Cold weather is one area where I knew rooftents would really excel. The idea is to extend the camping season and it is so nice to camp in places that are too busy in the summer and quiet and peaceful in the winter.
One goofy idea we had that works pretty well with the hard top tents is to get one of the cheap $30 12 volt lap blankets and put it in the tent and close it. Then you could run the cord down and plug it in when you are driving so when you stop for the night everything is warm and welcoming inside the tent.
The concept behind the Maggiolina is to keep the interior small so you body heat has a chance to warm it up like a mountaineering tent. Switzerland and Germany are the two largest markets for AutoHome. When you are on an extended trip, you need a larger tent so you lose some of the benefit of smaller size.
I had one client that did the GPS survey for New Mexico's emergency services. His job was to map ways to find people who didn't want to be found unless they had an emergency. He spec'ed a large Maggiolina because he was gone for days but was also up in high elevation in winter. I heard complaints about the tent being "cold". The only idea I had was what some of the guys use up in the Arctic, namely roll a big bolder into the fire, then roll it onto a plank and cover with foil and put it in the tent with you. He came up with the ElectroWarmth mattress pad, and really liked it. The drawback is that it uses a lot of energy at the same time your battery capacity drops because of the cold.
Before I left AutoHome in Mikes hands, we were playing with this concept. A heated mattress pad with a very low power consumption, less than 2 amps. You figure an 80 amp storage battery that has a couple years on it with 60 amps of real power at 10 degrees will only be able to put out 20 amps. Here is a link to the flyer.
http://www.autohome.it/images/accessories-news/sweet-pdf/Sweet-Dreams-GB.pdf
OK, it is expensive..... thoughts?
