Heating In A Caravan

dboughtwood

Hello all,

i am thinking of getting myself a ex caravan park caravan to live in due to the price of renting a place here etc. the question i have is how to keep it heated well without having loads of heaters all in the way cluttering everything up???? i want the best way to keep a caravan heated and thats not gonna cost me the earth either. the caravan will have gas connected so will have hot water etc.

any other opinions about moving into a caravan are more than welcome as the more advice the better desisions i can make.

many thanks

dave

lil_me

Does the caravan have gas central heating/fire? Most I have known do

Statics, I would suggest filling with fluffy things, rather than the heating on (just as we do at home) throws which can double as blankets, door curtains, heavy curtains on windows (as in experience they can be draughty) I know on the site my tourer is currently on they say the colder ones are those on the ground or closer to the ground, the ones on their legs raised up tend to be warmer.

Where are you thinking of putting it?

tlck9

hi there,

I had a caravan as a holiday home, until last year and used it alot during the winter. I employed an electrician to fit very thin storage heaters in the bedrooms, and a towel rail in the bathroom. they were not expensive and did not take up alot of room

In the lounge area, most come with a gas fire, although I used a oil filled radiator which I had on a timer, to ensure it heated the caravan prior to me getting back in the winter, and kept on over night, to ensure it was warm when I got up.

It didnt take much room and my electric bills did not seem overly expensive.

During the day my caravan faced the sun, so kept warm quite well, too warm to have heating on during sunny winter days, the only consideration was if you had pets, as they would bake unless the caravan was shielded from the sun.

You may find most of the 12foot caravans have some form of heating, mine was a 10ft, but some live in sites, only allow 12ft - double glazing is also popular addition in the 12ft

I know a few people who live in caravans, if you are a light sleeper, bear in mind rain, you dont notice it when your on holiday, but during the winter it can batter the roof.

I have since downsized and could not have considered living in a caravan before, but now I dont have so much space, it is amazing how quickly you can get used to smaller spaces especially if you see the financial benefits of having a better life

Just one consideration though, many sites, do not allow you to buy off site and site it there, they expect you to buy it from them, as they gain a commision, so unless you are looking at private land, or a non commerical site/farm etc I would double check their rules.

Also check how long they will allow you to have a certain aged caravan on site, as some expect you to upgrade every 10 years and that can prove expensive

dboughtwood

thanks for the replies so far and i must answer a few things.

1) this caravan would be behind a farm yard area with room for a garden and decking area. it would be near some trees which would slightly keep direct sunlight to a minimum in the caravan.

2) i have lived in one before but wasnt the best as it must of been 20 yrs old, windows werent sealed properly and mold was on the bedroom wall as well.

this did not have a gas fire and i think the best idea for me would be to get a towel rack and make get some thin radiators put on the walls of the bedrooms and kitchen area to keep it that nice warm cosy feeling. does anyone know roughly how much it would cost me every month or every few months for electricity and gas????

any what do people reccomend to have put in it to make it as cosy as possible???? the only downside is i wont have a working toilet in it but they are building one onto the barn as there is something wrong with the ground which would make it hard to have all the pipe work fitted. it still has hot and cold water etc.

kipperman

Hi - we lived in a mobile home caravan throughout the winter of 2005/2006 whilst our house was being extended. Comments I would make are
1) - if you can heat using anything other than electricity, do so. The little red light on our electricity meter that registers the use of a certain amount of electricity was on almost continuously, and we had a quarterly bill of £650 ( even back then)
2) make sure that you have something that prevents wind getting under the caravan - if not you will find that the lower half of the caravan is horribly cold
3) insulate all exposed pipes. No fun defrosting when you can't even go to the loo!
4) be really careful about any gas fires - Carbon Monoxide poisoning a real killer and you MUST get appropriate advice about ventilation etc

greenface

worth while after it is pitched and sited to get a corgi reg' gas fitter to gas check it (lpg trained)I have a static holiday home in a welsh valley that we can use for 46 weeks and last year we had single glazing and under space exposed (very cold and draughty) much better this year since i fitted double glazing and properly fitted plastic trim to stop wind swirling around underneath


Always open windows as often as possible because if not you are heating up damp and can cause health problems (and dont block up vents) you wouldnt belive how many windows i have fitted where the owners have blocked up the old vents.

poppyolivia

Probably not much help but we are just back from a cheapy haven holiday (booked a basic 2 bed caravan and got the complete opposite hehe!) in the living area they had one of them electric log burner stoves, that heated the whole caravan in no time (3 bedrooms) it also had gas radiators in EVERY room so as you can guess we were roasting and haven are going to have a bill from hell to pay! haha!

I loved that log stove thing so much I want one for the back room! It looked like the real thing apart from the cable coming out the side!lol

As for fluffy things I would get furry throws for the bed on top of your duvet, all snug and cosy and an electric blanket for the winter, even if its on for 20 mins before you get in.

Andy_Hamilton

If you have a source of wood (fallen trees etc) then you could fit a closed wood burning stove. I've seen a few !!!!! wagons with them and it's free to run. Gas fires normally cost 1/4 when compared to electricity but because of the hassle moving big bottles you would have to decide if it's worth it for you.
Don't spend all winter breathing damp cold air as life is for living and you will probably pay more in lemsips.

dboughtwood

would a log burner be ok to use in a caravan or a bit of a fire risk???? also how much do theses cost??? i know it would save a fortune in winter so may have to look into this as i was gonna go for a gas fire but the log burner might heat up the whole caravan a bit more.

Andy_Hamilton

If you were lighting a fire on a carpet it would be unsafe but a closed wood burning stove is as safe as the person using it.
The only 3 problems to over come.
There must be a good flue either through the roof or side of the caravan.
Good ventilation to it.
unsing common sense so hot stuff does not come into contact to flammable stuff.
They can cost as much as you want.
You can make one for scrap value pay anything upto £2-3K

Debt_Free_Chick

dboughtwood wrote: »

1) this caravan would be behind a farm yard area with room for a garden and decking area. it would be near some trees which would slightly keep direct sunlight to a minimum in the caravan.

You may have problems with planning permission. Planning may be concerned that you are creating a "new dwelling". If you don't speak to Planning about this first, then watch out that someone doesn't snitch on you!