Small electric heater for SUV camping

[Carl7309]

I'd like to hear from anyone who has tried a small plug-in electric heater to warm the inside of a van or SUV on cold mornings.

I'm still shopping for the Suburban I want, so I'll drive a borrowed Envoy again on this upcoming fall trip. I briefly considered an electric blanket to stay warm, powered by my Jackery (or, when I get the Suburban, powered by the house battery), but I discovered that warmth during sleep isn't a problem. Turns out that my sleeping bag is awesome. Even last October, dispersed camping at 9000' in Wyoming, when the temp in the Envoy was 20°F, I was perfectly warm all night in the bag. Putting an electric blanket over me or under me—and drawing power all through the night—seems pointless.

Where the cold comes into play is when I'm getting out of the bag to get dressed and start the day. Up until now, I've just clicked the remote start fob and used the vehicle's heater to warm the cabin. That works great, but if I can get warm without burning gasoline and putting hours on the engine, I'd rather do so.

There are hundreds of choices out there for small electric space heaters, including these newer wall-socket models designed to warm a small room or your "personal space" where you happen to be sitting at the moment. The inside of an SUV isn't a particularly large space, so it seems like one of these should be able to handle the job. I'm looking at one such heater online now...about 4" x 6", $25, rated at 350 watts.

So if you've gone down this road, I'd like to hear your stories of success or failure with these small heaters, and feedback on their power draw, time needed to warm the cabin, good brands and models, plus any other info or advice you have. In the interest of safety, I'll only be running the heater while I'm awake; it will be unplugged at night.

Thanks!

Carl

 

[rruff]

Sorry, no experience... but I'm guessing the big shock is getting into freezing clothes? If you are already warm and your well insulated clothes are warm, I think you'd be in good shape. A small electric blanket or heating pad will warm your clothes efficiently.

The space heater will work, but dragging down the starter battery will wear them out sooner.

 

[Buddha.]

I’ve found a 1500w space heater would keep our old 30’ travel trailer warm enough in 40f weather. Maybe 350w would be enough for an suv.

But, I think you’re only going to get a couple hours out of a battery before it’s dead.

 

[OverlandNA]

If you do go this route, get one with a tip over shutoff switch and make sure the switch works. I don't think a 350w will do much.
Put your clothes for the next day in the bag with you at night.

 

[Hnoroian]

I will always wipe/wash down before I get in the bag and have night clothes. I put my (clean) next days shirt I the bag with me so it’s warm when I wake up. My shorts/pants are chilly though but not much of a shock.

My buddy has higher electrical need with heaters and lighting. He will put his clothes folded in an electric blanket and turn it on for about 10-15 min then gets ready. He is always roasty toasty warm. He does have a small cheaply space heater but doesn’t get used anymore.

 

[alia176]

If the thought is to use a 120vac powered heating (blanket/heater/etc) that gets plugged into an inverter which draws power from a battery, i don't believe this to be a long term viable solution. For myriad of reasons, this wouldn't be the way I'd go. Personally, I'd rack up engine hours and run the vehicle to warm up the interior cabin.

No matter what route is being taken, it'll cost money!! IMHO, fuel is cheap compared to an expensive and complicated solution.

 

[Hnoroian]

I forgot to mention that mine and friends power usage and accessories usually revolve around 12v or usb. We both have inverters but that’s just in case…

 

[alia176]

In this "overlanding" world of ours, one should try to move away from 120vac thinking and switch everything to 12vdc. Even a Cpap machine can now be operated on 12vdc. This is a paradigm shift, I get it but it's more simple and efficient to stick with 12vdc for everything. So, what this means is that forego the hair dryer and wear a hat. Forego the electric blanket and invest in a properly rated sleeping bag or down comforter. Again, just my point of view of course.

 

[Carl7309]

In this "overlanding" world of ours, one should try to move away from 120vac thinking and switch everything to 12vdc. Even a Cpap machine can now be operated on 12vdc. This is a paradigm shift, I get it but it's more simple and efficient to stick with 12vdc for everything. So, what this means is that forego the hair dryer and wear a hat. Forego the electric blanket and invest in a properly rated sleeping bag or down comforter. Again, just my point of view of course.

And I think you're onto something solid here. I'm going to pass on the space heater and stick with the engine. I appreciate the feedback. Thanks!

And thanks to everyone else who shared their thoughts.

Carl

 

[alia176]

And I think you're onto something solid here. I'm going to pass on the space heater and stick with the engine. I appreciate the feedback. Thanks!

And thanks to everyone else who shared their thoughts.

Carl

Thank YOU for keeping an open mind!!!

 

[mep1811]

Just run the car and heater. Keep it simple.

 

[HWY395ghost]

Planar 2KW Portable Diesel Heater; use kerosene for fuel, instead.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Youll need a better designed and built electrical system....there is a reason 120v heaters aren’t really used in these ways..


For that, and you could do a 100amp/hr lithium, with an inverter, and a DC/DC charge system. That would give you a few hours before the system is at zero. If you were driving every day, for at least 3 hours it would recharge. Providing you had 4awg wire runs,etc

Its more about the right tool, for the right job. In this case keeping it simple, and just enjoying ( idling for 20 mins, or so) may be a better solution. Many have done diesel or gas webasto type of heaters.

 

[Groverland]

Can anybody recommend a portable heater that would be suitable for my LWB VW van? Looking for a small electric heater (12V) that could take the chill out of the air on those early morning starts when car camping at the base of the mountains without having to run the engine ?

I have a few things I do for the cold weather in my truck camper. Mine is fully-insulated with only a couple windows and those have insulated panels over them. I realize you have a van which is probably more space you're trying to warm and more windows, but maybe this will help?

First is a 0 degree down sleeping bag. I don't like using it as it's a mummy-style and I'm not ever comfortable in it, thus I don't sleep great. However, when all else fails it should keep me alive! Second, a small butane heater from Kovea puts out a decent amount of heat, but you have to VENTILATE adequately or you'll die. I have found that by fully-opening both my windows to keep my CO2 meter from going crazy it counters any heat it puts out. I DO like using it outside where I can't have a fire, however.

Lastly, I do have a small electric heater plugged into my 1500 watt power station. The smallest heater I could find has two levels- 175 watts and 250 watts. Doesn't sound like a lot, but once the camper is sealed-up tight for the night it does a decent job warming the small area. On low it doesn't even turn on the fans on the power station, but on 'high' it does cycle the fans on and off. I can run this for HOURS on my power station and I feel safe doing so, but I still don't run it while I'm sleeping. Again, this is a SMALL camper mounted in the bed of a Tacoma. YMMV.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00I4UVGHO?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

 

[AbleGuy]

Can anybody recommend a portable heater that would be suitable for my LWB VW van? Looking for a small electric heater (12V) that could take the chill out of the air on those early morning starts when car camping at the base of the mountains without having to run the engine ?

If you have a gas stove you might try this:

Years ago when we summer/fall camped way up in the north of BC and the Yukon in an old truck camper that didn’t have a heater, we started the cold mornings by lighting up two of the gas burners and slowly boiling two pots of water to get our breakfast started and to heat up the camper.

One pot of water was for making hot cereal and the other was for boiling tea or coffee. By the time our breakfast was ready the camper was nice and warm and comfortable enough for us to get out of our sleeping bags and sit at the dinette.

After eating, we’d boil another two small pots of water, one for dish washing and the other for body washing…again nicely extending the warm up of our rig.

On even colder mornings, we’d put two flat stone pavers on top of two of the burners and turn the flame to very low, letting the stove heat up the rocks. They then would radiate heat for a while after the gas was turned off.

Doing this, the rig would usually stay warm long enough for us to pack up and break camp.

But the safety reminder is to remember of course, to properly vent your camper when you have the gas stove on.

FWIW, this might not be the advice you were looking for but we found this to be a very effective and affordable way to heat our truck camper and it didn’t require the use of any battery power.