Neighbour moaning about our heater noise

[Gary&Heather]

We had a knock on our window last night around 11pm from our next door neighbour on our campsite asking us to turn our heater off as the noise was irritating them, what surprised me is they were in a caravan and could still hear it through any insulation they have, what if I was pitched next to a tent? Anyway, being a good neighbour we did turn it off but I am now going to be worried I am annoying people when we want some heat.

Where you on a caravan and motorhome club site.

 

[motacyclist]

I wonder will we all annoy each other with our heaters at the Gloucester Meet?

Heater Wars!

If we switch them on in unison we could get on the local news!

 

[OConnors]

I think we are all being too English about this. If it was annoying them then good for them being honest and asking you to turn it off. Again being English we feel obliged to turn it off and then moan about it, it’s what makes things like camping such fun! Seriously if a site says no generators or a no noise after dark policy could this be seen to apply to heaters, it probably does if you looked at it from a “legal” perspective. Things like doors slamming and zips are unavoidable one off noises. I reckon it is probably a niche problem and you will never be asked to turn it off again.

 

[Nick H]

We had a knock on our window last night around 11pm from our next door neighbour on our campsite asking us to turn our heater off as the noise was irritating them, what surprised me is they were in a caravan and could still hear it through any insulation they have, what if I was pitched next to a tent? Anyway, being a good neighbour we did turn it off but I am now going to be worried I am annoying people when we want some heat.

I have noticed that I can hear our heater a long way from our van and has been little embarrassed by it. No complaints yet, but it would drive me to distraction if I was camping next to it.

 

[PAMMYVAN]

friends in cali have kept other friends in tent awake when using the heater, but would have thought that you would have to be pretty close to disturb someone in a caravan

We often leave ours on all night and never had a complaint. Some people just like moaning if you’re cold you put your heater on if they don’t like noise on a campsite they should stay at home.

 

[aileron346]

I think it’s a balance and definitely think we should care about noise if we want others to do the same. In certain conditions (mainly still air?) the heater can be a bit noisy and I would definitely give it a thought - like how far away others were, tents v caravans etc. Normally it’s fine when there’s a bit of wind about and peopled not pitched very close.

 

[Rich20]

I wonder will we all annoy each other with our heaters at the Gloucester Meet?

Heater Wars!

If we switch them on in unison we could get on the local news!

I’ve got a proper yobbo one on mine with a straight through tailpipe.

 

[Italiahorse]

Get silly complaints at home as well.
Placed a security light above the van at home so if anyone goes in the drive it switches on.
Woman in bungalow opposite complained that it woke her up at 10pm when I went to the van recently to get something out.
She says she can only sleep with curtains open and I explained that it won't normally come on overnight.
Went out last night at 9:30 3 times to empty some stuff out after using it that day and each time the light came on and I could see her head lift up each time off the pillow.
Sometimes you just need to say no.

 

[Birty]

Just curious:Who services the heaters? Is it specialist and can you stop the ticking noise?

 

[WelshGas]

Just curious:Who services the heaters? Is it specialist and can you stop the ticking noise?

VW don’t.
Have to get an Agent/Distibutor. The ticking noise is the fuel pump metering the fuel.

 

[Private_Kelly]

Click, click, click, click.....

Is that more irritating than the noise of the burner?

If so, we lend those noises to our neighbours sometimes but we don’t run it at night as we don’t like the occasional smell of the fumes wafting up. People taking a shortcut though our pitch in the middle of the night crunching the gravel as they go is definitely more annoying!

We have never had our heater serviced so may now do so as the van is eight years old. Rang the Eberspächer service people who said we should get it serviced annually at around £140. Crikey, that’s a shocker.

I have a 2010 SE and to my knowledge the heater has never been serviced and it works fine. So I have saved over £1000 pounds in servicing costs for the heater. I can’t believe that they recommend an annual service at £140 a pop. It makes a few clicky noises at start up ( normal ) and then blowy noises ( normal ) and then I am warm but it isn’t noisy as such and I am surprised some people think they are noisy. It isn’t noisy even in the van.

 

[Lewis]

I get the impression the T6s might be a bit noisier. I’d mentioned heater noise on our T6 well over a year ago and there weren’t too many others in agreement, now seems to be more of a consensus that the heaters are quite noisy. Definitely woke up neighbours in our street when we had a 4:30am start in December 16. Have been very conscious of it since and try to keep heater on setting 4 when heating up which seems to keep the noise down. I do agree with most here though that noise is par for the course on a campsite.

 

[RodCouncil]

Ours blows hard over here in the middle of winter but this am on remote when I come out it was much quieter at approx 7c. I guess they can be noisy but ppl need to come prepared, with ear plugs.

 

[motacyclist]

Well I’ve just been outside with ours starting up at full pelt and done some measurements with an app on my iPhone.

10m away 55db = between a quiet home & quiet street
3m away 60db = quiet street
1m away 68db = normal conversation (just under)
0m away 73db (next to front wheel) = a bit less than the noise inside a car

I would imagine an adjacent caravan would be about 5m away, so based on those measurements I think it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect to be able to use the heater in our vans on site. And that’s based on the startup noise, once the heater settles down it’s much quieter.

Edit: the peaks on the quiet section are the birds singing!

 

[2into1]

^ I think I'll print this out ready for anyone that complains about my heater!

 

[WelshGas]

Just tell them it is Automatic. You can turn it up or down but not Off. It is a VW after all.

 

[Trebor]

Why not just use a small fan or oil heater in van if you’ve got mains elec ? No noise outside then .

 

[Digger]

Wait till they hear my other halfs snoring.

 

[WelshGas]

Why not just use a small fan or oil heater in van if you’ve got mains elec ? No noise outside then .

No. If they are that precious they can war ear plugs or move pitch.
I’ve frequently spent all evening listening to Eastenders and Coronation Street courtesy of the Caravan/Motorhome next door so they can spend all night listening to my heater.

 

[Trebor]

No. If they are that precious they can war ear plugs or move pitch.
I’ve frequently spent all evening listening to Eastenders and Coronation Street courtesy of the Caravan/Motorhome next door so they can spend all night listening to my heater.

Can’t abide Soaps ( screaming ang shouting ) . Caligirl has Bluetooth headphones ( marriage savers ) when we’re at home . The electric close on side door is a bit noisy though . Can it be switched off ?

 

[motacyclist]

The electric close on side door is a bit noisy though . Can it be switched off ?

You could stay outside!

 

[westfalia]

The caravaners complaining about the noise of the heater must of
heard it whilst they were outside and then got worried about it.
I wouldn´t turn it off.
Although if there is a tent or 2 close to the van i would respect those poor sods
because of the fumes and set the timer to come on early doors.

 

[Elizabeth Silman]

We had a knock on our window last night around 11pm from our next door neighbour on our campsite asking us to turn our heater off as the noise was irritating them, what surprised me is they were in a caravan and could still hear it through any insulation they have, what if I was pitched next to a tent? Anyway, being a good neighbour we did turn it off but I am now going to be worried I am annoying people when we want some heat.

I was warned of it being noisy right from the start. However, I never use it at night - got a good sleeping bag and my coldest night so far was -7 in the Midlands in February. I have been told, though, that some people don't like being next to a VW because of the noise of the sliding door ... Given how close you are to each other on campsites it is not surprising to get some noise,

 

[MattBW]

This thread is why I love a well thought out campsite... Wasdale NT site was a revelation for me nice spacing and hedges between each pitch to dull any sound. You always felt like you had the site to yourself (although one time it was because we did).

 

[Hantshog]

Noise irritation is relative. Everyone has different noise tolerance levels. I personally think the VW heater is noiser than I expected it to be so we take an electric fan heater when on hook up, which is very small and more efficient and does not create any external noise. Or we look to park away from tents or we choose not to use the heater. Its about showing respect to others. Last year at the Bristol Balloon Festival a caravan had a small Honda generator which ran continuously, just so thay could sit there and watch TV all weekend. That's inconsiderate. But then, camping attracts all sorts.