Electric Heater for Sleeping in Truck?
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I have a truck with a raised topper and a bed in the back. It's been a great way to camp and is really flexible so I don't want to get a camper insert or a pull-behind. The only problem is that I haven't found a way to heat it at night for winter camping. My wife tends to get sick after a few days of breathing cold air while camping so I want to try to heat the back. |
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Of all the heaters listed on your link only one of them has power consumption specs listed but let's assume they are all similar and draw 180 watts. 180 watts at 12v is using 15 amps. If you are just running it off your starting battery lets assume it has a 60 amp hour capacity. One of these small heaters would fully deplete your battery in 4 hours. Not only that but a starting battery isn't designed to be fully depleted so you would actually ruin it pretty quickly. |
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Thanks for all of the info Tyson! That's a huge help. Do you happen to know anything about the Mr Heater Little Buddy? The $800 heater is a bit more than I was planning. My concern with propane (besides fire hazard in a confined space) is that it will heat up the whole area in about 3 minutes and then I'll have to turn it off... and that game will go on every 30 minutes or hour all night long. Am I way off base? Do you have any other recommendations for me? |
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Tyson Anderson wrote:Of all the heaters listed on your link only one of them has power consumption specs listed but let's assume they are all similar and draw 180 watts. 180 watts at 12v is using 15 amps. If you are just running it off your starting battery lets assume it has a 60 amp hour capacity. One of these small heaters would fully deplete your battery in 4 hours. Not only that but a starting battery isn't designed to be fully depleted so you would actually ruin it pretty quickly. If you were to install an aux battery in your truck you could have deep cycle batteries that are designed to be fully drained and have a larger capacity. I have two golf cart batteries in my van and combined they give me 220 amp hours at 12V when fully charged. Even with this much battery you would deplete them in only 14 hours and then would have a hard time charging them back up for the next night unless you did a lot of driving. Propane is the way to go here...electric heaters draw a ton of power. I use a catalytic heater and it works great. Just remember to crack a window. If you want a heater with a thermostat look up propex or webasto. I'd love one of these but don't want to spend $800+ for it.I used the catalytic converter propane heater once... was totally sketched. With the window cracked of course... but still I had a hard time thinking that the cracked window didn't just defeat the purpose of heating. Like all the heat is escaping out the window as fast as the little propane heater could produce it. That being said they do throw off a bunch of heat. |
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Insulate everything possible... |
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Thanks Cor. Yeah the propane catalytic certainly seems like the way to go for efficiency but I have two main concerns. |
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Electric heaters absolutely guzzle electricity. You would need a bank of about four deep cycle 80AH batteries and a high output alternator to charge them. That 180W heater probably wont do much to keep you warm in extreme cold. Most space heaters are 1500W. An electric heater for a house in an air exchanger is typically no less than 5000W. |
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Camco Wave Catalytic Heaters are much better than the little buddy heaters and are set up to be hooked to a large propane bottle. Little buddy heaters also will not function at very high altitudes where the Camco will work to at least 10,000 feet. |
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One problem with the tank outside at night in those super cold temps is that the regulator can freeze up a bit. This hampers the flow of gas. I don't know if it's a issue with such a small has flow to begin with, or not... I do know it was an issue trying to do a turkey fry outside at night / super cold. |
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The MR. Heater will work fine. I have used one for years in MT and never had a problem with it. Get a hose, crack the windows or heat up the camper and shut it off. Get the hose made at any propane refill outfit, They will make you one of any length you want. Ask for the best valve available on the hose that connects to the tank, and you'll never have a problem with it freezing. Small 5-7 gallon tanks last a long time and are easy store. The tanks are more expensive but worth it IMO. Get a carbon monoxide detector, cheap and a must have just to be safe. |
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Thanks everyone! I ordered a little buddy and hose to hook to a 20lb tank. Will be testing over the thanksgiving holiday. I'll let you all know how it works out! |
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Justin Nyberg wrote: ^^^^ Spam. |
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Cor wrote: One problem with the tank outside at night in those super cold temps is that the regulator can freeze up a bit. This hampers the flow of gas. I don't know if it's a issue with such a small has flow to begin with, or not... It is an issue, I've had this problem with a Buddy Heater where it froze up and wouldn't start. A few minutes inside the sleeping bag with a human fixed the problem. It shouldn't need to be said, but the heater was off while it was in my sleeping bag. I go to a winter camping festival where a lot of people use this system. I have a carbon monoxide detector and it has never gone off (my tent probably isn't airtight enough) but other people in more airtight structures have had them go off. So I think having a CO detector is a good idea. |
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You could look into Wabesto or Espar heaters. Not cheep, but low power consumption and a thermostat that keeps everything at a set temp. |
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The regular size Mr Buddy heater has worked great in my truckbed. We typically run it for 15-20 min before bed, then tuck in for the night. In the morning it gets run for a couple minutes again and that's it. Little green tanks last several days or more with this use. I can only remember one night, at -10 F outside when I had to turn it on mid-night to stay warm. |
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I know this is crazy - but what about running a gas generator outside a vehicle through the night |
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Eat beans during the day so you can naturally heat your truck at night! |
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Wendy Miller wrote: I know this is crazy - but what about running a gas generator outside a vehicle through the night Just be kind to any neighbors. Even the quiet generators are loud at 2 in the morning. |
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Briggs Lazalde wrote: I was thinking camp neighbors, but you have a point. |