MySwag.org The Off-road Camper Trailer Forum
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: Stylemaster70 on July 15, 2015, 09:53:50 AM
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Hey swaggers, I'm heading up to Pebbly Beach Coffs Harbour next week and looking at last nights temps up there I'm thinking of heating.
Can I run a blow heater for say 15 mins through the inverter in the car if the car is running? or will it be too much draw?
It's just to take the chill out of the air when the kids hop into bed.
Or am I better off with a butane heater? I know they are not safe to sleep with on. Just on for 10 mins while we are outside.
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Any form of heating draws large amounts of energy. Typical fan heaters are in the 1200w / 5A @ 240v bracket which by the time you get it down to 12v going to be 60A.
It is possible to get inverters that will give that sort of juice but you are going to seriously hammer your battery, and it really isn't a good idea. If you want to heat using electricity use the mains and stay in a Caravan Park.
Otherwise look at some form of safe fuel based heating - running a naked flame such as a propane heater is not one of these - you have the risks of fire and CO.
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Thanks Ben, you confirmed my suspicions. I have a gas hot water system in the camper and have just contacted Goldstream about retro fitting a heater to it.
Thanks for the reply
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Yup - that is probably the best option - we have a Eberspacher Diesel heater in ours and it really rocks. We were camped in -5c recently and it kept the camper at a comfortable 18C. Not a cheap addition but well worth it as it means I can persuade the family to camp most of the way through the year. Winter camping can be great as you get the best spots to yourselves :-)
There have just been far too many accidents with people either setting fire to their tents or from CO poisoning, and as it is a tent just running the heater for five or ten minutes will not do much as canvas doesn't keep the heat in too well - so you will end up running the heater for longer and whilst you are in the camper.
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What about an electric blanket or rug, can run off an inverter, relatively cheap, safe.
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http://www.coleman.com/product/2000004165#.VaWrNk0w_RY (http://www.coleman.com/product/2000004165#.VaWrNk0w_RY)
these work a treat.
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Might have to look at the Electric blankets D4D. It more when we are getting changed for bed though. We have great sleeping bags and thermals.
Bird are those ones the heaters Ben was saying are dangerous? That's the way I wanted to head because that is the cheapest way.
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Might have to look at the Electric blankets D4D. It more when we are getting changed for bed though. We have great sleeping bags and thermals.
Put your thermals on earlier in the day, that way they're already warm and you can quickly strip your clothes off and jump into a pre-warmed bed/bag.
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Might have to look at the Electric blankets D4D. It more when we are getting changed for bed though. We have great sleeping bags and thermals.
Bird are those ones the heaters Ben was saying are dangerous? That's the way I wanted to head because that is the cheapest way.
dunno.. have 2.. had them over 8 years no problems so far.... first time used them was in a tent at -4 at Pineapple Flat.
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Make up a gas version of this using Birds coleman heater outside in a box https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPw36OUrJgc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPw36OUrJgc) or find one of these http://zodi.com/tent-heaters (http://zodi.com/tent-heaters)
Did you say you have a gas hot water unit .. rig up a car heater core and fan running of it ..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWQzmG6qUB0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWQzmG6qUB0) 2nd vid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDl_E1fWsro (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDl_E1fWsro)
should be available pretty easy from the U.S.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzOyajy4bzw (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzOyajy4bzw)
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http://www.myswag.org/index.php?topic=43729.msg737026#msg737026 (http://www.myswag.org/index.php?topic=43729.msg737026#msg737026)
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Might have to look at the Electric blankets D4D. It more when we are getting changed for bed though. We have great sleeping bags and thermals.
Bird are those ones the heaters Ben was saying are dangerous? That's the way I wanted to head because that is the cheapest way.
Yes - whilst they may be safer and have a lower risk due to the lack of a naked flame testing still shows that they deplete the O2 and when the O2 levels drop they do have the potential to create CO.
Have a look at this report essentially they say the biggest issue is the degradation of O2 and go on to suggest CO isn't such a large issue but there is one key sentence in the report that frightens me : "CPSC is aware of one CO poisoning death that occurred while a catalytic heater was being used in a confined space"
https://www.cpsc.gov/PageFiles/103972/CO03.pdf (https://www.cpsc.gov/PageFiles/103972/CO03.pdf)
One (reported) death is still to high personally I wouldn't take the risk.
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used a camping gas heater attached to the top of an lpg tank one easter on Stockton beach, that kept us warm enough in the tent while we were sitting and reading (and changing) but we had tracksuits on to help absorb the warmth - and it was only easter . don't think it will be too much of an issue at coffs as the eldest has been grizzling about not being able to sell his firewood up there at the moment...
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one (reported) death is still to high personally I wouldn't take the risk.
I Don't want to sound Harsh, But I think there would be a higher risk driving to Coffs Harbour. I use a Little Buddy portable gas heater for about 1 hour before we go to bed, I have a 2 way zipper on our doorway that I leave open a small way at the top and bottom. the let the bad gases out. so far I have woken up every morning after doing this. Darren[/quote]
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Let your head go, install a diesel heater :cheers: :cheers:
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I Don't want to sound Harsh, But I think there would be a higher risk driving to Coffs Harbour. I use a Little Buddy portable gas heater for about 1 hour before we go to bed,
yep... great minds... 1000 buys a lot of canisters that u can fill yaself
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"One (reported) death is still to high personally I wouldn't take the risk."
"I Don't want to sound Harsh, But I think there would be a higher risk driving to Coffs Harbour."
Love this site - always good valid arguments both ways. On both counts we need to be careful - I was glad we were half a day behind the truck that went off the single lane highway stretch south of Coffs a few months back - there are wires down the centre of the roda but I'd still hate to have a semi come across on me on that stretch
From what I have seen of these blow heaters, they don't pump fumes into the camper, just warm air? Even so it would be less dense than air at ambient temperature - as for us, we turn pretty well everything off before we climb into bed no matter what the weather is. Nobody ever said camping brought nor had to have all the comforts of home - if it did we may as well stay home!
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Has anyone tried or got ideas about this?
http://www.bunnings.com.au/gasmate-portable-butane-outdoor-gas-heater_p3170715#
Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk
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Has anyone tried or got ideas about this?
http://www.bunnings.com.au/gasmate-portable-butane-outdoor-gas-heater_p3170715# (http://www.bunnings.com.au/gasmate-portable-butane-outdoor-gas-heater_p3170715#)
I would expect it to work the same as the black cat.. but those cans freeze in cold weather when in use...
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Just buy the 240 volt 2000 watt cheap heater and run it from a generator all night
This will also keep your neighbours happy ;D
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http://www.coleman.com/product/2000004165#.VaWrNk0w_RY (http://www.coleman.com/product/2000004165#.VaWrNk0w_RY)
these work a treat.
I noticed Coleman doesn't have any heaters on the Australian site. Do they still import any?
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Thanks for the great ideas everyone.
Just got a price back to have the gas heater hooked up.......$2900!!!!! That's a lot of fun coupons.
Yeah I think I will get the really noisy generator to run everything.....after all Im staying in a National Park.
Nah I'm getting a 1000w inverter and hooking up a couple of electric blankets.
The weather forecast is looking up anyway. :cheers:
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Thanks for the great ideas everyone.
Just got a price back to have the gas heater hooked up.......$2900!!!!! That's a lot of fun coupons.
Yeah I think I will get the really noisy generator to run everything.....after all Im staying in a National Park.
Nah I'm getting a 1000w inverter and hooking up a couple of electric blankets.
The weather forecast is looking up anyway. :cheers:
You could get the 'Snugger Remote' in a frame only...
http://www.dieselheatingaustralia.com/products-pricing/snugger-remote-sf2-diesel-heater/ (http://www.dieselheatingaustralia.com/products-pricing/snugger-remote-sf2-diesel-heater/)
Then add a standard 2KW heater...
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/2KW-12-24V-air-parking-heater-for-diesel-truck-boat-car-caravan-Webasto-Snugger-eberspaecher-type/830189_32237681595.html (http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/2KW-12-24V-air-parking-heater-for-diesel-truck-boat-car-caravan-Webasto-Snugger-eberspaecher-type/830189_32237681595.html)
Would come in a lot cheaper that the other option.
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IMWO $1500 is still Shit loads...
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Has anyone tried or got ideas about this?
http://www.bunnings.com.au/gasmate-portable-butane-outdoor-gas-heater_p3170715# (http://www.bunnings.com.au/gasmate-portable-butane-outdoor-gas-heater_p3170715#)
same element as our lpg unit - think the propane burns slightly hotter - both are even higher in blow torches (which hopefully isn't an issue here!)
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Just got a price back to have the gas heater hooked up.......$2900!!!!! That's a lot of fun coupons.
yes you are correct, it's a lot of money. What I will add to that though is....long after you forget about the cost, you'll still be loving the decision to get it installed.
We have a Webasto diesel heater and hot water system in our camper, I honestly have no idea what they cost when we got them added in at purchase time (it was thousands), all I know is both items are worth every cent we paid for them. The heater works wonders for both heating when cold and drying the canvas when wet from rain...used it a bucket load of times over the past 4 years.