Heating my Arctic Fox camper

M

mtbdemon

New member
If anywhere, I know I can find the answer here. I use my camper 2-3 weekends a month whether snow sking or pullng a trailer to offroad dirt bike, mtn bike or adventure motorcycle. Anyway, when skiing, I sometimes find myself in extremely cold weather (For me anyway) this past weekend it was 8 degrees when we woke and didn't climb above 20 degrees
I carry 14 gallons of propane and my small heater (My camper is a first generation 1999 Arctic Fox with a small slide) runs almost non stop and I have to think is not very effcient and fairly hard on the two deep cycle batteries that I carry. I would like to find a better heating source to either replace or augment my current system. My one problem is that I like to have water in the tanks, and the existing heater does duct heat into the keal of the camper to keep the tanks from freezing. I DO NOT want to go without water, so thats not an option. I have thought about adding a diesel furnace but unsure of how that would all work.
So, if anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears. Thanks for your attention

Ken
Beaverton Oregon
 
uriedog

uriedog

metal melter
A diesel heater like a Wabasto still needs battery power. quite a bit less then a regular camper heater though. I have a gravity heater, with 2 Silenex .06amp fans. Getting cooked out every weekend, heater on low at -22'c outside. Although I am not trying to keep a basement warm.
 
L

low277

New member
The webasto heaters are very good units, I have been around some that are used in semi trailers that snowmobile racers use. They are a little spendy though.
 
M

mtbdemon

New member
uriedog said:
A diesel heater like a Wabasto still needs battery power. quite a bit less then a regular camper heater though. I have a gravity heater, with 2 Silenex .06amp fans. Getting cooked out every weekend, heater on low at -22'c outside. Although I am not trying to keep a basement warm.
Click to expand...

I would like to learn more about your set up. A few computer style fans in the air way at the bottom of my camper could help, but I need to produce a bit more heat while keeping electrical draw at a minimum. Thanks for your response!
 
uriedog

uriedog

metal melter
I bought the fans from the FanVan on ebay. They were something like $10ea shipped. I bought the 28 cfm 11dba, 0.06amp fans and they are not audible. Those fans run 24hours helps top save propane and even out the heat in the camper. I also bought a 68cfm 120mm fan to help move allot of air when we first start up the heater. I can hear that one, but it is not needed all the time.

I am still playing with fan locations to try and get the best air mixing. I want to be able to get 4 days/nights out of 1 20lb tank. Now it's 3 depending on daytime temperatures. I will be happy when I get 4 regardless of outdoor temps.
 
B

BillTex

Adventurer
The WAVE heaters are a popular way to augment the furnace (needed to heat your tanks)...or even a Buddy heater (while awake).
Keeping the slide in will help a LOT as well.

Can you run a genny?
That's what we do while ski camping.
I run the genny and a ceramic heater while we are hanging out at night....this keeps our 2 AGM's charged for the overnight.
When we go to bed I shut down the genny and just run the furnace.

B
 
F

fisher205

Explorer
Have you checked your insulation. There are a few winter camping threads here and on RV.net. But additional insulation in key areas would help keep your camper warmer with less fuel/battery use.
 
camp'n_hunt

camp'n_hunt

Observer
Well keeping your tanks warm is the easy part. My 08 has a small white vent cover over the fan that blows air into the basement just under the step that goes into the wet bath. There is also a open vent hole just under the step which goes up to the bed which allows the cold air to come out of the basement. I hate the noise the fans make when the furnace kicks on in the night, makes it hell to sleep all that well.

The easy fix is to add a small switch to power this "basement fan" ontop of the new heater you choose.
 
B

BobcatBob

New member
Ken, I just completed a post on an old subject of diesel heat. I used to commercial fish off the Washington coast with my Dad in his 48' Salmon Troller. It was powered by a 6-71 Jimmy diesel. The cabin stove on board was fueled with diesel that was gravity fed from a tank on the roof. I'm not sure how much diesel it used, but I do recall that it could easily run you out of the cabin if left turned up very long. My Mom used to cook on it everyday, her specialty "shaker" salmon. These were the unfortunate salmon that were to small to keep, but also to dead to release, some having been attacked by dog fish while being brought in. Anyways, The stove was apx. 18" x 18" x 18" and had an oven. You'd have to have some kind of removable long smoke stack and insulated thru wall fitting and heat shields around the stove, and a small tank to set on the roof with a quick disconnect fuel line. I've always thought a slightly smaller version would work good in a camper. Another option might be a custom made stove made to burn presto logs. I hope this helps in your quest for better heat. I joked of the smell of diesel fuel on my previous post, but really don't think that was a issue. Bob
 
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