Official Test Results: Five Ways to Heat a Tent

[Bobzdar]

I went wood, coupled with long burn logs for night time burn means I can get 5+ hours of uninterrupted sleep before having to add anything. Would require being used with an annex and a stove jack but they're easy to install. I used gorilla glue and high temp RTV to seal mine, works great (not done yet in the picture below, that was the initial use and I just tacked the corners to see how things would work and make sure the tent wouldn't suffer any damage). The stove is the large winnerwell, which would be overkill for any RTT+annex. The medium or small would be fine. I have a crua loj which is quite large (but insulated) and even in teens temps it stays mostly damped down. In the pic the intake is pretty much closed. The oven is a great heat sink (rather than the heat going out the chimney) and makes it super easy to heat stuff up as it's always hot. I had thought about running pellets with forced air - I have a biolite fire pit which has an adjustable battery powered fan (also doubles as a power bank) that could be made to easily fit the air intake on the winnerwell. The air rails from the stove could actually be retrofitted if one were really ambitious. You'd just need a way to feed pellets in, which could be done via the port on the cook top. The chimney fits inside the stove and the legs and shelves fold, so it's quite compact, especially if you don't use the oven. I tried a mr buddy heater just to take the chill out in the morning but the condensation was extreme.

Long burn logs (for night time)

Amazon.com : Green Mountain Firewood 8 Log Bundles – The Cleanest, Most Efficient, Most Advanced Fire Wood on Earth… : Sports & Outdoors

Amazon.com : Green Mountain Firewood 8 Log Bundles – The Cleanest, Most Efficient, Most Advanced Fire Wood on Earth… : Sports & Outdoors

www.amazon.com

Stove jack

Amazon.com: Bear Paw Wilderness Designs Tent Stove Jack. Tapered. Includes Storm Flap and Separate Removable rain Cover. : Sports & Outdoors

Amazon.com: Bear Paw Wilderness Designs Tent Stove Jack. Tapered. Includes Storm Flap and Separate Removable rain Cover. : Sports & Outdoors

www.amazon.com

 

[Life_in_4Lo]

I just got one of these Kovea heaters and it's fantastic. Packs small in its own hardcase.
Perfect to warm up the tent at night and in the mornings, when you don't want to get out of the sleeping bag
I have to give gtfo a plug- they were great to deal with and very fast (faster shipping than amazon!)

Kovea Cupid Space Heater

I was going to write a super cheesy description about falling in love with a heater, but that would be lazy. Instead I'll tell you that this little packable, adjustable, and adorable unit is something any cold-weather camper should consider. Especially if your definition of "cold" differs from...

gtfoverland.com

I use a small Kovea heater on a wooden board (for stability) in my RTT. I put a small fan over the heater to circulate the air. Otherwise all the heat will get trapped at the top of the tent. The tent heats up very quickly.

Amazon.com : Kovea (Set of 3) Cupid Portable Gas Heater KH-1203(7.4" x 6.7" x 7.9") + Heat Protection Panel + Footstool, : Garden & Outdoor

Amazon.com : Kovea (Set of 3) Cupid Portable Gas Heater KH-1203(7.4" x 6.7" x 7.9") + Heat Protection Panel + Footstool, : Garden & Outdoor

www.amazon.com

Amazon.com: OPOLAR 5000mAh Camping Lantern Clip On Fan with Hanging Hook, 4 Speeds Quiet Airflow Personal Fan with 35 Hours Work Time for Tent, Hurricane Emergency, Battery Operated Desk Fan for Home & Office: Home & Kitchen

Buy OPOLAR 5000mAh Camping Lantern Clip On Fan with Hanging Hook, 4 Speeds Quiet Airflow Personal Fan with 35 Hours Work Time for Tent, Hurricane Emergency, Battery Operated Desk Fan for Home & Office: Household Fans - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

[bemerritt]

Building a propex portable heater for the winter. Does anyone have a link to some good, waterproof heater ducting? Not too concerned about diameter, as i can adapt to anything from 2.5" to 4".

 

[MANUCHAO]

Building a propex portable heater for the winter. Does anyone have a link to some good, waterproof heater ducting?

Webasto air ducting accessories for car, truck, RV | HEATSO

Looking for high quality air ducting accessories online? Wide variety of Webasto air ducting! Find best price option for you! Have any questions?Contact us!

www.heatso.com

60MM PAK Hot Air Duct 10 FT

www.suremarineservice.com

"Thermoplastic Flex Medium-Duty WS" Thermoplastic Rubber Duct – Ducting.com

The Thermoplastic Flex Medium-Duty WS is a flexible hose made of a thermoplastic rubber compound and features an external wear-strip along its body. These sweeper hoses are great for handling general-purpose material, air and dust.

www.rubbercal.com

 

[Scoutn79]

Building a propex portable heater for the winter. Does anyone have a link to some good, waterproof heater ducting? Not too concerned about diameter, as i can adapt to anything from 2.5" to 4".

If you want something very flexible, durable and thick enough to have some insulating properties look into SCAT tubing. It's pricey but would last a lifetime.

Darrell

 

[john61ct]

Watch out for back-pressure on long lengths

 

[bemerritt]

Webasto air ducting accessories for car, truck, RV | HEATSO

Looking for high quality air ducting accessories online? Wide variety of Webasto air ducting! Find best price option for you! Have any questions?Contact us!

www.heatso.com

60MM PAK Hot Air Duct 10 FT

www.suremarineservice.com

"Thermoplastic Flex Medium-Duty WS" Thermoplastic Rubber Duct – Ducting.com

The Thermoplastic Flex Medium-Duty WS is a flexible hose made of a thermoplastic rubber compound and features an external wear-strip along its body. These sweeper hoses are great for handling general-purpose material, air and dust.

www.rubbercal.com

Thanks, that last one was exactly what i was looking for.

 

[Landsat8]

Thanks, that last one was exactly what i was looking for.

I have used a 4”x8’ expandable metal dryer vent hose for my heater. You can pick them up for $10 at home depot.

 

[dcg141]

I use one of these and a 2000 watt generator. Patron Heater Its will heat my RTT and annex fast and heat all thru the tent. I put on the floor of the annex and let the heat rise.

 

[MattJ]

Here's everything I tried:

Here's what I ended up with:

 

[JCS2179]

Hey guys,
This has been an interesting 18-page read-a-thon, plus countless detours to links (good and the dreaded "404-errors" too!) to learn a lot in a short period of time. I'm glad I found the OCD-Therapy group. I'm finally at home!
I guess my main question is this: are we totally against these??

Amazon.com: TOHUU Diesel Heater, 12V 5KW All in One Air Heater with LCD Thermostat & Remote Control, Camping Parking Heater for Car Bus Trucks Boat Trailer Pickup RV, Red: Automotive

Buy TOHUU Diesel Heater, 12V 5KW All in One Air Heater with LCD Thermostat & Remote Control, Camping Parking Heater for Car Bus Trucks Boat Trailer Pickup RV, Red: Heaters - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

They seem very portable, and provided you bench test them (and possibly tinker with them before you really need them!), I think they are a very decent option. It's suspect to me they were not really proposed, so I'm wondering if I'm missing the obvious "Duh-moment"

Thoughts??

 

[sourdoughben]

Sleep with a hot water bottle. Just saying.

 

[john61ct]

Arctic winters bit more needed

 

[JCS2179]

Arctic winters bit more needed

Even a bit further South of the Arctic, say, Utah...I still want to be comfortable at night. I can't sell the "water bottle" deal to my wife.....or to myself

 

[john61ct]

Heck even in South Australia in long cold August weeks, we were miserable living that way.

Kids happily got up at five to start the campfire and make breakfast, but rainy days cramped that style

if you're spending all day cooped up together in a tiny space reading playing cards whatever a bit more comfort is well worth the investment if you aren't literally third-world poor - which we were at the time, pretty much on par with the local aboriginal communities we were visiting.