OK... Not sure if this is the right place to post but... I have a 2019 f150 with 6.5 ft bed.
Trying to get a camper shell setup for adventures with me and my two teanage boys and will need some sort of Safe heat source.
I don't feel comfortable with a sort of big buddy system (there will barely be enough space for all us much less clearances needed for a propane heater).
I was also thinking, hot water would be really nice to have, there's nothing like a good shower after summiting a mountain or a day snowboarding.
Why not combine the 2?
Would it be possible to do a radiant floor system with an on demand rv water heater and a 12 volt pump?
Such a small area to heat it shouldnt need to constantly circulate the water.
I'd imagine that it may be slightly less efficient than a direct air heater... But I don't want to have 2 gas appliances to deal with where I can just have one.
Here's how I envision it, please comment any holes you see in my theary.
I'd want it to be removable so, you have a durable piece of plywood with small pex attached to it back and forth back and forth then another piece of plywood on top with spacers in between.
So when it's time to go camping you put the "floor" in (include some insulation on it as well) then plug its lines into the water heater (set up in some sort of other modular plywood setup or outdoor unit maybe) and kick on the pump.
You could tie in a water tank on the 'cool' side of the lines to add more water to the system, you could create a split and have it going to the shower right outside as well.
One issue I see is that you'd have to set the 12v pump on a thermostat and also leave the whole system on even if you aren't around the vehicle, the last thing you'd want is for any of it to freeze and crack. You could of course bypass this by using glycol or something but then you lose the hot shower ability.
You could set the thermostat very low so it only heats up a bit of water every 30 min or so to keep the whole thing from freezing.
So that's my main question. If you care to read on I'll describe what my overall and eventual plans are.
I want to pick up a camper shell, set it up with modular removable camping solutions based on where we are going, who all is going and what the temps will be.
One of those modules would be the heated floor listed above.
We could set it up with a bed on each side and middle isle (if it's just me and one son or me and both sons).
There would be a drawer for kitchen stuff, a large drawer for clothes that we could leave out to leave room for snowboards ect.
The goal being to be as versatile as possible.
Then, when I have the time and money I want to build something scimilar to the four wheel camper project M.
fourwheelcampers.com
This things looks awesome but I don't think I can afford it. I'd use the pieces of the camper shell to help with some. Like the back door, the side and front windows could all be put in.
Then the modules I made for the shell could also be used for the pop up camper but we could fit much easier in there.
I saw a guy with one of these bare pop up camper shell looking things driving around and wasnt able to chase him down to ask about his rig. But it doesn't look too insane to make.
So imagine project M with radiant heating, removable "kitchen" and furniture so I could use the truck as... Well a truck, a shower on the outside, radiant heater throughout.
May be a bit of a pipe dream.
Thanks for reading
-Joel
Trying to get a camper shell setup for adventures with me and my two teanage boys and will need some sort of Safe heat source.
I don't feel comfortable with a sort of big buddy system (there will barely be enough space for all us much less clearances needed for a propane heater).
I was also thinking, hot water would be really nice to have, there's nothing like a good shower after summiting a mountain or a day snowboarding.
Why not combine the 2?
Would it be possible to do a radiant floor system with an on demand rv water heater and a 12 volt pump?
Such a small area to heat it shouldnt need to constantly circulate the water.
I'd imagine that it may be slightly less efficient than a direct air heater... But I don't want to have 2 gas appliances to deal with where I can just have one.
Here's how I envision it, please comment any holes you see in my theary.
I'd want it to be removable so, you have a durable piece of plywood with small pex attached to it back and forth back and forth then another piece of plywood on top with spacers in between.
So when it's time to go camping you put the "floor" in (include some insulation on it as well) then plug its lines into the water heater (set up in some sort of other modular plywood setup or outdoor unit maybe) and kick on the pump.
You could tie in a water tank on the 'cool' side of the lines to add more water to the system, you could create a split and have it going to the shower right outside as well.
One issue I see is that you'd have to set the 12v pump on a thermostat and also leave the whole system on even if you aren't around the vehicle, the last thing you'd want is for any of it to freeze and crack. You could of course bypass this by using glycol or something but then you lose the hot shower ability.
You could set the thermostat very low so it only heats up a bit of water every 30 min or so to keep the whole thing from freezing.
So that's my main question. If you care to read on I'll describe what my overall and eventual plans are.
I want to pick up a camper shell, set it up with modular removable camping solutions based on where we are going, who all is going and what the temps will be.
One of those modules would be the heated floor listed above.
We could set it up with a bed on each side and middle isle (if it's just me and one son or me and both sons).
There would be a drawer for kitchen stuff, a large drawer for clothes that we could leave out to leave room for snowboards ect.
The goal being to be as versatile as possible.
Then, when I have the time and money I want to build something scimilar to the four wheel camper project M.
Project M Topper - Four Wheel Campers
The Project M is the newest camper from Four Wheel Campers is the perfect pop up truck topper for the minimalist adventurer.
fourwheelcampers.com
Then the modules I made for the shell could also be used for the pop up camper but we could fit much easier in there.
I saw a guy with one of these bare pop up camper shell looking things driving around and wasnt able to chase him down to ask about his rig. But it doesn't look too insane to make.
So imagine project M with radiant heating, removable "kitchen" and furniture so I could use the truck as... Well a truck, a shower on the outside, radiant heater throughout.
May be a bit of a pipe dream.
Thanks for reading
-Joel
