Heating a Roof Top Tent with a Wood Stove...

madmax718

Explorer
Every year when the weather gets crappy (3/4 of the year here in the PNW) I start thinking about heaters. I'm on the fence about an Espar, wood stove, or Propex. I have an unleaded JK, with plans for an AT Habitat top. Since I don't have any diesel appliances or vehicles, I'm thinking Propex is the way to go. Is the output enough to warm the entire Habitat....I don't know. But, *what if* I end up with a diesel rig down the road? Will I regret not having a diesel fired heater for any future out of country travels, where propane is supposedly difficult to find?

You already has gasoline. The JK isn't a huge vehicle, and space will always be a concern. Depending on how much propane you expect to use, taking up some precious space with a 20lb tank is critical. Thats a lot of space to give up.

You can get the B1LC or the B4, (both gasoline versions) from Espar. I think the Propex new is cheaper than the Espar, but you can find the Espar used as well. THere are more mounting restraints for the Espar, but its a straight through design, vs the Propex which has its heat intake and output on the same side. Just depends on how you want to mount it. The Espar is very well made, and parts are still available. As long as your truck has gas, you'd be GTG. THe small models produce about the same heat (1800-2000 watts of heat).
 

Lemsteraak

Adventurer
You may not want to hear my opinion but roof top tents and wood stoves are rather incompatible.

Here is why.

Rooftent - designed to be portable, quick and easy to use. The canvas folding types of tents are designed for Africa, most are designed in South Africa, doesn't get too cold there. Cold weather requires a European style of roof tent. A Maggiolina is a perfect example, insulated and designed like a mountaineering tent. Two people inside will heat one up about 10 to 20 degrees. We used to have a heated blanket that we would plug in when we were traveling with a similar tent to a Maggiolina, heats the tent and dries it out when you are driving. Open it up, crawl inside a toasty dry little sleeping space.

Wood Stoves - Excellent for canvas tents, stationary and lots of room inside. There is nothing better than an old canvas wall tent with a wood stove. I can understand why you want to replicate it but the new folding roof tents are mostly synthetic or synthetic mix so could be quite flammable.

Your roof tent is something of a hybrid, personally I'm biased and never cared for the the design. It is heavy bulky and slow to set up and take down, difficult to heat and not insulated.

Since you do have the tent and it sounds like it works for you, I do have a thought. Heating a roof tent is tricky because you want to have the combustion outside, like a forced air heater. The Eberspatcher and Propex heaters are simply that, very sophisticated small forced air heaters. This is a lot of hardware to be carrying around. Remember my concept of a roof tent is simple, quick and light. Zodi, made a very simple little tent heater called a "hot vent". They were great for what they were, a very simple forced air heater. The problem is they are a little crude because they are so simple, i.e. you could burn yourself. I'd look in eBay for an old one until Zodi completes their redesign.
 

madmax718

Explorer
I havent looked inside, but it is literally a finned thick metal tube with two burners below it, with a fan that blows air through it. Other than the fact that your pretty limited (the whole design is using 1 lb cylinders and doesn't work that well with conversion tanks) It also had no thermostatic control. You have to go outside to turn it off! lol. The whole going outside to turn it off is pretty much what seperates these from the propex. Otherwise... not much difference.

However, if you were a tinkering kind, you can take the gas control unit from an old dryer. Attach it straight to the knob.
 

Rainier70

New member
Another option is a propane stove. I have a Nu-way 2000 propane stove that I use in my cargo trailer. I know that it is also used in tents.

It doesn't need to have more wood added in the night, and it doesn't put off sparks. The use of a stove jack and clearances still applies. http://www.nuwaystove.com/model2000.php
 

jeverich

Luddite
Did 4 days out in Yellowstone last month (10 Degrees), and just did 3 days in Central WA (Colockum).

My Mr. Buddy works just fine for what it's supposed to do. 5 minutes, and the tent is at about 75 degrees... Climb into my 10 degree bag, and the heater gets shut off. Sure, you can argue the validity of using one in a tent. But, that debate has already been beaten to death. A good set of fleece long underwear and a beanie and you're golden.

It's small enough that I can stow it in my bed box, and only 5 pounds.

I just don't see the point in committing to anything larger or bulkier. I can break my setup down in 10 minutes from climbing out of my rack to being ready to roll. It's not just the wood stove - you're going to need wood, too.. Multiple day trips with crappy weather could make it quite a chore to keep your wood dry...

It is winter, after all... it's cold.
 

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