Power and heat options?

[Greenfaraway]

Trying to sort out heat and electric for this coming winter. Besides my twin bed put in last week, all I need for comfort is power for my laptop and an appropriate heater to take the edge off the coldest nights of winter.

The current plan is a second deep cycle battery mounted behind the drivers seat along with an inverter. (not particularly sure of appropriate sizes, amps, volts or watts) Link it up to my starter battery in such a way that it charges while driving and disconnects when stopped. The hope is to run a very small electric space heater of the secondary battery just to take the edge off when temps get proper canadian cold or warming up during those transitions to and from bed. I've been told space heaters suck batteries dry (especially in the cold), Is it practical to run a small economical electric heater off a good battery? ... Could I charge it from AC when I can find it? Would the cold do it in??

I will be driving regularly, but may want it for extended ski touring trips. I'm considering propane since dependability is key for me, but not sure I want to drill for intake and exhaust. ...and not sure I trust the small propane heaters without proper ventilation. Don't mind forking out some capital for this important add-on.

Votes for best option?

[FalcoColumbarius]

Firstly, what are you driving? It would help immensely if we knew what the subject matter is.

Secondly, where are you based? Knowing what environment you are dealing with would make all the difference. The answers are quite different if you are based on ~ say, the Island or if you are in..... Tuktoyaktuk.

Falco.

[fexlboi]

The hope is to run a very small electric space heater of the secondary battery just to take the edge off when temps get proper canadian cold or warming up during those transitions to and from bed. I've been told space heaters suck batteries dry (especially in the cold), Is it practical to run a small economical electric heater off a good battery?

An electric heater, even a small one, will suck your battery down in no time. You probably would need a whole battery bank. If the heater is too small, you won't feel much difference in terms of temperature. Just dress up quicker
What kind of outside temperatures are you talking about?

Don't mind forking out some capital for this important add-on.

If you don't mind to spend a few more $, go with a Diesel air heater. http://espar.com/html/products/airheaters.html

[FredVenne]

Don't mind forking out some capital for this important add-on.

If you don't mind to spend a few more $, go with a Diesel air heater. http://espar.com/html/products/airheaters.html[/quote]


Or Webasto... I have one, trust me it’s worth it.

[Firesong]

This is what I do in the winter,
Once a month regardless of temps I sleep in the
van when im on my trip to Northern AB
Simply turn the idle up and run it all night if it's going to be
the really cold subs and have the heat going.
That way you won't get moisture buildup from propane in
your van and it really doesn't use that much diesel over night.
Did it all winter last season. You have to make sure you idle it
up though or else the motor won't be warm enough at normal
idle.
What's 5$ of diesel to idle compared to buying a heater,
or any setup like that if you have to fork out lots of money
initially.

Put in your extra battery and get a battery isolator from
Princess auto. Not to expensive there.

I just got my removable table setup done friday and it
worked good this last weekend.

Firesong

[Greenfaraway]

We're talking about up to -30 C in a Revelstoke winter. The vehicle in question is a 92 deli lowroof still in need of some insulation.

Thanks for the posts

[madmazda]

what I plan on doing is getting some of that silver bubble wrap insulating plastic and cutting it to the shape of all the windows as the glass is the place where you will loose the most btu's the infiltration rate of the glass alone will be more than the walls and roof of the deli as there is an air space which will hold off a bit of the cold air....

[92pajero]

Well a battery isolator can be bought or buy a fender well mounted solenoid for a ford. That way you can trickle charge the second battery while you are driving and it will not draw from the main. The second reason for this is if you ever kill the main battery you can flip a switch and use the second battery to assist in start up. If course you have to wire a toggle switch into the solenoid to perform the assist in starting but you will not need the switch installed to keep it trickle charging while driving.

[TardisDeli]

Isolator will work for charging a second battery but you will need jumper cables or a battery switch to join them together for jump starting th starter battery.Solenoid system is what we use in our Deli but not a Ford one,it can't handle contiuous use or starting a Deli.You need a solenoid that can handle 275 amps for Deli starting. The one i got is made by Blue sea a bit pricey but very good. Cheers Jay Tardis Deli

[Movendi]

This is what I do in the winter,
Once a month regardless of temps I sleep in the
van when im on my trip to Northern AB
Simply turn the idle up and run it all night if it's going to be
the really cold subs and have the heat going.
That way you won't get moisture buildup from propane in
your van and it really doesn't use that much diesel over night.
Did it all winter last season. You have to make sure you idle it
up though or else the motor won't be warm enough at normal
idle.
What's 5$ of diesel to idle compared to buying a heater,
or any setup like that if you have to fork out lots of money
initially.

Put in your extra battery and get a battery isolator from
Princess auto. Not to expensive there.

I just got my removable table setup done friday and it
worked good this last weekend.

Firesong

That sounds very dangerous and bad to your health from the carbon monoxide.

Also the idea of sleeping in a vehicle with all windows close could also result in carbon monoxide poisining, sounds risky but i'd also love to try to sleep a few nights at revelstoke winters.

Interested in how to get my l400 started up with a block heater and how to keep it warm during the night.

[nvanadm]

If you already have your deep cycle battery / isolator / inverter set up installed you may want to consider just using a heated mattress pad. Why heat the whole van or buy an expensive heater when YOU just want to be warm.
We have one for our bed at home (king size), so we will be getting another one (full size) for the Delica.

http://www.sunbeam.com/ProductDetailBed ... g&pid=6766

It works amazing...wife has her own control, I have mine. It has a pre-heat option that will run on HI for 30 mins then go to whatever level it was set to last. Has ten temp setting and a 10hr auto shut off.

Can't wait to do some winter camping this year!

[nvanadm]

[/quote]Interested in how to get my l400 started up with a block heater and how to keep it warm during the night.[/quote]

If you have an inverter installed, can't you just run an extension cord from your inverter to the block heater for a half-hour to hour before you need to start the van? Not sure if the deep cycle/secondary battery would last that long. Worth a shot though.