is just a short walk from the Chudleigh Rock campsite so anyone who has to travel to us could come and combine the trip with a weekend break. (We can even lend you our demo van so you have somewhere nice and comfy to put your feet up whilst we are working on yours)

bournemouthbeach · Feb 27, 2016

Also worth checking out Eberspacher heaters that's what VW fit in the factory... ☺ www.eberspacher.com look at dealer search for your nearest Heating dealer.

Padders13 · Feb 28, 2016

Hi Folks
Our first test was a triumph for both the Webasto and the Cali-Cozi. Despite freezing temperatures on the Scottish coast, we and the dogs stayed lovely and warm, a big contrast to when we got caught out heaterless in the the first frost of autumn in Eskdale, when the older dog gave us a good ticking off. The Cozi, from Comfortz Leisure is a testament to their clever design and quality materials and manufacture. It's a really nice bit of kit, we are delighted with it. Does what it says on the tin. The Webasto ran at a low setting all night, modulating fan speed according to conditions as far as I could tell. There seemed to be negligible fuel consumption, at least nothing I could notice on the intrumentation.

So, if you are wavering on either upgrade, it's a big thumbs up from our dogs on these and they get the vote from me and Mrs P as well.

By the way, for those heading North we used a fairly local site, Garliston lodge in the village of the same name south of Wigton, Dumfries and Galloway. Not to be confused with the adjacent CC site, this one is a members and adults only C and CC site. Five units, boutique facilities and 2 minutes from pub and seaside. Very highly recommended. One for those who relish the quite life. Dogs welcome, obviously(and in the pub too)