Harvey's calculations are correct, but with I would be slightly more optimistic (not by much, so do not get your hopes up :-( ), A good deep cycle battery, (I've heard somewhere ) can store about 150AH (ampere-hours). Theoretically, this means that it can dish out 150 Amps continuously for one hour, or 75 amps continuously for 2 hours, etc... So, with Harvey's numbers, you could run such a heater for an hour (let's say this is possible, but not probable -- 150 Amps is HIGH for any battery not to boil it's guts out when drawn continuously). However, 1500 watts of continuous heating is enough to bake the insides of a VW van almost anywhere, any temp (well, maybe not where Tobin and Christa passed through in Canada). I would imagine a 500 watt heater would be more than enough for most reasonable climates.
Also, the 12V to 110V converter -- yes, it will lose some energy during conversion, but as long as it's insde the cabin, that'll be heat disspated into the cabin also.... So, one might hope to get a few of hours' heat out of a big battery that has been fully charged. Rember -- you'll probably have to drive all day to get that thing charged again...
If anyone can find the AH ( ampere-hours) rating of marine batteries, we can make the necessary calculations (this is NOT the CCA or Cold-cranking-amps number). Cetin Harvey Chao writes: > fair guess at the steady state load would be around 150 amps at 12 volts. > > People, I don't think this is gonna work . If you started with a good deep > discharge cycle marine battery, maybe 5 minutes before you sucked the battery > inside out? > > Harvey >
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