Question On Heater

[4U2NV]

We (fam. & I) went out last weekend for the 1st time in our new to us PU. It is a 1984 Skamper 240C. We had the greatest time and my daughter who does not like the outdoors asked when we are going again. What a great feeling.
 Only down side to the weekend was Friday night got down to the lower 40's. While this is not cold foe me the fam were freezing.. My qiestion is what are the plusses and minuses to an electrical heater? Do you use them and if so for how long? All night only to warm up the PU at bedtime and in the morning. Thanks for the help...

[sacrawf]

Congratulations on your new camper.  Properly prepared, popups can be enjoyed far into the off-season. I recommend all of the following, which should keep your family reasonably comfortable into the upper 20's:

Down Comforters, pack small and are reasonably priced at Kohls, come in zippered plastic storage bags. These keep the heat in well, and are used in conjuntion with heated matresses or electric blankets.

Electrically heated mattresses on new campers, but electric blankets otherwise. (Since heat rises, and the heated matresses available in new campers don't take up any extra room, the matresses make more sense than electric blankets, but both do the trick).

Fleece throws, often available for $5 each, keep laps warm when around the fire or at the camper table, and double as quick seat covers for the tow vehicle when the kids (or their parents) have gotten dirty enjoying the outdoors.

Rubber-backed throw rugs for the camper floor provide more insulation and feel better on bare or stocking feet.

Foam strips available at home improvement stores, aproximately 1 1/2 inch square strips of grey foam about 3 feet long, are inexpensive but quickly can be stuffed anywhere there is a hint of draft coming into the camper.

A factory installed Gas Furnace in a popup is first choice.  The furnace is a bit noisier, but works better/faster to keep warm, and can be run off of the battery for dry camping.  We turn the thermostat down at night to about 45 to 50 degrees because of the electric matresses and down comforters.

I have also used a portable electric heater.  Doesn't work as well as the furnace, but it takes the chill off eventually, and isn't as loud. I kept it on all night, making sure it wasn't close to anything flammible.

Unlimited quantities of hot chocolate, hot cider, hot tea, and coffee, all made quickly available with an electric Mr Coffee type coffee maker, keeps all feeling warmer.

Taking the kids (and self) shopping for camping specific clothing is a way to keep them excited about the next trip.  Quality heavy wool hiking socks are a great help.  Campmor catalog always has heavily discounted kids outdoors clothing.  I wish they were around when my kids were young.

Keep busy.  Engaging conversation, story telling, and games keep the mind active and off of the temperature, while passively reading or watching a movie seems to make one more aware of the cold.

I haven't added yet, but plan to:
A vinyl roof elastic cover for the roof AC to prevent warm air loss through the AC housing.
Pop-up Gizmos bunk end covers to provide additional insulation and reduce interior condensation.
Custom cut and bound removable full-camper carpet (I might put this off more if I still had young ones)

We (fam. & I) went out last weekend for the 1st time in our new to us PU. It is a 1984 Skamper 240C. We had the greatest time and my daughter who does not like the outdoors asked when we are going again. What a great feeling.
 Only down side to the weekend was Friday night got down to the lower 40's. While this is not cold foe me the fam were freezing.. My qiestion is what are the plusses and minuses to an electrical heater? Do you use them and if so for how long? All night only to warm up the PU at bedtime and in the morning. Thanks for the help...

[oreo57]

We dry camp mostly and the first thing up is the Gizmo's, great in the winter or summer months (reversable) Our pup has a furnace which I've modified the thermosat so now it work's , we would say about 70% more effeciant than normal because in a pup the t-stats are mounted low ( see my www below). Extra blankets when needed. We dont have heated mattress pads but then we normally camp without hookups so we try to take care of the battery. We live in So. Cal so unless we go high campimg it doesn't really get to cold at least not below freezing.When we have hookups we use electric heaters.

[harleywolf]

We live in NoCal were the evenings, even in the later summers months can get cold, into the low 40

[austinado16]

Welcome!
If you search the forum archives for both the "General" and the "Dry Camping," and maybe even in the "Campfire" headings you'll find all sorts of threads on this topic.

Your choice in heat may be dictated by what kind of camping you do most.  For example, if you plan to always be plugged into shore power, then an electric heater might be your simple, inexpensive easiest solution.  If you'll mostly be dry camping (ie, not hooked to shore power and surviving on your camper's 12 volt battery power) then you might looking into an onboard forced air furnace that fits inside your cabinet space somewhere, blows hot air out into the camper and has an intake/exhaust pipe mounted on the exterior side of the camper.  Or, you might consider something like the Olympian Wave 3 or Wave 6 Catalytic Heaters which run on just propane.

Just remember, if you use something (other than a real forced air furnace for RV's) that burns propane, you need to provide adequate cross-flow ventilation so the unit doesn't use up your oxygen, and doesn't wind up polluting your air with Carbon Monoxide and killing all of you in your sleep.

We have a forced air that I added and I also have a Wave 6 which we've used all night long and it kept us toasty, and didn't make any noise, or use up any battery power.

Good Luck!