Keeping warm in the van

As a fellow QLDer who has travelled to Tassie, I came to the conclusion that when in Rome, do as the Romans do - rug up.

Check out these Ceramic heaters as a safe way to heat a van remembering to keep the overall wattage at least 20% below the generators maximum output. (A 2.4 kva genny is really only rated at 2kva constant)
Cheers Craig...........

Caz knowing how much you love your Reverse cycle air, was wandering when this question was going to come up. Good to here you have made it to Tassy. Envy you.
Cheers
Sharon

Just checked a 4 bar oil heater 920/1000 watts and when they get to temperature they stop using power, the Yamaha would not be working.

Reading your post, I am guessing you hope to run a generator all night in free camps. Please be thoughtful of other campers in regards to their desire for peace and quiet. Generators can be a source of severe annoyance to some people. A good quality doona, fleecy jamas, bed socks and a hot water bottle should see you right. Also most heat is lost through your head so a beanie may be a good idea too.

We run electric blankets via an inverter from the house batteries.
30 mins on High before hopping into bed, then off most of the night, then another hour on low in the 'wee' hours.
That adds up to about 10Ahrs total. Not such a lot of power.

Central Plateau, Lake Ada.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 Motorhome

Cradle Mountain ay, just over the back from here...
Yep, the mornings are abit chilly now, quite a few frosts already.I posted on here the other day about a heater to run in our camper off a Yamaha 1KVA genny.One post was a oil heater from Bunnings and while in there found a 1500W/750W ceramic fan heater.Test run it today(on 750W) and heats well of the genny.
Any heater under 2000W will run ok off your 2.4 Yammy and will make waking up warm a pleasure.There wont be to many others about to annoy with a genny running and more than likely, there's will be running to.........
5 days to go to the Gold coast...ten days home then 3mths on the road.

Hi Caz

We have never had need of using a heater in the caravan, but we left Tassie on 1 April, and just missed seeing snow. We had a stiff frost during the last week there, and again in South Australia, but didn't know it was cold until we looked outside and saw white everywhere. I should have known; if i reach for my bed socks, it usually means a frost.

Years ago, my family (Dad, Mum, Sis and me) toured Europe in a small motor home. We found it impossible to buy winter pyjamas in London, as housing all has central heating, so only had lightweight jamas. When it was cold, we tied the sleeping bag from the inside, close to our necks to keep the warm in. When really cold, we'd pull a blanket over the sleeping bag. In Norway late in the summer (after all the tourist facilities had closed), we woke to find snow lightly falling. We were cosy warm inside, even though the 'pop top' had open air all around when raised.

Do it the old fashioned way - track suits (including over their jamas at night if the kids feel the cold), woollen bed socks, and a blanket under and over their sleeping bags.

Coats, gloves and beanies when outside.

Have a wonderful Mother's Day - will you get snow?

Motherhen

Caroline,

Do you have a gas oven? We just start the oven and fan up for 10 - 15 mins. Warms up the van in no time.

Matt

Caroline,

Get yourself a ceramic electric heater.

Amazing heat for little power.

Cheers,

Jim.

Caroline,

we have used a Coleman gas heater connected to a small gas bottle but found it got in the way of us as it took up too much floor space.

We were given a tip that has worked out very well. Find a small CERAMIC pot plant pot. It has to be ceramic. Terracotta wont take the heat. Make sure it has a drain hole in the bottom.

Place it upside down on one gas burner on your cooktop for the evening. Turn it off before you go to bed.

Makes the whole van very toasty.

Diesel heaters designed for heating caravans are available and very effective. See dometic site.

Alan

Hi

I was in a 12volt specialty shop recently and they had in stock 12v Electric Blankets.

The blankets were placed on top not under the mattress, a rug. You can rap them around yourself watching TV

They draw just over 4amps @ 12volts.

Give that a try

Hi all,

Thanks so much for all your valuable input it is much appreciated!!! will look into it asap. We had a GREAT day at Cradle Mountain!!!

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We find that 1,200 W is sufficient heating if you wear a jumper or other warm top. Just run your 2,400 W heater on low and save your money.

PeterD