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.