Date: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 21:12:18 -0500
Reply-To: tom ring <taring@TARING.ORG>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: tom ring <taring@TARING.ORG>
Organization: Tippen Ringware
Subject: Re: Quick and easy auxiliary heat
In-Reply-To: <5269CE14.2805.4BC7270B@taring.taring.org>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
The plan went quite well. So well I had to cover the water containers with a
large towel to keep the temperature reasonable.
I got to the site at about 4 PM when it was around 50 and the temp dropped into
the mid 30's by 10 or so. I also had the cover over the water tank and the lid
above that open after about 9PM. All in all it kept the van at 65 to 70 even
with the top popped until about 1 AM when I finally started up the catalytic
heater. I probably would have been good all night if I hadn't popped the top.
So it's useful for a one night camp a short distance away.
tom
On 24 Oct 2013 at 20:49, tom ring wrote:
> I am going to do a one night camp at Surly Darkness tomorrow night and have
> been experimenting with ways to add some extra heat independent of my propane
> catalytic unit.
>
> I am doing a couple of things, both are quite simple.
>
> First, preheat the interior as much as possible. I am using a 1200 watt
> electric heater running at 500 watts (low). My current outside temperature is
> 39F, and my van has been at 75F for over 24 hours. There is a lot of heat
> stored in the interior, especially the 150 lbs of the battery bank.
>
> Second, to heat things up quickly (when the interior was at 37F yesterday), I
> bought 2 4.5 gallon water containers from Fleet Farm. They actually hold 5.5
> gallons or 46 lbs of water. My hot water temperature at home is 148F. If you
> do some simple math where 1 lb of water heated 1 degree F, or cooled, is 1 BTU.
> I am assuming the low temperature cutoff is 80F. So (148-80) * 46 is 3128
> BTUs. I have 2 of those containers. That is more than 2 hours of my propane
> 3000 BTU heater. I am using those during the preheat stage and will refill
> them for the camping stage.
>
> I also plan to fill the tank in the van with the same temperature water and
> leave the top cover open. I think that's another 11 gallons, so would add
> 2*3128 or 6256 BTUs. Between that, the van 24 hour preheat, my body heat,
> waste heat from the fridge, and the heater, I expect I will be very snug
> tomorrow night at Darkness Day Eve. Overnight temperatures are expected to be
> around freezing depending on cloud cover.
>
> I hope someone else from the list will be there. We see people from all over
> the continent. Good beer, good people.
>
> tom
>
>
> -----------------------------------------
> Tom Ring K0TAR EN34hx
>
> Never attribute to engineers that into which politicians, lawyers,
> accountants, and marketeers have poked their fingers.
> -----------------------------------------
>
-----------------------------------------
Tom Ring K0TAR EN34hx
Never attribute to engineers that into which politicians, lawyers,
accountants, and marketeers have poked their fingers.
-----------------------------------------
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