Heating a Wildernest/Flip-pac

[Rando]

This winter I have been incredibly jealous of my friends VW Westfalia camper with Propex Heatsource LPG heater:
http://www.propexheatsource.co.uk/air-heaters.php

I know AT is selling these for their version of the Flip-pac, but I am wondering if anyone has actually used one in a flip-pac (without the rain fly) or in a wildernest and can attest to how well they work and what sort of temperature rise one can maintain over outside temperatures?

In the Westy the propex will easily keep the inside in the 50's even with outside temps in the single digits, however this is without the top popped. Obviously a wildernest (or flip-pac) has significantly more fabric area than a Westy, even with the top popped. It would have to work fairly well to justify the $800 price tag!

Just for reference, I have tried several other methods for heating the 'nest. I have a Zodi heater, it works OK, but only seems to provide a 10 - 20F raise and is loud and inconvenient to use and rather inefficient. I have also tried a Coleman Sport Cat heater. Again this would only produce about a 10F temperature rise, and produced a fair amount of condensation. It is also not something I would be comfortable running over night (neither would the Zodi for that matter). The Mr Heaters are an option, but I do most of my winter camping well above 7000' so I am not sure they will even work.

Thanks!

 

[One4adventure]

I have been thinking about a micro airtight wood burner, crazy maybe but my mind does tend to wander to these obscure notions....perhaps I am nostalgic about the smell of burning maple.....family cottage splitting wood etc.

If you can make it safe!!! That is the question.

 

[NothingClever]

I have been thinking about a micro airtight wood burner, crazy maybe but my mind does tend to wander to these obscure notions....perhaps I am nostalgic about the smell of burning maple.....family cottage splitting wood etc.

If you can make it safe!!! That is the question.

I don't think that's a crazy solution at all. The wall tent community will have some slick options for you. The only drawback will be carrying wood. If you have a trailer, no problem. Otherwise you might tire of pulling wood in and out of the truck bed every time you stop and pop.

 

[One4adventure]

"My character shouldn't be defined by the toys in my signature line on an internet forum."

Now I feel guilty about my signature Thx.

 

[NothingClever]

Nahhhh, your signature is appropriately (IMO) tame :ylsmoke: .

 

[robert]

I think you will probably be alright- especially if you insulate your tent. That's a lot of canvas but the Propex is a great heater. I have a couple of friends with them in their VWs and they will get it very hot inside the small space of a VW. One thing you may want to do is split the heater duct and direct part of it into the bed and part towards the sleeping area.

I use a Mr. Heater in my VW and it does fine as long as the top is down; with the top up it has a much harder time (have to run it on high) but is capable of still being fairly comfortable while outside temps are in the lower teens. I do have the bus itself insulated and draw the curtains over the glass as well as hang a blanket behind the front seats. The bus also has a fiberglass top, heavy canvas tent and less overall tent to bleed off heat.

A small stove is easily doable but the problem with them is two-fold; you have to cut the wood to fit them (read more cutting) and more importantly, because of the small size, they only burn for a few hours on a load so you have to get up and feed them. Bear in mind this is only my experience with the very small packer style stoves for canvas tents. There are also tiny diesel and coal stoves for marine use that may suit your needs.

 

[Rando]

I have friends who love their propex heaters in their VW's, however before buying such an expensive heater I really want to be sure that it would work well in a wildernest. As soon as I have a free evening I think I will set up 750/1500W electric space heater in mine in the driveway and see how warm that will keep it. The smaller propex is ~2100W output, so if the 1500W space heater can provide sufficient temperature rise, the propex should do even better. I will post up the results in case anyone else is considering this.

The next question would be how to mount it and route the intake/exhaust in a truck topper style camper. I am guessing I will have to drill a couple of holes in the bottom of my bed.

I think you will probably be alright- especially if you insulate your tent. That's a lot of canvas but the Propex is a great heater. I have a couple of friends with them in their VWs and they will get it very hot inside the small space of a VW. One thing you may want to do is split the heater duct and direct part of it into the bed and part towards the sleeping area.

I use a Mr. Heater in my VW and it does fine as long as the top is down; with the top up it has a much harder time (have to run it on high) but is capable of still being fairly comfortable while outside temps are in the lower teens. I do have the bus itself insulated and draw the curtains over the glass as well as hang a blanket behind the front seats. The bus also has a fiberglass top, heavy canvas tent and less overall tent to bleed off heat.

A small stove is easily doable but the problem with them is two-fold; you have to cut the wood to fit them (read more cutting) and more importantly, because of the small size, they only burn for a few hours on a load so you have to get up and feed them. Bear in mind this is only my experience with the very small packer style stoves for canvas tents. There are also tiny diesel and coal stoves for marine use that may suit your needs.

 

[Piet]

I am researching heating options for my next rig. I am looking at either the:

1. Propex Heatsource
2. Zodi hot vent

Nice to know about the Zodi. I have an old 1977 Bonair tent trailer with a Coleman Convection heater in it that works like a charm. Might have to pull that out before I ditch the trailer.

The other unit I was looking at was the Ducktec Suburban Furnace... Ever hear of it?
http://www.ducktec.com/itm00098.htm

 

[Rando]

The Zodi is fine for occasional use in a real tent where you don't have many other options, but it really is a fairly hokey solution for something more akin to a camper.

I have looked into the Ducktec and Atwood RV style furnaces, but they seem a lot more difficult to install due to their venting arrangement and use twice the power to operate their fans. I may have to be the guinea pig and install the first propex in a wildernest / flip-pac.

I am researching heating options for my next rig. I am looking at either the:

1. Propex Heatsource
2. Zodi hot vent

Nice to know about the Zodi. I have an old 1977 Bonair tent trailer with a Coleman Convection heater in it that works like a charm. Might have to pull that out before I ditch the trailer.

The other unit I was looking at was the Ducktec Suburban Furnace... Ever hear of it?
http://www.ducktec.com/itm00098.htm

 

[Youngunner]

I'm debating whether to take out a little more on the loan for a flippac to get the heater AT sells too. I'm interested in the results of your heater experiment, Rando!

 

[paulj]

The Wildernest had some features derived from cold weather tents. For example the initial models had tunnel vents like those used on mountain tents, though those were later changed to triangular ones. They also sold a frost liner, white cotton sheeting designed to hang just under the tent. It was supposed to prevent frost from falling on the occupants. Wildernest had some sort of connection with Lowe Alpine, a maker of cold weather clothing.

But overall it was too large and airy to contain much heat.

I bought a radiant heater, and used it a few times to take the morning chill off. But our normal defense against cold were warm sleeping bags.

 

[Martyn]

I'm have 95% completed a prototype of a Portable Propex Heatsource heater.

I have the furnace mounted in a steel box with all the hole cut for the gas, air inlet and outlet, and the combustion side air intake and exhaust.

I should have it fired up tomorrow for testing.

The production model will have a fast disconnect gas line, but right now I'm struggling with gas fittings.

The furnace has a 1/4" female BSPT threaded fitting (found that out at the last minute).

I have a conversion nipple from 1/4" BSPT to 1/4" NPT thread.

Then I want to go straight to a quick disconnect gas fitting. The issue is the quick disconnects have NPTF threads. I'm trying to keep this as short, in length, as possible, and I need to find a 1/4"NPT female to a 3/8 NPTF female.

I think I'm in plumping hell :wings:

I'll start a new thread on it once I get it fired up tomorrow with some temporary fittings.

 

[washington taco]

I use a Mr Heater buddy heater @ 4100' I keep the propane in the cab (warm) until ready to use. It works so well that I keep the windows (3) open about 2-3" all night. The 1 pound bottles last about six hours on low. This is with night time temps in the mid twentys. I use this in a conopie on the back of my Taco.

 

[Ranchero]

Rando - Here is one observation on the Propex. I have one in my Syncro Westy. I mainly use mine for taking the chill off when we're winter camping. Rarely use it unless the temp is below 20-30 outside. With the top up and no insulation on a 0-10 degree night, a beer left on the top of the cabinet by the sink had ice forming in it by the morning, so it wasn't warming above 30 or so.

With insulation foil-faced bubble wrap on the inside of the windows and pop top, it will maintain 45-50 easy on a zero degree night. Not the most restful sleep with that blower going on every 10 minutes though.

 

[robert]

Well there's always the Atwood's also; they're a few hundred cheaper and are also popular with the VW crowd along with Olympians heaters (the Olympians don't have to be vented- I'm paranoid about that sort of thing though). There are several threads about various heaters, including the Propex, on the various VW bus forums including thesamba.com and fullmoonbusclub.com.

The Atwood Everest Star 7920 II Furnace for example retails for around $400 and puts out 19,500BTUs.

One example- no affiliation, just a Google search. They sell several brands of furnaces and heaters including the Olympians.
http://www.adventurerv.net/furnaces-amp-heaters-furnaces-c-24_84_155.html?osCsid=fud2c5u41ssk2narjp1ee9etk1

I still think your best bet would be to include an insulating layer and probably splitting the ducting and directing part of the flow over the sleeping area. JMHO