Why is it that static caravan manufacturers don’t start to use all electric, no, gas , in all new builds, the new economic electric radiators are an eco no brainer, as gas prices are through the roof, and unsustainable, solar panels could be converted as well, somebody ought to get their fingers out and revolutionize the static caravan build scene, as some of the windows designs are atrocious.
There is nothing to stop anyone asking for all electric.
Perfectly possible.
That will mean an electric combi boiler (as there is limited space in a static), so the choice may not be as straightforward as with gas.
Or alternatively an electric shower, a separate water heater for the sinks, and plug-in radiators.
And, of course, the site electrics (including the connection to the van) have to be capable of handling the load.
There will probably be a major problem with the incoming electricity supply which will need to be very large to cope with all electric.
Many sites could be located away from major power supplies requiring a large cost to bring them in. This cost will have to be borne by the site developer/owner.
Also, many statics are used for holiday use so aren't occupied all year round.
Quote: Originally posted by navver on 11/11/2023
There will probably be a major problem with the incoming electricity supply which will need to be very large to cope with all electric.
Many sites could be located away from major power supplies requiring a large cost to bring them in. This cost will have to be borne by the site developer/owner.
Also, many statics are used for holiday use so aren't occupied all year round.
Yes I agree. An all electric static would require a greater supply than most sites could cope with.
Biogas is the way to go, sites tend to be on farmland and full of people. So with the farm animals and the visitors producing waste could a site produce the gas for the following season in a Eco friendly option.
Got a feeling static owners would not go for that or being next door to a solar farm.
Never seen a static with solar panels on the roof. Now that would make sense, it would not cover the daily usage but would help, and when site closed in winter the power could be fed into the national grid when most needed.
I can dream.
------------- Yesterday is already a dream and tomorrow is only a vision, but today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Quote: Originally posted by daveyjp on 11/11/2023
There is no such thing as an 'economic electric radiator'. You get out what you put in.
Any company telling you different is either ignorant of the laws of physics or telling fibs to mis sell a product.
Correct, all electric heaters are virtually 100% efficient.
It is time the Advertising Standards Authority woke up to the fact and banned all the adverts for so called more efficient electric heaters.
They are economic in comparison to some other forms of electric heating appliances in as much they have various controls to enable the user to manage their use more efficiently.
saxo1
I can see a future for off peak electric heating. It doesn't matter what time of day they are charged but they can soak up and store excessive renewable energy. However, heat pumps are probably more efficient but, if they need peak time power, maybe not so useful.
We lived in a flat that had storage heaters 32 years ago and we didn't like them one bit. They used Economy 7 off peak electricity overnight to charge up, then gave out that heat during the day. If British weather was predictable that would be fine, but today and tomorrow's (predicted) temperatures show the problem. Today around here we had a high of 9 degrees, but tomorrow it is supposed to be 16 degrees. If we had set them on low over last night it would have been quite chilly indoors today. If we then turned them up because it was cold during the day, and tomorrow's prediction turned out right, it would be baking hot indoors tomorrow and we would probably have to open the windows to cool things down as the heaters would still be pumping out heat. Very wasteful.
I'm really glad we have gas central heating in this house because it responds within minutes. If it gets cool during the day we can turn it up (or on if it's turned off) and the house warms up quickly. I'm not a big fan of electric heating, partly because it can dry the air too much for comfort, and partly because it is very expensive in comparison with gas.
Heat pumps I have no experience of, and we don't have a choice here as we can only have what the Housing Association gives us. However, what we have now is very good and reasonably economical as the house is well insulated.
Quote: Originally posted by oldham on 12/11/2023
Biogas is the way to go, sites tend to be on farmland and full of people. So with the farm animals and the visitors producing waste could a site produce the gas for the following season in a Eco friendly option.
Got a feeling static owners would not go for that or being next door to a solar farm.
Never seen a static with solar panels on the roof. Now that would make sense, it would not cover the daily usage but would help, and when site closed in winter the power could be fed into the national grid when most needed.
Biogas is used extensively on German farms, using slurry (cattle live indoors all year), but I also needs other green agricultural ingredients that a holiday park is unlikely to have. Big - like a grain silo. One exploded at an English waste recycling centre recently, it was using food waste to make energy.
Solar energy farms are pretty much invisible behind a standard agricultural hedge. I know, I live near one. They need to be angled directly south: no good for a flat roof. Not sure I’d want a battery storage system in the static either (no sun at night). Unlike a wind turbine, however, solar panels are silent. (My work took me to wind farms, I can be boring about them.)
Heat pumps as are noisy: my sister had an air-to-air HP in NZ (they’re usually air-to-water ie radiators, here) & she had to turn it off at night because neighbours complained. However, it also acted as an air con in summer, which might be useful.
A recent Grand Designs was about a huge PassiveHouse that had a roof covered in an electricity generating material. It created enough for 4 local houses; unfortunately the local grid was such that the owners could only export enough for 2.
The old Night Storage heaters were grossly inefficient, the modern ones have far superior heat retention but aren't as good as gas central heating.
saxo1
Quote: Originally posted by Mrs. Bonce on 13/11/2023
We had night storage heaters back in 1975, not much use when you are out all day.
Not much good when you are on shift work either, as I was. Very unpredictable hours, early turns could start at any time from 04:00 to 11:55 and different every day. Late turns were similarly varied. Then once every few weeks, a night turn. How could anyone set storage heaters to cope with that much variation?
When I had mine installed I had a three part tariff which meant that the heating was on at three times spread over 12 hours, overnight, midday and early evening.
saxo1
I installed a simple thermostat in the supply to each heater. This regulated how much charge they took each night and was very effective. The temperature the following day was spot on.
If it was a warm day/night, the room temperature was higher so this kept the charging off and vice versa.
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Static caravans
via mobile 13/11/2023 at 11:51am
