There are no two ways about it, no matter how much insulation has moved on in the past few years ... caravans do not hold onto heat for long.
When the heating is on the Van is toasty warm, when the heating is off but the sun shines through the windows and heats up the metal of the Van it's also lovely and warm. But when the sun goes in, or night falls the Van cools ... slowly but steadily.
I don't like central heating, it dries the air, dries me and gives me a headache, but I do flick the switch for an hour in the mornings after a chilly night. Just to warm the Van up while I enjoy a coffee and read. It makes jumping in the shower a much nicer experience, and also means that I can put damp towels to dry on the heated towel rail as it cools down very slowly.
The beautiful sunny mornings that we've been having recently mean that the sun streams through the windows on the back of the Van, so as soon as I finished in the shower room the blind is rolled up in both the shower room ...
... and the little en-suite.
Letting the sun pour in to add to the now warm rooms.
As soon as the sun leaves the other side of the Van later in the day I draw the curtains and pull down the blinds to trap the free heat for as long as possible. If it's really chilly I pull on a fleece or jumper while I'm watching the television, for now that's enough to keep me cosy, with Suky cuddled up beside me sharing her body heat. In a month or so another blast of central heating will most likely be called for.
Last night though I left the heating off, and while I watched the end of a programme I had one of my hot water bottles in the bed getting it cosy to give me a lovely glow of heat so I could sit and read for a while before turning off the light. Well that and a soothing source of heat to cuddle to get rid of a self inflicted tummy ache after accidentally consuming dairy.
After being on a gut reset diet for a few days just a touch of dairy gave me my worst reactions ever. Now I know how sensitive I am ... I'll be a lot more careful in future.
Sue xx
Sorry for your stomach upset...Still too hot here to shut off air conditioning. I hope you feel better quickly.
ReplyDeleteLovely and warm up here in The Dales but when I let Tess out for her last 'wee' at ten last night it was very chilly to say the least.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you've felt so unwell. Are you better now?
ReplyDeleteI'm loving the warmth too.
xx
When we lived in a caravan we had a solid fuel stove which gave out great heat. Then after DD was born we changed to an electric oil filled radiator in the bedroom and a calor gas heater in the sitting room. The stove was better.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you know how to get the best out of the natural heating for your caravan. I hope you are snug in there over the winter months too.
ReplyDeleteSympathies over the dairy intolerence. I have developed it, but it affects my asthma rather than tummy. I stupidly bought some crisps last week which had whey in and WHAM, my asthma really took a hit. I had a gut microbiome test done a while back and it showed I was missing a lot of the good guys in my gut so I am trying to put them back (repeated courses of antibiotics did for them) - though the best things for the Lacto ones which are missing are the things which make my asthma worse!
Keep snug and let's hope this sunshine lasts a bit longer.
Hope you're feeling better now. Free warmth from the sunshine is so good. I open my blinds to let in the sunshine. No heating needed as yet, thank heavens.
ReplyDeleteOur house has huge windows on the south side and during colder weather I always open them wide. It is amazing how much heat the sun generates through those windows. Like you say it does cool off quickly though.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Hope you are feeling back to normal soon; starting to wonder if I no longer have the tolerance for dairy that I used to . . .
ReplyDeleteMuch solar gain here today, clear blue skies as far as we can see. xx
Sue is there any way you could add insulation to the walls without causing too much mess ?
ReplyDeleteOur bedroom and living room are south facing and I tend to draw the curtains as soon as the sun 'goes around the corner' in the winter :)
ReplyDelete