Overnight use of parking heater

[KBR]

Hi all,

Looking for advice on keeping warm on chilly nights.

Is it ok to keep the heater on through the night? Continuous on low or timed to come on a few times?

As it vents outside, is it ok to keep some windows ajar for airflow or will we poison ourselves?

And finally, how much diesel is it guzzling? If left on overnight on low would that drain loads of fuel?

Thanks!

 

[Jim2007]

1)The dog likes level 2 on overnight continuously when it’s cold out. We sleep upstairs where the heater has almost no effect.

2)I would not worry but you may feel better leaving the near side open rather than offside. If the roof is up there’s plenty of ventilation from a point approx 3m away from the exhaust. If it’s cold enough to need the heater you probably don’t need the window open.

3)Surprisingly little. I cannot discern its use in my fuel consumption figures.

 

[flying banana]

Yes I run mine often overnight. I have my windows open for extra ventilation but use wind deflectors to keep out rain. Uses about 0.1L of fuel per hour so you won't notice it on the gauge even after a few days running. No you won't poison yourselves.

 

[Alan Andrews]

We use the heater. Lebel 2 on through the night....switches on and off automatically.

We do not open any windows. As you say the venting is outside.

We do have a CO2/Smoke alarm inside, but has never gone off.

 

[B J G]

Basically there are 1000's of this type of heater fitted in HGV cabs where they are referred to as 'night heaters'. Never heard of any incident of poisoning, if maintained properly there are no worries on that issue.

 

[Moore288]

Leave it on one all night with the front windows down 3cm, passenger side sliding window open one click and the airlock on the boot. Perfect for us !


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[Ocean Spirit]

from the answers so far I guess you are more comfortable about things now.
Variations on a theme.
For my 2 penneth.....
Our 1st trip was beast from the east and we had 3 people and a dog in the van so windows cracked ever so slightly when dry enough and heater ticking over on 'ONE" all through the night with the top up and not even an ISOtop liner at that point. Your milage will vary depending on your bedding tog level.
I have a bit of concern over the diesel smell myself, so if the wind is typically in one direction open the windows upstream of it. If in doubt I close them and live with the condensation until I can air the van in the morning. That said I don't think it does any real harm in those doses.
And yes, you should not be concerned at the cost of fuel that it uses. It's going to be worth every penny and more.

 

[altvic]

We’re advised by VW to run the heaters every month for c.30 mins to keep the heater clean. I run mine on level 4 or 5 for 30 / 45 mins.

 

[Wesel]

For us, no heating at night.
We have good sleeping bags and are former campers. On the other hand, we turn it on a little before getting up.

 

[willwander]

It’s fine, I’ve had it running continuously for days at a time.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Hi all,

Looking for advice on keeping warm on chilly nights.

Is it ok to keep the heater on through the night? Continuous on low or timed to come on a few times?

As it vents outside, is it ok to keep some windows ajar for airflow or will we poison ourselves?

And finally, how much diesel is it guzzling? If left on overnight on low would that drain loads of fuel?

Thanks!

You’ve had plenty of answers but a couple of other things:

When we’re on EHU we use a small electic fan heater rather than the aux heater.

If off grid and using the aux heater and sleeping upstairs you can fit a snorkel to the outlet to duct some warm air upstairs. Available to buy but some of us have DIY versions.

 

[Cali Phillip]

For us, no heating at night.
We have good sleeping bags and are former campers. On the other hand, we turn it on a little before getting up.

or better still set the programmer for the heater to come on 15 minutes before the alarm

 

[flying banana]

An excuse to show my pic in the alps. Heater was without a doubt the best thing on the van. Ran it overnight for the 5 days i was there. Try not to worry too much about nothing. If it was dangerous as said already the thousands of trucks and vans that run these things would have been mentioned

 

[WelshGas]

The amount of Carbon Monoxide produced by BURNING diesel is infinitesimal compared to a diesel combustion engine and probably not detectable by commercial CO alarms.
You are more likely to suffer CO poisoning from the gas rings cooking inside the vehicle with inadequate ventilation.
Also Carbon Dioxide produced from 4 people sleeping in a California without adequate ventilation is likely to leave you with a thick head in the morning, never mind the condensation produced.

 

[barry]

I love the heater. It's a total godsend. But the on/off noise overnight is too much of a nuisance for us to use it then. Earplugs, maybe?

 

[CaliAM]

I leave it on for the dog when it’s cold otherwise he’s up and about too much, rocking the van trying to dig a warm nest in his bed. I tried putting a jumper on him but heard him all night trying to get it off! For us, equifleece socks and a woolly hat if it’s really cold!

 

[NZ Coco-cabana]

Only advice our salesperson imparted to us was face the van into the wind so exhaust vent from heater drew away from van

 

[flying banana]

Only advice our salesperson imparted to us was face the van into the wind so exhaust vent from heater drew away from van

the salesperson is talking utter bollox as usual. Wind from any direction will take the exhaust away. What do you do, watch a wind sock all night? Worry over nothing again

 

[LRGS253]

I find that on a lower setting it is not as noisy as higher setting and therefore not as intrusive.