Whale heating temperatures

I have just taken delivery of my new Warwick XL with the Whale heating system.

I'm a little surprised that the temperature selection on the Whale controller is just a band that moves up and down as + and - are pressed.

Does anyone know how the bands translate to a particular temperature?   On previous systems I have used (Truma and Alde) there is a temperature selection that gives the required temperature in degrees Celsius.

The Whale system seems a little imprecise IMHO.  Unless I am missing something, which is entirely possible!

I have only a brief exposure to the controller but I don't think you are missing anything. You can't actually put in a figure for the temperature, you need to discover whereabouts on the scale you like it.
I prefer the Truma controller but I expect Whale will be fine after a period of adjustment.

The Whale control panel looks like a piece of 1980’s electronics. It seems that a lot of manufacturers are using Whale space & water heaters now (Auto-Trail, Auto-Sleepers, Elddis). Not sure why Truma have fallen out of favour with manufacturers. The Whale units can be mounted under van to free up space inside conversion but I would of thought it makes them less efficient as they are in the cold freezing weather in winter. Be interested to hear how you get on with them. I find the Truma combi & digital panel good.

Kaspian is always full of praise for the Whale heater he had in his previous van (Kemerton?).

Aldercow wrote:The Whale control panel looks like a piece of 1980’s electronics. It seems that a lot of manufacturers are using Whale space & water heaters now (Auto-Trail, Auto-Sleepers, Elddis). Not sure why Truma have fallen out of favour with manufacturers. The Whale units can be mounted under van to free up space inside conversion but I would of thought it makes them less efficient as they are in the cold freezing weather in winter. Be interested to hear how you get on with them. I find the Truma combi & digital panel good.

the whale new unit is 8lt and truma 10lt and as for cost the whale is a big saving so could be why manufacturers are going this way .the heat from the truma inside the vehicle puts the heat inside the van helping keep the van warm in cold conditions. so the whale  might save space and be better for smaller vans but the truma  still comes as my choice

Paulmold wrote:Kaspian is always full of praise for the Whale heater he had in his previous van (Kemerton?).

No experience of the latest Whale but in the 6m Kemerton it was faultless and foolproof. No stench of metallic burning when on water only , no hard to reach blown fuses, no thermostats placed in the wrong place.  Installed in the otherwise wasted space under the interior step the Whale just worked. A separate water heater meant you did not lose both water and space heating if a fault occurred .   Who cares what the panel says is the temperature selected ?  In a short time with experience you will learn what ithe comfortable temperature for your needs  is and its indication on the control panel ' band '  Looking at the extortionate prices of new motorhome heaters it's no surprise many resort to a simple cheap fan heater and a small oil radiator overnight!

FrankL0 wrote:I have just taken delivery of my new Warwick XL with the Whale heating system.

I'm a little surprised that the temperature selection on the Whale controller is just a band that moves up and down as + and - are pressed.

Does anyone know how the bands translate to a particular temperature?   On previous systems I have used (Truma and Alde) there is a temperature selection that gives the required temperature in degrees Celsius.

The Whale system seems a little imprecise IMHO.  Unless I am missing something, which is entirely possible!

Hi FrankL0
My name is Hayley and I work in the marketing team at Whale.
Please feel free to contact our Customer Care Team who will do all they can to assist you with your query. You can call them on 0345 9090 911 or email [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].
Alternatively, please privately send me the best number to get you on and I will get one of our team to give you a call.
Best wishes,
Hayley

kaspian wrote:no hard to reach blown fuses

As the Whale appliances are mounted underneath the van, doesn't that make it harder to access the fuse?

And being situated outside the thermal insulation must work against efficiency, especially in winter.

A little off topic (and many thanks to all for your interesting responses) but I notice that all your profiles alongside your response shows your age (Member Age:).

I'm happily aged 73 and would be more than happy for others to know this.
But I can't see where to set this in my profile!

Pointers please?   TIA.

We have just returned from our first outing in our new Warwick XL - and just love it!

Re the Whale heater.  I understood that one of the reasons for AS switching from Truma to Whale was that it was slung under the floor and hence more space was freed up within the van.  Yet, under the offside bunk, there is the space heater with the air distribution hoses taking up a considerable amount of the available space!  Have I misunderstood?

I have the Truma Avent Comfort air conditioning in my WXL.   With Truma heating, both the heater and the AC could be controlled from the Truma control panel.  Now with the Whale heater, the Truma air conditioner that I have can only be controlled using the Truma remote control.   This lack of integration does not appear to be a forward step.  Again - am I missing something?

BTW:   In speaking with Whale they have indicated that the bands on the Whale control panel roughly equates to a temperature range of 5-32 degrees Celsius.  They stressed that this is only approximate though.

FrankL0 wrote:A little off topic (and many thanks to all for your interesting responses) but I notice that all your profiles alongside your response shows your age (Member Age:).

I'm happily aged 73 and would be more than happy for others to know this.
But I can't see where to set this in my profile!

Pointers please?   TIA.

Putting your age was amongst the original questions at registration but after complaints by some members who didn't want to show their age, this was removed , members who have been around a while still show their age, more recent members do not.

AutoSleepy_Don wrote:

kaspian wrote:no hard to reach blown fuses

As the Whale appliances are mounted underneath the van, doesn't that make it harder to access the fuse?

And being situated outside the thermal insulation must work against efficiency, especially in winter.

As I said in the Kemerton 6M the heater was within the otherwise wasted space of the step into the cab area so still effectively inside the van.  As others have stated in a  van conversion the  major  plus is getting rid of a large item that takes up a lot of valuable internal space.  The one downside was the bathroom being across the rear was at the end of a long run of pipework and was harder to heat.

Paulmold wrote:Putting your age was amongst the original questions at registration but after complaints by some members who didn't want to show their age, this was removed , members who have been around a while still show their age, more recent members do not.

Is it too obvious to ask why the objectionable members didn't just leave it blank? 

Gromit wrote:

Paulmold wrote:Putting your age was amongst the original questions at registration but after complaints by some members who didn't want to show their age, this was removed , members who have been around a while still show their age, more recent members do not.

Is it too obvious to ask why the objectionable members didn't just leave it blank? 

Maybe it was one of those questions that couldn't be left blank (I know there is at least one member who gave an incorrect age - been a member for many years but their age still shows as 20).

kaspian wrote:

AutoSleepy_Don wrote:

kaspian wrote:no hard to reach blown fuses

As the Whale appliances are mounted underneath the van, doesn't that make it harder to access the fuse?

And being situated outside the thermal insulation must work against efficiency, especially in winter.

As I said in the Kemerton 6M the heater was within the otherwise wasted space of the step into the cab area so still effectively inside the van.  As others have stated in a  van conversion the  major  plus is getting rid of a large item that takes up a lot of valuable internal space.  The one downside was the bathroom being across the rear was at the end of a long run of pipework and was harder to heat.

...as ive mentioned many times, Truma (and others) give much installation advice including the (central) placement of hot air units, where long distances from heater to outlet can be detrimental. however, many converters tend to install heating to fit around the layout whereas others choose to site it effectively and then build around it.
not such an issue with warm water heating like ALDE as the water doesnt cool in its journey from boiler to radiator.
im surprised the 'underslung' Whale unit still has much 'gubbins' under the side seat.
i also read the spec for a Whale fitted Elddis that had a seperate water boiler? if so, where is the space saving when fitting two appliances?
does the WXL have this arrangement?

bolero boy wrote:does the WXL have this arrangement?

  Warwick XL at least in 2017 guise has a Truma combi. Kemerton did have a separate water heater so losing either did not mean no water or heating. I agree in placement mind , in our Xl the Truma is built in under the wardrobe being very difficult to access without pulling the furniture to bits. I do find it rather ironic that Truma take time to warn that if you use the faster fan speed this will increase wear on the motor in an appliance costing £1700! Perhaps selecting larger or better bearings and understanding users might wish to use the faster speed to heat their Van's would have been a better design brief. Then again a £10 fan heater is just as efficient and cheap to replace.

while i understand the oddness of the Truma advice (ive not seen it anywhere though) with 'gas only' (upto 6kw) or 'mixed mode' (upto 5.8kw) fuel selected, you'll find you really wont need the HIGH fan speed....ECO will be plenty to quickly warm up the van.
however, with EL2 (1.8kw) you only have 30% of that heat available and a HIGH fan speed will appear to make it go further.
folk seem to be reluctant to use gas (despite having refillable tanks) but the Combi is really a gas only unit with a couple of electric elements added to satisfy the large UK market where sites usually include electric in the price....meaning that folk will use that as theyve 'already paid for it'.