Electric heater for campershell camping

Hi everyone,

My girlfriend and I are planning on going camping in Utah, but she is worried it will be too cold in the shell (low of 20F). We have sleeping bags rated for 30F on 2 inches of foam with the entire shell being insulated, but she demands a heater. I want to stay away from inside propane heaters and stick with electrical heaters, but am having trouble deciding on a power source. Would a battery box be able to power an electrical heater for 3 nights or would I need to look into another solution?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

Any electrical heater pulls a lot of current and would likely drain an average 12V battery in a short amount of time. This is compounded by any air leaks around the cap and general lack of insulation. I've strongly considered winter camping in my trucks in the past, but I'm facing the same dilemma!

I know they are loud and annoying, but you might have to resort to a small gas generator outside the truck to supply power.

 

I use a small 12V electric blanket (inside my sleeping bag) that easily keeps me warm all night at <30F:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MVMF9WF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It does not drain my battery, but then again I have a 200W solar setup with two 100A-hr deep cycle SLA batteries that hold up very well to the current draw. I would down to about 65% charge after one night, but my systems is back to full charge by the end of the evening. I calculate that it would be enough to power 2 blankets too (if needed).

I don't think it would last 3 nights though w/o recharging. My setup though was meant to be a capable camping setup using a truck Leer cap.

Here's my build:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-storage-systems.424709/page-77#post-19940507

 

Let's say you've got a 50 watt heater.

50 watts / 12V = 4.1 amps

Three nights is about 24 hours.

4.1 amps *24 hours = 98.4 Ah

So, a 50w heater is going to need 100Ah of battery.


A 50w heater isn't very much.


I would double down on more blankets. If the cap is insulated and has no real air leaks, you should be plenty cozy without heat.

 

Has anyone used those mr. Heater gas heaters inside an enclosed area (tent, RV, camper shell)? I seen a video on YouTube where a guy put multiple mr. Heater inside his RV with digital carbon monoxide detectors in front of them for multiple hours without any of the detectors going off or showing any signs of carbon monoxide.

 

^^^ I was skeered to try a Mr. Buddy...I also didn't want condensate all over the inside (if I were to wake up the next day)

 

Thank you everyone. I'm just gonna get some thick wool blankets.

Tsab916- I found the review below on Amazon. If I was to use one of these heaters indoors I would definitely buy a carbon monoxide detector.

Review from Amazon: Be forewarned! After using this four times without problems for about 30 mins each, it started to set off my CO alarm EVERY time between 20 and 50 mins. I changed the alarm to make sure, but the new alarm gave the same warning: Carbon Monoxide!! Yes, I did have a window open for air. I contacted the company (via their website) but did not get a response. Bad enough to have a faulty product, but a company that does not take this problem seriously cannot be trusted with such a critical situation!!
Update: two more email attempts to ‘support’: no answer. Chat box on the website just gave an automated response call this number (so helpful...). Calling number...voicemail! Like others wrote: horrendous support. Correction: NO SUPPORT

 

BTW,I like to camp in southern UT. Picture in my sig is from Cathedral Valley. I imagine it is starting to getting close to freezing at night up there...

 

I bet you're right. I was camped in Utah early September last year NE of SLC. Woke up to ice on my tent and my watch said it had been 34 in my tent all night. Brrr, was not setup for winter.

 

Cool pic! Its going to be around 20F at night when we go. Hopefully our water doesn't freeze!

 

Should be alright. Only freezing I've had on camping trips was on CamelBak hoses left out. Anything inside of something else is usually alrite.


Except for feet. Feet are always freezing for no reason.

 

@Freefolk
let me know where you're going in Utah. I know most of the state, especially the southwest

 

I'm curious how your shell is insulated. The older aluminum clad shells were the easiest to insulate since you could install Dow board between the spars. In my fiberglass ARE I tent a wool blanket over me when it's really cold, suspended over some 550 cord tied to the interior rings.

If you haven't already got some, get some insulated curtains or some way of covering the windows, i.e. Reflectix. The glass is the biggest area where most RVs, campers, etc. lose heat. Seal leaky areas such as around the cubbies. Insulate underneath you; you can buy foam mats that will help. Avoid uninsulated air mattresses. Blankets, comforters, quilts or opened up sleeping bags used as a comforter can greatly extend your comfort range. Wear a hat to bed. Toss a water bottle full of hot water into the foot of your bag before climbing in; those little heater packs work as well but the water bottle gives you the bonus feature of having water and not ice to use in the morning. One of those Thermacare back warmers applied before bedtime will help keep you warm all night.

The Buddy heaters are really too large for in the back of the truck unless you have an actual camper; they take up a lot of room. Since heat rises they also get the carpet above them really hot, at least when I tried one. The bed area is so small it very quickly got too hot anyways. What I have now, and very rarely use, is a much smaller, single head heater that screws onto one of the camping butane cartridges that I bought off of ebay. Heating up the area only takes a few minutes, then I shut it off and go to sleep. I'll fire it back up in the morning to get dressed then cut it off again. You've got to be really careful though as the whole head gets hot and would be very easy to bump.

 

I do about the same thing as you, Baja. I use a Buddy Heater inside my ice fishing shack, which is an insulated, portable, flip over style ice shack. I've used Buddy Heaters for years. I sleep in my shanty overnight in temps of 15 below and sometimes even colder than that in Northern Maine. I have a CO detector with me always and usually leave the vents open. I do not usually leave it on at all overnight, even at 15F below zero, and sleep comfortably. I have a huge, zero degree mummy bag and a 3.5" self inflating air mattress from REI. Usually I just get the shanty as hot as possible before I crawl into the wrapper. Even at 15 below, the buddy heater gets the shanty to 70F no problem. Then I seal it up tight and crawl in for the night. The heater is close to me so when I wake up I can fire it up and heat the shanty before I get up. Works awesome. But I have a lot more room than the bed of a truck.

 

I just got back from Utah and already want to go back. We found a nice boondocking spot outside of Zion by the ghost town Grafton overlooking Zion (pic).

I bought a thick wool blanket we put over the sleeping back and then turned on the Buddy Heater for 10mins before we went to bed. I velcroed a carbon monoxide detector to the top of the shell just incase. All in all it was pretty warm, on the 2nd night it actually got too hot and we had to open the windows.

I like the idea of insulating the glass though and not using the Buddy. I put a shelf in and had the Buddy on low and it heats up the ceiling a bit much.

 

I use the a Mr.Buddy, its a bit overkill even on low but if you leave a good portion of a window open or cracked we barely get any condensation.

I think the mini version would produce the right amount of heat.

 

Awesome pic!! We just moved to southwestern CO 2 years ago. We really need to get over to UT and do the 5 National Park tour. Maybe when my daughter comes home from college over Christmas or spring break we can go do it. Ha....then we'll be doing all the tips on the thread.

 

You should put the detector down low. With it mounted on the top your probably going to be in trouble by the time it goes off.

 

Put a Nalgene bottle full of boiling water in your sleeping bag. It will keep you warm all night.

 

It doesn’t melt the nalgene?