Anyone use a camping tent propane heater for their Sprinter or cargo van?
- Thread starter joderek77
- Start date
Using a Big Buddy heater with 20 lb tank. Works great avg around 95 hrs per tank on low. Keep window open a couple inches and use a carbon monoxide detector. Only pain is moisture on inside of windows.
A couple of things. Those little heaters won't kill you, they just won't heat the van very good-- if at all. I'm surprised that they work at all in a tent, which has no insulation to speak of.
Next, I too use the Big Buddy with the 20 lb tank. Like Scott says, keep windows open "about two fingers". I also use a fan to stir up the air. Interesting note: By pointing the fan at the windshield, you deal very effectively with the moisture problem-- as I found out by actually doing this. I don't ordinarily link to my blog here, but as it happens I had cause a few days ago to write about this--- so you can see photos.
Yep? I drive a van?. | mjmsprt40, sez me.
Next, I too use the Big Buddy with the 20 lb tank. Like Scott says, keep windows open "about two fingers". I also use a fan to stir up the air. Interesting note: By pointing the fan at the windshield, you deal very effectively with the moisture problem-- as I found out by actually doing this. I don't ordinarily link to my blog here, but as it happens I had cause a few days ago to write about this--- so you can see photos.
Yep? I drive a van?. | mjmsprt40, sez me.
Me, blow a gasket? I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't, because I wouldn't mention running a 12-volt coffee maker off a cranking battery.
I can relieve your mind on that, anyway. That coffee maker was such a poor choice that I hardly used it. Even considering every potential advantage you could give it, it took FOREVER for that thing to heat water-- in the summer. I can't imagine using that thing in the winter, you'd grow long hair and a beard before that coffee maker heated water to room temperature. I think I ran two attempts with it--- then discarded it as a joke, along with a 12-volt "cooler" I once owned that wouldn't actually cool anything.
They sell this junk to truckers, and of course the traveling public. We can do better.
Most of the 12-volt appliances at truck stops (and at many RV stores) are just crap. The reason that coffee maker takes for-ever to heat water is it has to be a small enough amp draw not to fry the wires of the 12-volt socket. I think that one is an 8 amp (100 Watt) coffee maker. Bigger ones will draw 13 amps (150 Watts). Those 12-volt sockets are fused at 15 amps.
If you want a really good 12-volt coffee maker, the Power Hunt 12 Volt Single Cup Coffee Maker is the best there is. Their products require a special 12 Volt Power Port plug (or 2-outlet strip which you supply the cables) that connects directly to the battery using heavy cables, instead of a normal 12-volt socket. That's because their products are high amp draw units. The coffee maker draws 25 amps, for example, but it'll make a cup of coffee in 3 minutes. The 10-cup version draws 45 amps, and takes about 19 minutes to brew a pot. Once you have the power port connected, then all of Hunt Power's appliances can connect to that same port, so you only need to buy one power port. They only plug in one at a time (or two if you have the strip). Coffee maker is $60 and the power port is $50.
My aunt in Tucson lives mostly off the grid, using solar power. She has a Power Hunt coffee maker and a grill. The Power Hunt products are somewhat popular in RV conversions, because they're located in Tualatin, OR (suburb of Portland), the same town where Upscale Auto (Sprinter accessories - and a repair shop) is located. The Sprinter RV conversions are very popular there. They have a club with rallies and everything. They're moving into accessories for the Promaster van, as well. It was my aunt where I first saw one, and then I saw a couple more inside some Sprinter conversions when I visited Tualatin with a delivery.
But man, you've gotta be a real coffee devotee to spend that kind of money on a coffee maker when truck stop coffee is so close by. Then again, I don't drink coffee, so what do I know?
The Coleman and Igloo electric coolers work pretty well. But they'll only keep things about 40 degrees cooler than ambient temperature, so there's a limit to what they can do. They will draw 5 amps, though, so they shouldn't be run off a cranking battery, either. For a real 12-volt fridge that will also work as a freezer if you like, you'll need an Norcold, Whynter, Engel or Sundanzer unit. They're not even remotely cheap. But, you get what you pay for - a real fridge for 4 amps. Don't run one of those off a cranking battery, either.
If you want a really good 12-volt coffee maker, the Power Hunt 12 Volt Single Cup Coffee Maker is the best there is. Their products require a special 12 Volt Power Port plug (or 2-outlet strip which you supply the cables) that connects directly to the battery using heavy cables, instead of a normal 12-volt socket. That's because their products are high amp draw units. The coffee maker draws 25 amps, for example, but it'll make a cup of coffee in 3 minutes. The 10-cup version draws 45 amps, and takes about 19 minutes to brew a pot. Once you have the power port connected, then all of Hunt Power's appliances can connect to that same port, so you only need to buy one power port. They only plug in one at a time (or two if you have the strip). Coffee maker is $60 and the power port is $50.
My aunt in Tucson lives mostly off the grid, using solar power. She has a Power Hunt coffee maker and a grill. The Power Hunt products are somewhat popular in RV conversions, because they're located in Tualatin, OR (suburb of Portland), the same town where Upscale Auto (Sprinter accessories - and a repair shop) is located. The Sprinter RV conversions are very popular there. They have a club with rallies and everything. They're moving into accessories for the Promaster van, as well. It was my aunt where I first saw one, and then I saw a couple more inside some Sprinter conversions when I visited Tualatin with a delivery.
But man, you've gotta be a real coffee devotee to spend that kind of money on a coffee maker when truck stop coffee is so close by. Then again, I don't drink coffee, so what do I know?
The Coleman and Igloo electric coolers work pretty well. But they'll only keep things about 40 degrees cooler than ambient temperature, so there's a limit to what they can do. They will draw 5 amps, though, so they shouldn't be run off a cranking battery, either. For a real 12-volt fridge that will also work as a freezer if you like, you'll need an Norcold, Whynter, Engel or Sundanzer unit. They're not even remotely cheap. But, you get what you pay for - a real fridge for 4 amps. Don't run one of those off a cranking battery, either.