Trailer Heating Query! Need impute!

[Brantime]

Greetings All!

First off let me say that even though it is 106-108 degrees here, I am thinking of camping when it is cool, lol!

I just received my new canvas and while I haven't put it on yet (see heat above, lol) it has stirred the camping juices, so to speak.

I have an older Gettysburg (1976) that wasn't equipped with any heat source, other than the propane stove. I know, I know, this is not a heat source, lol, just making a point!

We generally camp with full hookups and use an electric portable floor heater...however, we spent a couple of weeks up at Rocky Mountain National Park, and these sites have no hookups. It was July 4th so the temps never went below 45 at night, so it was great!

Question...What type of heat is preferable when camping with no hookups?

My wife and I love to camp when it is cool/cold, but I would like to have a more reliable way to warn up at night.

Being from Texas, you never really have extremely cold weather for long periods of time, but there are those times when you need heat!

We are also getting to the point of taking our popup on these longer road trips to save cost on lodging. You know, more savings on trips...more trips you area able to take,  

Thanks for any suggestions or comments!

Mark

[AustinBoston]

First off let me say that even though it is 106-108 degrees here, I am thinking of camping when it is cool, lol!

What better time is there to think about cool than when it's hot?

We generally camp with full hookups and use an electric portable floor heater...however, we spent a couple of weeks up at Rocky Mountain National Park, and these sites have no hookups. It was July 4th so the temps never went below 45 at night, so it was great!

Question...What type of heat is preferable when camping with no hookups?

My wife and I love to camp when it is cool/cold, but I would like to have a more reliable way to warm up at night.

Sorry, wrong forum...we are not marriage counselors...  :yikes:

Seriously, though, if we are at an electric site, we use an electric ceramic heater (unless it is just too cold for that).  Then we fire up our propane furnace.  I have no idea how involved putting a furnace into your '76 Gettysburg would be, so that's probably impractical.

A popular accessory with some is the Buddy by Mr. Heater.  It runs off 1-lb propane bottles and has an oxygen sensor to shut it off if conditions are right for it to start producing deadly carbon monoxide.  It's supposed to be safe when used correctly, but there is something about sleeping with exhaust fumes (oxygen sensor or not) that rubs me the wrong way.

I have heard of some having problems with it at high altitudes because there already is less oxygen in the air.

We are also getting to the point of taking our popup on these longer road trips to save cost on lodging. You know, more savings on trips...more trips you area able to take,  

That's my kind of thinking!

Austin

[dthurk]

We never got to the point that we needed propane heat, we always camped with plugins and used ceramic electric.  That worked fine for us.

If we had to go to propane heat, I would have investigated the catalytic propane heaters.  They're supposed to be a very low flame heat.  How they would do that, I have no idea, but the concept seemed intriguing.  I don't know if the Mr. Buddy Heater is of that category or not.  I would recommend checking into the catalytic propane, at any rate.  This would be an example.

[tlhdoc]

I have the Buddy heater and it does a good job, if we close the curtains on the bunkends.  We have camped in the PU, down in to the single digets Fahrenheit using the AC's heating element and 1 or 2 plug in electric heaters.

[chkster]

Mr. buddy Heater and reflectix mod.in windows keeps us toasty. We also have popup gizmos.

[Old Goat]

WE use a Holmes electric ceramic heater[under 20 bucks at Wally M] for heating at night and a Buddy for heating during the day. WE cook inside in cold weather which also helps...I installed 3/4" blue foam in the bunks and replaced the 3" foam mattress with a new 4" one. The bunks are very warm and more comfortable now. DW made new curtains which are longer and heavier than the originals and they have no top vents on the bunk ends. The bunk ends can now be closed off during the day which cuts down on heat loss..The heavier material in the curtains is added insulation and has really made a big difference by making the insides warmer in cold weather and also cooler with the AC....

We always open the top vent on the door when using the Buddy heater and cooking..

[Brantime]

Howdy Fellow Campers!

First off, thanks for all the suggestions and comments (Austin, lol) concerning my query on PU heating! (I will be more sensative to my DW's needs, lol!)

I guess I have the same qualms as Austin does when it comes to sleeping at night with the potential fume problem.

I do not know the actual percent of problems that the "Holmes" electric ceramic heater, or, the Buddy by Mr. Heater have when it comes to producing the deadly carbon monoxide!

I wonder if the PU's have enough fresh air seeping into the camper so that this is a mute point anyway?

I will check into the furnace cost and feasability, as well as checking into the specs on the above mentioned heaters!

We just returned from a 6 night stay at about 9200'and had a few surprizes due to the altitude!

First off, you can not see the propane flames very well at this altitude when cooking! The food cooks differently! All of our bags of food expanded to the bursting point...pretty cool looking, lol!

Again thanks to the collective group for helping! Happy camping to you all!

Mark

[AustinBoston]

I do not know the actual percent of problems that the "Holmes" electric ceramic heater, or, the Buddy by Mr. Heater have when it comes to producing the deadly carbon monoxide!

I doubt anyone does.  That information would be fodder for a class action suit, even if it was an extremely low number.

I wonder if the PU's have enough fresh air seeping into the camper so that this is a mute point anyway?

All propane burning appliances that do not have their own vent to the outside require that a window be left open to supply adequate fresh air.  Even if there was no carbon monoxide issue, you would still need it because buring propane produces large amounts of water vapor that can condense and collect on canvas and other surfaces in cold weather.  With a window open, it's much less of a problem.

We just returned from a 6 night stay at about 9200'and had a few surprizes due to the altitude!

First off, you can not see the propane flames very well at this altitude when cooking! The food cooks differently! All of our bags of food expanded to the bursting point...pretty cool looking, lol!

Yup, pressure happens, and when going up, it happens in reverse.  At 10,000 feet (pressure equivalent), pilots are required to have oxygen.  At 15,000 feet, passengers are required to have oxygen...

Austin