Your right Brian is does recommend that the fan is used in conjunction to" provide an even rapid air distribution", it also says further down " its also possible without the Trumavent fan."
The Famila is very small so it warms up very quickly, the extra cost and the space that the ventalation tubing takes up for me personally is not worth it. I would assume if you have a large caravan the blower would be a essential addition. ..

Quote: Randa france wrote in post #17

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Is this the electric element we are talking about when fitted to the Truma gas heater ?
https://www.truma.com/uk/en/products/tru...-ultraheat.html
It talks about outputs of between 500w and 2000w. How does it manage that when a small wall mounted radiator is only rated at 500w?
Randa

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Roger if you remember in my Triton I had removed the gas heater [which also saved some weight] and used to take a 700/400w oil filled radiator which fitted in the space the original heater occupied plus left some space for storage, worked well.
Dave

Yes, I had to disconnect and cap the gas pipe and block a vent hole in the floor, overall about one and a half hours, certainly nothing beyond your skills.
Dave

Quote: Randa france wrote in post #19

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Thanks for that John
The reason for my question relates to another thread as well where I asked this question:- Truma Ultraheat

My concern is the wattage of the little electric radiator I've got my eye on (400w). Although it may sound daft to temporarily remove the gas Truma, we very rarely use it but we do sometimes use a small oil filled radiator (700w) which we take with us. However, it takes up space both when stored and especially when in use.

Although the obvious answer is to fit a Truma electric element, the price is restrictive.
So, although the little electric radiator is rated at 400w and is designed to heat a far smaller space than an Eriba Troll, will it do the same job as the Truma?
Randa

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We've had the electric element fitted. Wouldn't be without it now as no longer need to carry around the fan/oil heater. By keeping the gas fire insitu I now have a choice of heating which is useful when EHU is not available. With three heat selections mean, assuming suitable EHU amps are available, rapid heating of the interior is available when needed while the lowest setting keeps the vans night time temperature at an acceptable level. We would never keep the gas heater on at night because of its location close to the bed. In our 430, because the heater is located more centrally in the van, we find the lowest setting provides enough heat for most of the time. Occasionally we will boost the heat with the mid setting and only use the high setting to burn of the accumulated dust on the elements! But we sit their smugly knowing we probably have one of the most expensive 500W heaters known to man - space craft excepted.

I lie of course - we still carry the heater around to use in the awning!!!!!