Which night-heater?
- Thread starter Mark Woodhouse
- Start date
What's the exact deal called please? All of them can't be that, or why put only lasts a month?
I think you’re getting confused with the “add-on” bundles. The base deal is a PAYG SIM, which is the non-expiring deal that I’m on. They are then offering bolt on bundles that are monthly deals, I think it’s these that are confusing the issue. Drill down to the base PAYG deal.
JaiCee
Member
Giffgaff still do. We have one in our heater and the £10 isn't running out any time soon. I think perhaps it needs to be used every so often but if you had it send a message every month that's only £1.20 a year.
Or Webasto as they bombed our chippy...
Set it up right on your iPhone and I can control mine using Siri.
Are you willing to fit Webasto, and in the OEM position with vents exiting in the B pillar?yes mate, im actually an authorized installer, however in oxfordshire
yes mate
A little addition to this thread on the Challenger controllers. I looked at the website of the guy in Australia, enigmatically known as Mr Jones, who did all the development work on the aftermarket 'Afterburner' control unit for Chinese heaters with all the wifi wizardry. On the main page he claims that his source code has been ripped off by someone in the UK, who is marketing their panels as 'Challenger'. Coincidence? Take a look here Buyer beware
@Skyliner33. I've just seen the posts about sim cards so sorry for the late response. FWIW, I've got a GiffGaff PAYG sim in my tracker and can confirm that the credits do NOT time expire so long as you use it for a short SMS very 30 days. My van is not a daily driver and a £10 credit therefore lasts me a long time - I think I've bought £30 worth of top ups since I installed the tracker in 2019 and there's about £12 still there.
I got the Webasto AirTop 2000 STC fitted this week and although it is very effective, there is one glaringly sh!t issue which oldiebut goodie has explained very well in previous posts: I have the multicontrol display which allows you to set the temperature to the desired level; or at least that's what you think. What you are actually doing is setting the desired inlet temperature to the actual heater unit and that gets it's feed from the driver's side footwell. You can imagine my surprise when setting the heating to 21degC and leaving it for an hour, I come back to the van and find sub-tropical conditions. It turns out you need to shell out another £47 to buy a temperature sensor which is placed halfway up the sidewall somewhere in the van. Resetting the heating then activates this sensor and the multicontrol now regulates the desired temperature according to that sensor. I followed oldiebut goodie's advice and bought a few 10K Ohm NTC Thermistors for £5 off ebay to make up my own sensor. I'll let you know how I get on.
Some of you may think that I'm being a bit picky and normally I would agree except this system cost me £1500 fully installed - I would expect that when I ask for 21degC, it just does it..... Anyway, positives are it's not too loud when running (loud enough mind and even though mine is mounted under the van), doesn't seem to draw too much off the leisure battery once up to temp and the display is easy to use.
During my searches, I did find that Webasto North America now sell the 'Smartemp 3.0 Bluetooth' which allows easy connection via a mobile app rather that the expensive options of mobile network or remote fob. It only seems available in the US though? And there is still no solution for wifi connection to make it easier to connect at home or to a personal hotspot. Webasto SmarTemp 3.0 Bluetooth Controllers driven by simplicity
Some of you may think that I'm being a bit picky and normally I would agree except this system cost me £1500 fully installed - I would expect that when I ask for 21degC, it just does it..... Anyway, positives are it's not too loud when running (loud enough mind and even though mine is mounted under the van), doesn't seem to draw too much off the leisure battery once up to temp and the display is easy to use.
During my searches, I did find that Webasto North America now sell the 'Smartemp 3.0 Bluetooth' which allows easy connection via a mobile app rather that the expensive options of mobile network or remote fob. It only seems available in the US though? And there is still no solution for wifi connection to make it easier to connect at home or to a personal hotspot. Webasto SmarTemp 3.0 Bluetooth Controllers driven by simplicity
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JaiCee
Member
That sucks. On our planar so long as you have the comfort controller the display has a temperature sensor in it so the additional one is only required if the display isn't in a good position
I have the aforementioned Airtop/Multicontrol combination. I just set the temperature to 13deg & it’s perfect.
I also found 13 to 14deg works well but my point is that Webasto are one of if not the top supplier for these heaters and to pay £1500 to ensure my driver's side footwell stays at a perfect 13degC is taking the p!ss. I want the temperature in the back of the van to maintain the setting I put it at and the footwell can do whatever. None of this is metntioned in any of the blurb I read from the Websator website and it's frankly obvious that if you set the multicontroller to 21degC, you expect that's what the van is going to heat to.
When I set my Hive heating at home to 20degC, I am doing so in the knowledge that the area round my thermostat will reach around 20degC. I'm not interested what the temperature is at the front doorstep.......
True, but the hive is the thermostat, the multi controller isn't. The multicontroller could just as well be in a cupboard or some other remote location from the actual heater, don't forget that the webasto isn't specific to a VW, they get fitted in lorries, boats, big RVs etc. If you were sat on the bus & used the hive app to set your thermostat at home, you wouldn't expect the bus to warm up too
I agree that it's poor that you have to pay extra on top of the substantial cost of the heater, but that's business. Just imagine paying £40k for a van & VW asking for an additional £1600 for head lights that actually work.....
From the Webasto website "The MultiControl sets standards in terms of its modern design and user-friendliness. The dashboard control panel is ideal for all those who wish to have pre-set vehicle temperature at scheduled times."True, but the hive is the thermostat, the multi controller isn't. The multicontroller could just as well be in a cupboard or some other remote location from the actual heater, don't forget that the webasto isn't specific to a VW, they get fitted in lorries, boats, big RVs etc. If you were sat on the bus & used the hive app to set your thermostat at home, you wouldn't expect the bus to warm up too
Reading the part about 'have a pre-set vehicle temperature at scheduled times', it's quite obvious they are blatantly saying you can use it to set the temperature at a desired level of your choosing. It doesn't mention anything about ensuring the temperature in your footwell is maintained. It's misleading plain and simple as it suggests it is a timer AND thermostat - it has to be by their definition of saying it controls temperature in the vehicle.
It does not matter too much as I will install the thermistor however, if I ever buy another heater then it will definitely not be a Webasto. There's no excuse or way around the fact that they present it as a heater with multicontroller that controls the temperature but fail to explain properly how it works.
It is the fault of people that can only set the temperature of their vehicle with numbers! Use the standard rheostat and you will not be fooled by those numbers on a Multicontroller/Smartcontrol. Using a rheostat you soon get used to the position on the dial that suits your comfort and van.
The only fault really is that Webasto listened to geeks who want shiny modern looking electronic devices and attempted to show temperatures on the controller instead of just numbers. Why on earth people go crazy for operating equipment with phones and complicated electronics is beyond me. The Multicontrol does nothing more than the 1531 Combitimer does ( except more timers on one model), just looks flashy!
The only fault really is that Webasto listened to geeks who want shiny modern looking electronic devices and attempted to show temperatures on the controller instead of just numbers. Why on earth people go crazy for operating equipment with phones and complicated electronics is beyond me. The Multicontrol does nothing more than the 1531 Combitimer does ( except more timers on one model), just looks flashy!
Shortly before my trip to Iceland this summer, I have fitted the Eberspacher D4 as per the original factory spec.
As folks said previously, if you're on vacation, you can't afford to have a chinese unit fail, so the options are either webasto or eberspacher.
For me it was critical to go fully original way as they build it in VW factory for higher spec vans.
During my installation as is done on the factory spec, I used all original parts except one (more on that later).
The total cost of parts was around 600 EUR because I managed to find main parts second hand in almost new condition.
The VW Eberspacher D4 has a custom control unit board so you have to use the original remote control as well:
The outlets are per the original factory style:
You can save a bit by modifying the original trim instead of buying the whole panel with vents. Requires extensive dremel work though.
The inlet is the only non-original part but I could bet anything - you couldn't recognise it from the photo below because it is a 3d printed model of the original vent.
I did the whole install right on the street on the parking lot in the city center.
You must install the plastic protection cover (not shown above) if you mounted your fan underneath the car body. I am using the aftermarket protection cover made of fiberglass because originals are designed to break in puddles so that you could pay more to VW
The hardest part was the electrical loom but all wiring diagrams are well known so after a bit of time, this can be figured out.
Extensive drilling and cutting is required to install all of this as per the factory way but this isn't a problem if you have the right tools.
After a bit of coding, the fan management is integrated into the van's climate control system (for example, the fan starts blowing stronger if you open windows during the operation). The remote control is visible via the can-bus and the heater module has a diagnostic pin going into the OBD terminal (as per the factory) so it can be diagnosed for faults either using the VAG software or using the Eberspacher software.
I really enjoyed this project and would happily do it again if anyone needs help with this. The only downside... I am located in continental Europe
As folks said previously, if you're on vacation, you can't afford to have a chinese unit fail, so the options are either webasto or eberspacher.
For me it was critical to go fully original way as they build it in VW factory for higher spec vans.
During my installation as is done on the factory spec, I used all original parts except one (more on that later).
The total cost of parts was around 600 EUR because I managed to find main parts second hand in almost new condition.
The VW Eberspacher D4 has a custom control unit board so you have to use the original remote control as well:
The outlets are per the original factory style:
You can save a bit by modifying the original trim instead of buying the whole panel with vents. Requires extensive dremel work though.
The inlet is the only non-original part but I could bet anything - you couldn't recognise it from the photo below because it is a 3d printed model of the original vent.
I did the whole install right on the street on the parking lot in the city center.
You must install the plastic protection cover (not shown above) if you mounted your fan underneath the car body. I am using the aftermarket protection cover made of fiberglass because originals are designed to break in puddles so that you could pay more to VW
The hardest part was the electrical loom but all wiring diagrams are well known so after a bit of time, this can be figured out.
Extensive drilling and cutting is required to install all of this as per the factory way but this isn't a problem if you have the right tools.
After a bit of coding, the fan management is integrated into the van's climate control system (for example, the fan starts blowing stronger if you open windows during the operation). The remote control is visible via the can-bus and the heater module has a diagnostic pin going into the OBD terminal (as per the factory) so it can be diagnosed for faults either using the VAG software or using the Eberspacher software.
I really enjoyed this project and would happily do it again if anyone needs help with this. The only downside... I am located in continental Europe
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QPiepelr65
Ford Transit Connect
Can anyone comment on this since the thread was created? Looking to get one of the many rebranded ali ones. Thinking thermotechnica because they seem to be the only ones selling the single hob any more which works better for me. Paying £1800 for wallas single burner seems ridiculous for the combi version given that you would be paying £700+ just for a metal lid with a fan.Is there a reason diesel hob/heater combos aren’t more common? I might be missing something but for anyone fitting a hob anyway it makes a lot of sense; no gas storage needed in the van, fed off the main diesel tank so no worries about running out etc.
I know the Wallas is pricey but there are a few alternatives out there now from what I’ve seen, the Espar version is under a grand:
Espar CombiHob | Eberspacher Direct
The Espar CombiHob is a diesel-fired twin burner hob with a fold-down lid that also provides heating to the interior of a motorhome or boat. Free UK delivery.eberspacherdirect.com
and there are some options on Ali as well (which I think Espar are just rebranding anyway by the looks!)
Energy Saving Double Burner Diesel Stove Combi Hob 2200w Camper Cooker - Buy Diesel Stove combi Hob 2 Burners Cooker Product on Alibaba.com
Energy Saving Double Burner Diesel Stove Combi Hob 2200w Camper Cooker - Buy Diesel Stove combi Hob 2 Burners Cooker Product on Alibaba.comwww.alibaba.com
If anyone fancies reviewing either of those before August next year then that’d be great!
Seen some mixed reviews on these chinese knockoffs. See here. Couple of posts on others but not much. I would be more inclined to support the competition given that wallas and webasto, not so much the latter, are so ridiculously priced to give the underdogs a chance at evening out the market.
