Hot water only?

geoB

When dry camping, is this the best way to have the Alde system only heat water, e.g., for showering, and not the "house"? (Assume the ambient temperature is greater than 60°.)

webers3

Yes, that is the way I do it and I think that's it the best way, Although I use propane for faster water heating

geoB

I've been figuring that the pictured Alde settings when dry camping implied propane.  The house battery couldn't supply enough wattage to heat water, could it? I arrived at the pictured settings after having changed the gas flame icon to blue rather than green - those settings didn't heat water.

pthomas745

The Alde uses propane to "make heat" for water/heat while dry camping.  The Alde requires just a little battery power ( just a little) to run the mechanical parts of the Alde: fans, pumps, etc.  Your battery state of charge must be at least 10.5 volts for the Alde to work on propane.

qhumberd

So when you are “dry camping” that means no electric hookup unless you are running a generator. So no need to check electric at all (grey is off). Presume you have the alde flow so set hot water at half for regular hot water use and move it to full for 30 min boost for showering. This activates the alde flow pump and keeps the water at a steady hot temp and then goes back to the mid position at 30 min. You can check water temperatures before mixing at the service menu and see the glycol and water temperatures in each state. On ours the alde on propane heats hot water in about 15 min when we set it all the way up when it is cold.

rs7971

I copied this bit from the Alde operating instructions:

2. Normal operation. If hot water is required, press the ”+” button (the symbol will then be half-shaded). If the 10.12 (Floor heating*) func- tion has been set to Cont., this option cannot be selected. When only hot water is required, e.g., during the summer or when no heating is needed, no settings need to be made; the hydronic heating system handles this function automatically.

However, my experience during the summer was, I needed to set the hot water to half-shaded to get hot water, contrary to what the instructions state. I was connected to 30 amp electric at the time and propane was grey. Are the instructions misleading or did I miss something?

Denny16

If you are connected to shore power, 30-amp connection, set the Alde to 2KW, and the temp to a setting lower than the ambient temp (keeps cabin heat from circulating or heating the cabin), and the hot water at 1/2 gray or full gray to get hot water faster (full gray shuts off the circulation pump regardless circulation pump setting or temp setting.  Make sure the circulation pump is not set to Cont. setting.
 Cheers 

pthomas745

The "floor heating" function is marked with an * in the description in the Tools menu.  That would indicate the "function is displayed on the control panel even if the accessory function is not installed."  Which is typical Alde manual confusion.

Back in the 3010 models, the little "triangle" setting for hot water always displayed a "half triangle."  In the Alde instructions, the statement was pretty clear:  to prevent the Tab compartment from heating, turn the temperature down below the "ambient" temperature.  Note the comment: "hot water is always available".  There is no way to completely separate making hot water when the Alde is on.  The water tank is surrounded by heating elements.

The same instructions from the Alde 3020 manual make the same statement about the "hot water is always available".

The difference in the 3020 compared to the 3010 is the little "triangle" setting.  In the 3020, you can make the setting "blank".   Then the instructions read: "When only hot water is required, e.g., during the summer or when no heating is needed, no settings need to be made; the heating system handles this function automatically."

Which still doesn't explain how the magic "don't heat the compartment" thing happen. 

Denny16

The thermostat (controlled by the temp setting at the top of the menu) controlls the circulation pump, allowing the cabine to be heated.  No pump, no circulation, no cabin heat.  The Alde heats the glycol, and keeps a set temp, whilst it is turned on, regardless of the shower symbol setting or the cabin heating temp setting.  The glycol is heated all the time, and transfers this heat to to the water in both the hot water tank and the Flo auxiliary hot water tank to provide hot water.  On the TaB400 going to max shower setting (full shaded area), increases the circulation between the Alde main boiler and the Flo aux tank to provide almost continuous hot water (for a shower).  If cabin heat is set to heat the cabin, the circulation pump will also be shut off for 20-30 min in max shower setting, to transfer max heat to the water.

The Alde controls the pumps, and heats the glycol/water.  The cabin heat circulation pump heats the cabin by circulating the hot glycol into the heating convectors (little radiators) located under or behind the TaBs built in furniture.
Hope this simplified explanation helps.
 Cheers 

Sharon_is_SAM

Now I remember.  When TaBs appeared with the 3020, the difference is that you can turn off the hot water completely as compared to the 3010 which does not have that option.  So, yes, the “triangle “ needs to be half filled for the Alde to heat water.