I’m not sure what you mean by ‘winter mode’ – probably Hymer- or Truma-speak for “having a bit of heat come out”!
The Truma blown-air heating works in five ways…
- 1. Cool, Low fan
- 2. Cool, High fan
- 3. Off
- 4. Warm, Low fan
- 5. Warm, High fan
In addition, you can control the heat level within the ‘van by means of the green illuminated inner dial – the thermostat.
So, in use, in winter, freezing cold outside, you could turn the thermostat dial to the highest number possible and turn the fan to ‘High’ – clockwise two stops from the midway ‘Off’ position. You will hear the fan start to softly whirl, and then the heater give a ‘pop’ as it starts up, and then shortly, heat will start to be blown out of the vents getting hotter and hotter as the heat exchanger warms up.
At some point, when you’re warm enough and you like that temperature, gently turn the green-illuminated inner dial anti-clockwise VERY SLOWLY while you listen for the fan to click ‘off’. You have now set the temperature so the heating will come on and off to automatically maintain that temperature you have chosen.
You can do this on a cool British summer evening as well as the depths of an Arctic winter! You can turn the temperature right down, fan on ‘Warm, Low’ and leave the heating all night, gently coming on and going off, to just take the chill off the air. Or you can switch it off altogether, to save gas and electricity.
Some of this is ‘trial and error’, Pete – to just “know” what is the right dial position for “your” favourite temperature. But once you get in the swing of it, you’ll love it! By the way, the heater sends out a constant same-temperature heat, boosted by a low- or high- fan and controlled by a thermostat, that’s all – just like an electric fan heater really.
I’ve explained at length, because I know some ‘newbies’ read these pages. By the way, to reassure those who are nervous, these heaters are perfectly safe. The combustion takes place in a sealed box that gets air in from the little round vent on the outside, and then exhausts the depleted air out via the same inlet/outlet vent. The air within the ‘van is drawn into the heat exchanger via the large square vent below the basin hinge and from behind the kitchen units, passes over the heat exchanger (totally separated from the combustion within the heater box) and the heated air is then blown out into the ‘van. I hope that puts people’s minds at rest regarding the safety of leaving these units on all the time – they are quite safe. Of course, you MUST have a CO2 alarm in your Exsis – I urge you to get one NOW if you haven’t one. And check the battery regularly!
I hope you enjoy your winter wild-camping… we do! And we’ve never been cold.
Barry
