12v Heating blanket for Cold Camping
- Thread starter SmokingRocks
- Start date
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@NLXTACY is working on it, but you know how his builds go.The rice cooker maybe ahead in the list.
I move how the market moves
- Thread starter
- #63
Oh yea a rice steamer would be fantastic!
- Thread starter
- #64
but its already been done haha
having come back from below 0 camping in the swell last month, i can vouch for the car cozy2 electric blanket. my buddy and i both had them. they're not big enough to really use as a blanket, but we put them on our mattresses and preheated the bedding. comes with a 7' cord that plugs into cig lighter. since i still haven't added the power supply to my rtt, i just ran it through the sunroof. didn't seem to affect the battery at all and i pushed the button a lot one of the nights. has a 30 or 45 minute timer.
for those saying a timer would suck, only on a stupid cold night. most of the nights, we were just preheating our beds....from there, your body will do the rest.
my buddy looked hard to find one that worked. the 110v ones don't work with low voltage, so unless you have one of them super fancy invertors, good luck. i don't remember how many he tested, but he was going in and out of bed bath and beyond, testing them and then returning them when they didn't work.
for those saying a timer would suck, only on a stupid cold night. most of the nights, we were just preheating our beds....from there, your body will do the rest.
my buddy looked hard to find one that worked. the 110v ones don't work with low voltage, so unless you have one of them super fancy invertors, good luck. i don't remember how many he tested, but he was going in and out of bed bath and beyond, testing them and then returning them when they didn't work.
- Thread starter
- #66
Nice thanks for the report. My better half certainly appreciated the all night heat so I'm happy with the no timer Wally World blanket. We'll see how long it last.
Here's some info from my last winter camping trip. I sleep in the back of my cruiser and have a Mr Buddy heater secured to the center console as well as a 12v electric blanket hooked to it's own battery, a 600cca marine lead acid deal. I monitor the CO with a CO detector and alarm that logs the highest reading.
12v Blanket Amazon.com: Camco 42804 Red 59" x 43" 12V Heated Blanket: Automotive
Co detector Kidde Battery-Operated Carbon Monoxide Alarm with Digital Dis - Carbon Monoxide Detectors - Amazon.com
At 8pm it was around -5F and it had dropped to -10 in the morning. For ventilation I had the drivers window open about 1.5" and the right, rear slide window open about 3/4". Since the heater emits infrared energy (for the most part), I put up sheets of foil backed bubble insulation along the rear glass surfaces and the windshield. This takes some of the infrared energy headed for the glass (heat sink) and reflects it into the middle of the truck where it can warm up objects and radiate that energy into the air. I just sort of jammed pieces of it in place. The CO readings by my head were 0 for about 5 hours until a fuel tank ran out. When this happened the combustion was so poor that it set the alarm off. So if you hear your Mr Heater start sputtering it's best to give it a nudge or push the off button rather than let it run out. With the generous fresh air flow, an untippable heater mount and alarm in place I have no problem sleeping with this thing running.
I used the 12v blanket under my sleeping area. It's not long enough to reach my feet but it really worked well. I put down an emergency blanket first, 1/2" closed cell foam, a sheep skin and then the blanket. On top I just used a down comforter as the air temp, picture below, was above 58F when I went to bed. I ended up wearing just boxers and a hat all night and actually woke up from overheating a little. The battery I used started at 12.2v the day before and was 11.85v in the morning.
I was surprised at how warm it stayed since I don't usually have the front window open and it's typically about 20 degrees warmer in the winter here. Having no wind was a factor too as gusts will force the air to exchange inside the truck quite a bit faster than just regular convection. Overall I was glad to have way more heat than I needed. These heaters are just luxuries though and I always have lots of extra clothes food, water, fire making tools and blankets with me in case none of the heating devices worked or I became stranded out there for more than two days.
12v Blanket Amazon.com: Camco 42804 Red 59" x 43" 12V Heated Blanket: Automotive
Co detector Kidde Battery-Operated Carbon Monoxide Alarm with Digital Dis - Carbon Monoxide Detectors - Amazon.com
At 8pm it was around -5F and it had dropped to -10 in the morning. For ventilation I had the drivers window open about 1.5" and the right, rear slide window open about 3/4". Since the heater emits infrared energy (for the most part), I put up sheets of foil backed bubble insulation along the rear glass surfaces and the windshield. This takes some of the infrared energy headed for the glass (heat sink) and reflects it into the middle of the truck where it can warm up objects and radiate that energy into the air. I just sort of jammed pieces of it in place. The CO readings by my head were 0 for about 5 hours until a fuel tank ran out. When this happened the combustion was so poor that it set the alarm off. So if you hear your Mr Heater start sputtering it's best to give it a nudge or push the off button rather than let it run out. With the generous fresh air flow, an untippable heater mount and alarm in place I have no problem sleeping with this thing running.
I used the 12v blanket under my sleeping area. It's not long enough to reach my feet but it really worked well. I put down an emergency blanket first, 1/2" closed cell foam, a sheep skin and then the blanket. On top I just used a down comforter as the air temp, picture below, was above 58F when I went to bed. I ended up wearing just boxers and a hat all night and actually woke up from overheating a little. The battery I used started at 12.2v the day before and was 11.85v in the morning.
I was surprised at how warm it stayed since I don't usually have the front window open and it's typically about 20 degrees warmer in the winter here. Having no wind was a factor too as gusts will force the air to exchange inside the truck quite a bit faster than just regular convection. Overall I was glad to have way more heat than I needed. These heaters are just luxuries though and I always have lots of extra clothes food, water, fire making tools and blankets with me in case none of the heating devices worked or I became stranded out there for more than two days.
i use Military 4 Piece Modular Sleeping Bag and for back up Camco 57331 Olympian Wave-3 hooked up to 1 LB propane bottle what is good for one night of heat and by adding curtain will help to stay nice and warm
Used this 12 volt bunk warmer in the rtt last weekend:
Amazon.com: Twin, Heated Mattress Pad by Electrowarmth, Non-Fitted, Size 36 x 60, Model# T36 12V Used in Trucks, RVs, Campers: Automotive
The first night I remembered to turn the thermostat down from 7 to 1 before falling asleep and was warm all night. The second night I had one too many drinks to be coherent and left it on 7, only to wake up to a dead battery. I was actually really hot both nights. Definitely a good buy and I like that you put it under you.
Cheers,
Salue
Amazon.com: Twin, Heated Mattress Pad by Electrowarmth, Non-Fitted, Size 36 x 60, Model# T36 12V Used in Trucks, RVs, Campers: Automotive
The first night I remembered to turn the thermostat down from 7 to 1 before falling asleep and was warm all night. The second night I had one too many drinks to be coherent and left it on 7, only to wake up to a dead battery. I was actually really hot both nights. Definitely a good buy and I like that you put it under you.
Cheers,
Salue
Sounds like you were happy and warm the second night, at least for a while
At 75 watt(6.2A) you are going to need at least a group 31 dedicated to your blanket to made it through the night.
Consider another blanket, mine uses only 50 watts with adjustable temp setting and a timer.
Hi Phil - can you post a link to the e-blanket that your running? Getting into the market for one for the next cold weather trip. Thanks
The exact blanket I have been buying is out of stock. The link appears to have the same blanket but rebranded and a little more cost. The important part of a 12 volt blanket is the control. For safety, I would use only the blanket with a constant hi/low control. I would not use any 12 volt blanket that has a thermostat or adjustable heat setting. Why? because they can catch fire.
Amazon product ASIN B07L3XHP2M
Amazon product ASIN B07L3XHP2M
Heating the inside of a small insulated space (your bed) seems vastly more efficient than heating a large un-insulated space (your car/tent) on the outside of your insulation.
