Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: dazmond on August 25, 2011, 07:22:17 pm
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what do you guys use to keep the back of ya van nice and toasty during very cold nights?
last year i just bunged a duvet over my barrels and took pole,hose and trolley inside for the night but a few nights a came out in the morning to find half frozen barrels!! ;D ;D ;D
this year im gonna get a heater in there.a bit awkward though as ill have to run a extension lead down my stairs,through my letterbox and into the back of van.better than a tank of frozen water though!
many thanks
dazmond
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If uve got a lecky supplie then a rad with stat is good, as i have 1 in my static shed 900w and its ok to keep stuff above freezing (but i hear they use alot of power?) but if like me on road parking, ive just invested in a propex hs2000 £430 runs off sml propane gas bottle, ill be fitting it over the next month ;)
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3Kw 27" immersion heater fitted in side of 400ltr tank. Lovely tank of hot water which acts as a giant radiator & the whole van is like toast in the morning. ;)
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I have used an oil filled radiator but have found they take a while to warm up and don't radiate the heat well enough compared to what it costs to run it.
Later on in the autumn I am going to buy a fan heater that I can concentrate towards the pump and tank.
I will also look into a water tank heater similar to what you get in an aquarium - this cropped up during the very cold spell last year and the debate was never properly finished.
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http://www.summergardenbuildings.co.uk/products/greenhouse-staging/greenhouse-heater-15-gas-1500-popular.html
was looking for something for my garage en-bloc has no electric, the above link to parrafin heater with thermostat any good.
does it need electric? (don'tthink so)
Knew a wfp windy who put parrafin heater in van over night and ruined it; covered interior with black soot :o
anyone got experience with these types of heaters are they safe?
thanks lee
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oops just relised it's propane gas.
would this work?
would it work out expensive on gas?
does anyone know heating costs?
thanks lee
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I was thinking of getting a heater for the back of the van and i came across this
http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.206-0927.aspx
It says it emits heat up to 5 metres away. Do you think this would be ok in the back of a trafic?
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The best thing you can do is insulate your van before you try and heat it, therefore keeping heat in, as vans are terrible for heat loss.
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I was thinking of getting a heater for the back of the van and i came across this
http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.206-0927.aspx
It says it emits heat up to 5 metres away. Do you think this would be ok in the back of a trafic?
I'd say this baby would be far too powerful for the inside of a van - might end up melting plastic and goodness knows what.
Wheelie bin cleaners have the same problem and nobody seems to have found the perfect solution. Friend uses a paraffin heater (but not the Sootmaster 5000 :)) and I use a small electric fan heater set to minimum (picture of a snowflake) on the thermostat. At the end of the day we are looking for water and equipment that are just a few degrees above freezing - we're not planning to have a bath in it ;D
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not looking forward to winter at all. past 2 winters in scotland have been harsh.
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Been looking at this site do you guys think these gas heaters would be inside a van overnight or in a up over garage, my garage dosen't have a power suppy :'(
thanks lee
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oops ! here's link
http://www.greenhousepeople.co.uk/accessories/heaters/gas-heaters//
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i just bung a whole load of anti freeze through my machine every night...ahhh the joys of not needing to use pure water... ;D
Scoop,
Tell your wheelie bin mate to do the same, get a large drum of anti freeze and suck it through the pump every afternoon at his last job untill it returns back and he'll be sweet.
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Whatever you decide to get don't wait until the big freeze to try and buy it.
Nil stock more due next month. Same for gas supplies and parraffin.
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3Kw 27" immersion heater fitted in side of 400ltr tank. Lovely tank of hot water which acts as a giant radiator & the whole van is like toast in the morning. ;)
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hi
i heard people where fitting immersions into there tanks, do you use a thermostat and what is the power connection ie plug?
cheers
john
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i use electric heater put it on a timer 2 hrs about midnight and then on again from 530 till i go at 730 water is always good to go ,lets hope its not cold this winter :o
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3Kw 27" immersion heater fitted in side of 400ltr tank. Lovely tank of hot water which acts as a giant radiator & the whole van is like toast in the morning. ;)
[/quote
hi
i heard people where fitting immersions into there tanks, do you use a thermostat and what is the power connection ie plug?
cheers
john
The immersion element has a built in thermostat & re-settable trip. This is wired with the correct heat resistant cable to a normal plug. I then run a heavy duty extension cable from house to van on drive. This is plugged in to a plug-in mechanical timer. ;)
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30 quid oil filled rad on the lowest setting overnight even at minus 10 outside in my van no frozen water
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In the winter I put a 1kw aquarium heater in my static tank (set to 16C, above 20C legionaries can grow) and the same in my van tank. The on in the static tank is plugged into a temperature sensing gizmo (it looks like a timer plug, £25 off ebay) and only switches on when the outside temp drops below 4C. I fill the van with pre-warmed water when I get home & its still lukewarm 5 hours later, so the heater in the van tank is only plugged in last thing at night.
When the temps get serious (Cold enough to stop me working) I leave the heaters on 24/7. I'd rather pay a bit extra on the electric bill than have the hassle of bringing everything in the house or the cost of replacing broken gear once everything thaws.
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Nat which heaters do you use , The only ones i can find are £165:00 and they have a inlet and outlet which i assume connects to a pump to circulate warm water around a pond. Thanks Mike
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http://cgi.ebay.ie/1000W-AQUARIUM-HEATER-THERMOSTAT-TROPICAL-FISH-KOI-TANK-/360320688560?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item53e4c961b0
mine cost a third of that price, but the cheap ones seem to be gone from ebay now. :(
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thanks a lot Nat . ;D ;D mike , bought and paid for well in advance of cold weather
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This might be a bit of a stupid question but see the oil filled radiators do they still need a electricity supply? I'm looking for something that doesn't need to be plugged into the house as my van is parked a bit away.
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electricity required mate . i wont be heating the water in my van mount tank , I plan on heating the water in my static tank then filling tank on pickup each morning 350 litres will only take 10 mins with my jet pump . hope this helps . MIKE
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jonny yes you need a electricity supply with an oil filled radiator.im defo getting one this weekend.ill use an extension lead through my letterbox as i live in a first floor flat! ;) ;D ;D
im sure having this in the back of my van with a duvet over my tank itll stop it from freezing.ill bring pole,trolley and reel inside as well.
dazmond
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what is the point in putting a duvet over the water tank?
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will keep heat in like it does when you are in bed
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will keep heat in like it does when you are in bed
There will be no heat in the tank. The heat will be in the van & the duvet will prevent any getting to the tank.
However, it's unlikely the heat would penetrate the tank really anyway.
That's what I like about the immersion heater, you have a tank full of hot water which acts as a 400ltr radiator- two birds, one stone an' all that. :D
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how much does it cost to run the immersion heater over say 4 or 5 months roughly?
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how much does it cost to run the immersion heater over say 4 or 5 months roughly?
3kw & it takes 4 hours to heat a 400ltr flat tank. We are on a white meter tariff (half price at night) & I have mine on plug in timer.
You can work it out if you know the price of your electricity per KWh (kilo watt hour)
e.g. 3kw for 4 hour @ 7p per kwh = 84p
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can you just put an immersion heater in the top lid of the tank and heat it up that way?dont fancy putting a hole in bottom of my tank!!
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can you just put an immersion heater in the top lid of the tank and heat it up that way?dont fancy putting a hole in bottom of my tank!!
NO. It MUST be fully submersed.
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Nat were do you have your static tank ????, mine is a water butt so not covered over at all , I am hoping this will be ok
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Nat were do you have your static tank ????, mine is a water butt so not covered over at all , I am hoping this will be ok
Mine is in the shed,.. insulated a little, but not very well.
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think i might build a frame around it and insulate , got some old fencing coming next week for fire might be able to salvage some decent timber . and get some free insulation from builder mate ;D ;D thanks mike
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well ill be off to B&Q this weekend for an oil filled radiator.cant see the point of spending £450 on a propex heater and then gas to run it if the radiator will do the same job cheaper.common sense really.
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Daz I've got my van fully insulated plus all ply lined. Come winter time I also put a oil filled rad in there of a night and I never lost one single day last winter. I also bought a new shape transit which has traction control so I never had issues getting to any custies as well as running a fogwash and a L5. I'm going to replace the L5 soon though with either another fogwash or one like nat uses.
I would rather pay out the couple of quid it costs each night to run a rad than I would lose a days earnings. Makes sense really
No such thing as bad weather. Only bad equipment