Winter storage and central heating

We too are in the fortunate position of keeping our van at home (but not under cover) and keep it permanently plugged in to the mains. In the colder months, we plug in a small heater on a timer rather than the van's central heating.

Drain the system? If you have wet Alde heating there's anti-freeze in the the system so no need to drain. Our caravan lives at home too but though it's plugged into the mains I only have the battery on charge as I've never seen the point of heating the caravan while there's no one in it.

If it’s an Alde system it has antifreeze anyway and also be wary of fumes building up in the shed from the boiler exhaust.

A shed gives you more protection than leaving the caravan outdoors and should be good enough without heating but if you wish to keep the heat ticking over then a small oil filled radiator plugged into the mains would be best.

Personally I would say that the significant cost of the fuel used is an unnecessary extravagance with limited advantage.

I drain down the hot and cold water system, my van is outside and plugged into the mains electric, The heating is set at 10 C , there are no fumes on electric. From time to time I run the heating up to 20 C to air the van, It has been know for me to take a book and sit in the van reading. and even falling asleep. thinking of all the great days out I have had. 

Heating a caravan when it is not in use is a complete waste of energy. 

If the heating has a frost protection setting, that will suffice. Otherwise, it’s personal choice whether to heat or not. One school of thought suggests heating it will encourage condensation and mould due to temperature fluctuation. I don’t think I’d bother seeing it’s in a shed. Our van stays plugged in at home for battery charging because the SP can’t cope but nothing else is turned on.

1994 swift  no heating in van all these years no mould on furnishings ,natural air  flow , just adjust cushions away from walls 

That's exactly what I do

Agree one hundred percent, in fact I would actually suggest it does more harm than good, heating and cooling the van creates condensation. In over twenty years of ownership of motorhomes and caravans I`ve never heated or used dehumidifiers etc and never had any issue whatsoever, except one season when I put a so called breathable cover on a caravan - result was internal damp which caused mildew.

Don’t have any experience of Alde heating system but I do drain down all other water tanks/pipes/boiler heater/flush tank/loo & leave all taps & cupboard doors open to encourage air circulation if LV is to stand for any period especially if frost may occur.  Also keep it plugged in but have never used heating.  Have occasionally moved bench seat cushions indoors.