Heaters and tents

[TTown]

Long time camper, first time on this forum. We are avid tent campers, but my wife has been cold the last couple of times out and wants to keep warm. I am leary about putting a heater in a tent due to fire and ventilation issues.

I am looking for ideas to SAFELY warm up our tent during the cold nights. I am looking into a Honda generator but fear the noise even on the EU2000i (53-59 dB) might disturb the neighbors. Propane heaters make me nervous because of the carbon monoxide.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Does anyone have the EU2000i Honda generator and used it at night? If so does it make too much noise that would bother the neighbors?

Thank you in advance.

[renodesertfox]

"Might disturb the neighbors." Yep, no-doubt-about-it....you will disturb the neighbors and your wife too! Try sleeping next to one!

Here is some useful info on the "Buddy Heater":


Designed and approved for emergency indoor & outdoor use.
Automatic low oxygen shutoff system.
Accidental tip-over safety shutoff.
Heats up to 400 sq. ft.(Our 3 season tent is 100 sq. feet & Our Kodiak 4 season tent is 9x12). Yes! we are toasty!!
Connects directly to two 1 lb. disposable cylinders or to a 20 lb. cylinder w/optional hose.
CSA certified

The direct website is:http://www.mrheater.com however, we found less expensive prices at http://www.amazon.com & http://www.sunnysports.com.

The propane tank is a fiberglass composite from http://www.rvsupplywarehouse.com. The product name is Lite Cylinder Composite LP Tank, 20lb(yellow). The company offered free shipping after spending x dollars. So we purchased some other useful items and the total price was around $100. I like the fiberglass models very much. Lighter to haul around the campsite and easy to strap to our extention rack on the rear of the jeep. Having a "Buddy Heater" sure beats having to get out of bed when the outside temp is around 26 degrees like it was up at Eagle Valley or at Lake Mojave in January. It is wonderful when it snows, we have had two "buddy heaters" in twenty years of camping! Excellent product! About a half an hour before we decide to hit the sack, I turn on the heater and the tent is a wonderful place to snuggle!

Now a generator makes noise! I don't believe you would ever be happy trying to sleep next to one no matter how quiet it's advertised to be! Besides, campgrounds have quiet hours and they are usually enforced! In a tent, there is no protection from noise! You really should consider a propane heater, and if you don't and buy a generator and take it campin you won't be a happy camper and anyone camping within 100 yards of you will be ready to tell you to turn the thing off. Just be sure to crack(unzip) a window near the top of the tent to allow the carbon monoxide to escape and sleep soundly. Usually we turn the heater on before we hit the sack and then just before I decide to sleep I get up and turn the heater off. In the morning, I get up and turn the heater on to scare away the chill. We aren't ever concerned about really cold temps because our winter bags are rated for -30f, anyway. The most common problem I have seen is a tenter that goes winter or late autumn or early spring campin with summer gear! That's just asking for trouble!

BTW: I also carry a couple of 1lb Coleman cylinders too, just for back-up but have never used them.
Attached Thumbnails

[renodesertfox]

And if you chilly weather camp with a three(3) season tent and your tent comes equipped with an attachable rain-fly there is anywhere from two inches to six inches of space between the top of the tent that has no-see-um mesh and the then the rain-fly is attached to the frame of the tent or has it's own framework, that is perfect ventilation and you can leave all the windows zipped.

And if you are still concerned about carbon monoxide poisoning buy yourself a carbon monoxide monitor. There are equipped with a very loud alarm that will sound-off for any un-safe levels.

And if you are still concerned and refuse to upgrade your lifestyle by not purchasing a better(cold rated) sleeping bag for your wife and medium weight nylon long-underwear, wool socks and head gear and gloves then confine your camping to the summer months like the vast majority of summer time campers claiming to be long time avid campers! Just my $0.02, by cracky!

[renodesertfox]

One more thing to add....you did say that your spouse gets cold in your tent, well, that proves that your tent is not air tight. If your tent was air tight then body heat and breath could warm the inside of the tent satisfactory. No tent is air tight, so a tent heater like "the buddy" or "the big buddy" would do you some good and it is quiet heat. If you have children and/or pets and they sleep in the tent with you, ya just have to be more careful. When it gets cold an outside campfire is really only for looks, it never gives enough heat to the entire body but an approved tent heater will. When we camp off-season the heater goes with us and we never have a campfire for any length of time. We are warm as toast in our tent, whether it's the Kodiak Canvas or the Eureka Copper Canyon nylon 10x10 and other winter rated gear!

Thanks for joinin the forum! If you purchase a generator and take it campin...we sure would be interested in your camping stories!:D

[Bigdog57]

Several folks on the Tiny Trailers & Teardrops forum swear by this gadget.

http://www.electrowarmth.com/fleet.php

A warmer pad that you sleep ON, not under. It uses a 12 volt battery, and users report getting several days of use before draining a standard auto type battery, when used on 'low' (higher setting to initially warm the bed).
Seems a safer alternative than propane, IF you can spare the weight of the battery.

I have NOT used it yet, so am only passing on info......

[renodesertfox]

That's a great item BD, glad you posted! But to warm the entire inside of the tent I still believe there is nothing better than Mr. Heater. We ordered two electrowarmth heating pads...gonna check em out for our December camp in Napa Valley State Park, in a couple of weeks! Thanks Dawg!:D:D:D

[TTown]

Thanks for the quick replies.

I like the electrowarmth pads idea. I am looking at the Duracell PowerPack to power them. I will call the company to see how many watts they put out.

http://www.duracellpower.com/portabl...rpack-600.aspx

Any other ideas to power them?

[renodesertfox]

Just a suggestion

This is what we use when we need portable electrical power or a good set of lungs to blow up the air-mattress we have chosen electrical power by Xantrex.

http://www.xantrex.com

This little power-pack has already paid for itself time and time again. We use to power anything up to 400w. With a DC charging cable I can plug it into the vehicle's 12V lighter socket and re-charge with the engine running in four hours. There's enough power to jump start a car battery and I can inflate any tires from auto to bicycle. It also has a built-in flash light. If our lantern batteries fail we can take the lantern and plug it's AC cord into the power supply and still have a workable lantern. Before I take down the tent I have a small vaccum cleaner that I charge with this power supply so the next time we camp the tent is already clean and ready for use. It also doesn't take up that much space. Attached Thumbnails

[trishaz717]

I swear by the Mr. Buddy, my 20 degree bag, socks & especially a hat! We camped a couple of weeks ago in 28 degree weather and were toasty the whole night. When the heater turned off, there was enough "heat" in the tent to not have to put in another canister until the morning. I put another canister in around 5:30 am so the kids would sleep longer I need my coffee time! To me, nothing beats waking up in the chilly fall air, brewing some good coffee and sitting by the fire befroe the "brats" get up -- this last trip they were all teenage girls, hence the "brats" comment

[txnewcampr]

what I use

I purchased an older 1969 Coleman white gas heater (catalytic) that was only used a couple times. It is adjustable from 3000 - 5000 BTU's, perfect size for warming the inside of a tent. Since my tent has a fly with lots of built-in ventilation (and lots of windows) and is a three season version it will plenty safe when we camp and its cold. We are not going to camp in the dead of winter with this tent but late fall and early spring it will be fine with a heater. It runs real nice. I don't want to pack and take two different fuels for lanterns and heater so I selected and we're using white gas ones only.

Good luck!

[MyCampingWarehouse]

This might be another option for you,

http://www.mycampingwarehouse.com/portable-outdoor-butane-heater-p-849.html

It's a smaller butane heater but seems to do the job well. This can work when you don't have access to an electrical outlet. The others shown in these comments would heat better when you have electricity.

[tplife]

Thanks for the quick replies.

I like the electrowarmth pads idea. I am looking at the Duracell PowerPack to power them. I will call the company to see how many watts they put out.

http://www.duracellpower.com/portabl...rpack-600.aspx

Any other ideas to power them?

TTown, those are junk, don't buy them. You would be better spending your hard-earned money on a deep-discharge battery like my Optima or a cheaper lead-acid type with a battery box to carry it in. We've had power supplies like the Xantrex and the Duracell, they are big boxes with tiny motorcycle batteries inside. They are made for starting, now as rechargeable power supplies. They ARE good for emergency starting, blowing up beach balls, recharging small appliances, etc., but for use as a power supply they quickly lose output, especially in colder weather. I barely got over a year's use through recharge cycles before voltage dropped to around 10.5V. We stopped using ours and now use a true power supply:

[jtbeck]

Re: Heaters and tents

I know I'm coming in to this conversation late, but (since I am a coward) I don't leave our catalytic heater on all night in the tent. I turn it on and get the interior pretty warm while we're getting ready for bed and then I turn it off when we shut out the lights. It comes back on in the morning before we ever get out of the sleeping bags. Getting out of a warm bag into a cold tent is pretty miserable. So I'll run it for a while before we get out of the bags and warm everything up.

I know that the mesh on the tops of my tents and the space between the rain fly and the main body probably make it safe to run the heater all night, but I just can't bring myself to do it. I really should invest in a detector, I guess.

[nearlywild]

Re: Heaters and tents

You should post a detailed step by step on how to put this together. I love the idea of it but I have no idea what to do or buy.

TTown, those are junk, don't buy them. You would be better spending your hard-earned money on a deep-discharge battery like my Optima or a cheaper lead-acid type with a battery box to carry it in. We've had power supplies like the Xantrex and the Duracell, they are big boxes with tiny motorcycle batteries inside. They are made for starting, now as rechargeable power supplies. They ARE good for emergency starting, blowing up beach balls, recharging small appliances, etc., but for use as a power supply they quickly lose output, especially in colder weather. I barely got over a year's use through recharge cycles before voltage dropped to around 10.5V. We stopped using ours and now use a true power supply:

[tplife]

Re: Heaters and tents

Optima Blue top (or lead-acid deep-cycle marine battery plus a carry box, don't need a box with the Optima) Costco or Walmart
10 or 12-gauge wire (WalMart)
4 mini fuse holders (WalMart)
crimp connectors (WalMart)
heat shrink tubing (Radio Shack or Fry's Electronics)
battery charger quick-disconnects (your call)
crimping tool (avoid soldering as it's easier in the field to do crimp repairs)
10 and 20 A fuses (and spares) (Walmart)
Voltmeter (Camping World)
3-way plugs (Fry's Electronics or Radio Shack)
small zip ties (WalMart or the 99-cent store)

This is a lot easier than it looks to put together. There are not two, but four fused lines. This is a good thing, since if the wrong side shorts and blows you can damage sensitive electronics. I use 20A on the hot side and 10A on the negative side. My system is an upgraded version of a 10-Meter transmitter power supply for amateur radio operators.