Van Heater - what will it/won't it do ?

[BigPritch]

As we're planning a few trips away over the cold/colder months, could do with some advice on use of the onboard diesel heater please, as we've never had a Cali before.

Could (if we needed to), run it all night on low, to keep the 'edge' off, and if yes, how much power would it draw (assuming from starter battery?).
How many nights could we do this for, without needing a good 're-charge' ?

It works a treat, and love it the few times we put it on for a quick warm, but 'think' it must be pretty power hungry ?

Any advice much appreciated, as wouldn't want flat batteries in the middle of nowhere....

Many thanks

 

[Corradobrit]

Obviously your batteries have to be healthy. I haven't found it a power hog unlike the fridge. You can run it on low all night without issues. On my T6.1 I usually have it set around 3-5 depending on the external temp. The only caveat being that the sipper supplying the heater takes it from the main diesel tank and you need at least 25% in there to feed the heater. It actually uses minimal amounts of diesel for heating. Not sure if its drawing power from the leisure or engine side, but I assume the former.

 

[pchmlk]

It’s absolutely fine to run all night and we have on a number of occasions, the thermostat works well.
I can’t answer the power usage but I do know once it’s on, the current draw is minimal, it’s the firing up initially that draws the most.

 

[willwander]

Ocean T6.
We often leave it on all night.
You can run the heater 3 to 4 days, day and night, continuously before the leisure batteries go flat.

 

[Perfectos]

The Diesel cab heater initially uses a small amount of battery charge to fire up , it then uses an very very small amount to stay going, essentially the diesel heater runs itself, the fuel pump & fan requires a very small current / amps to stay going , leaving on 24/7 should not be an issue when set at a low temp 2 - 3 bars.
Just periodically check battery health (fridge will take far more from the batteries)

 

[ThomasHJ]

Have read about people leaving it on for a full week during skiing holidays, no problem. Myself I have slept in the Cali a few times while it was freezing and there was snow on the ground. Slept downstairs with the roof up and the heating on 3 during the night. Snug as a bug. As mentioned above, some electricity draw while you power it up ( you can see this on the control panel) but otherwise no large draw and it uses up very few diesel.

 

[dspuk]

As we're planning a few trips away over the cold/colder months, could do with some advice on use of the onboard diesel heater please, as we've never had a Cali before.

Could (if we needed to), run it all night on low, to keep the 'edge' off, and if yes, how much power would it draw (assuming from starter battery?).
How many nights could we do this for, without needing a good 're-charge' ?

It works a treat, and love it the few times we put it on for a quick warm, but 'think' it must be pretty power hungry ?

Any advice much appreciated, as wouldn't want flat batteries in the middle of nowhere....

Many thanks

Yes. The Cali is designed to do this.

Leisure.

Minimal power. It’s essentially a drip of diesel onto a fancy glow plug.

 

[Mehdime]

The only caveat being that the sipper supplying the heater takes it from the main diesel tank and you need at least 25% in there to feed the heater. It actually uses minimal amounts of diesel for heating..

On my T6.1, I’ve been able to use it with a lot less than 25% of diesel left. The only time when it refused to start is when the fuel gauge was in the red zone.

 

[WelshGas]

As we're planning a few trips away over the cold/colder months, could do with some advice on use of the onboard diesel heater please, as we've never had a Cali before.

Could (if we needed to), run it all night on low, to keep the 'edge' off, and if yes, how much power would it draw (assuming from starter battery?).
How many nights could we do this for, without needing a good 're-charge' ?

It works a treat, and love it the few times we put it on for a quick warm, but 'think' it must be pretty power hungry ?

Any advice much appreciated, as wouldn't want flat batteries in the middle of nowhere....

Many thanks

A few facts about the Diesel Parking Heater.

1. It runs on diesel from fuel tank and electrical power from Leisure Batteries only.
2. It will not run if Leisure batteries below 11.5v or fuel tank lower than 20%.
3. Maximum electrical power usage is on start up.
4. Minimum electrical power needed to run heater.
5. Heater can be used whilst driving.
6. Maximum diesel usage is less than 0.3l /hr on full blast.


To maximise time off grid running heater:-
A. Start heater with engine running.
B. Leave heater running and control temperature level as required.
C. Switching heater On and Off uses a lot more electrical power than leaving On and varying temperatures levels.

 

[BigPritch]

THANK YOU @WelshGas , @Perfectos , @ThomasHJ , @dspuk
Exactly what I wanted to know, and some brilliant replies that fully put our minds at rest.

Thanks all

 

[Doric_loon]

We had ours on for the full night for the first time last week. We were near Braemar and temps were about 2 degrees c outside. We started on lvl 5 but had to get up in the middle of the night to switch it down to 4 as we were cooking

Dry sore throats in the morning were had by all 3 of us, not sure if that was connected or just a bug we all caught

 

[Flower Power]

It will be worth watching this clip.... how to operate heating system in Cali.

 

[Roger Boeken]

A few facts about the Diesel Parking Heater.

1. It runs on diesel from fuel tank and electrical power from Leisure Batteries only.
2. It will not run if Leisure batteries below 11.5v or fuel tank lower than 20%.
3. Maximum electrical power usage is on start up.
4. Minimum electrical power needed to run heater.
5. Heater can be used whilst driving.
6. Maximum diesel usage is less than 0.3l /hr on full blast.


To maximise time off grid running heater:-
A. Start heater with engine running.
B. Leave heater running and control temperature level as required.
C. Switching heater On and Off uses a lot more electrical power than leaving On and varying temperatures levels.

In my experience in T6.1 heater no longer works while driving. Maybe other can confirm or counter.

 

[WelshGas]

In my experience in T6.1 heater no longer works while driving. Maybe other can confirm or counter.

That’s a retrograde step then. Can you start it with engine running?
If so then just fire up the heater on site while running engine and also putting up roof, which runs of Leisure Batteries. This will maximise time off-grid and dependent on leisure batteries only.

 

[Roger Boeken]

That’s a retrograde step then. Can you start it with engine running?
If so then just fire up the heater on site while running engine and also putting up roof, which runs of Leisure Batteries. This will maximise time off-grid and dependent on leisure batteries only.

Normally while driving airco or motor heat will keep cali at requested temperature, once motor is turned off auxiliary heater running on leisure batteries can be started. it is not really a problem but I remember in T6 it was still possibe to run auxiliary heater while driving.

 

[WelshGas]

Normally while driving airco or motor heat will keep cali at requested temperature, once motor is turned off auxiliary heater running on leisure batteries can be started. it is not really a problem but I remember in T6 it was still possibe to run auxiliary heater while driving.

Agree, but nothing to do with temperature, more about using the alternator rather than leisure batteries to start up the Parking Heater from cold.

 

[Roger Boeken]

Agree, but nothing to do with temperature, more about using the alternator rather than leisure batteries to start up the Parking Heater from cold.

I see your point but not a problem for me as we never stay longer than 24 hours without driving around. Just back from sweden trip : 7480 km( 5000 miles) in 30 days. I measured Ah used by heater during cold start, don’t have figures at hand but it is not that bad, some peak values but only for a few minutes.