Not quite sure what resorts we plan on camping at or near, we’ve heard there’s a Mary Jane lot that allows overnight but still need to look into this more. Outside of that just looking for dispersed camping up i70!
Ya fair, G lot up at WP allows overnight. Along i70 can get tough as a lot of the FSR close for winter. Its not pretty but Eagle rest stop often is gathering. There is a decent FB Group for Ikon/Epic Van people that post spots.
Do you have any pictures of your diesel heater set up with the Bluetti? From everyone’s answer it’s looking like I’ll need to bite the bullet and get that set up for us haha— appreciate the info on the Facebook group as well I’ll need to look into that as well.
Dry heat I am sure, but the run time would be so limited even with a large power bank. Not worth it imo.
Filmed a video on it which can be found here below. It’s housed inside the Apache 4800 from Harbor Freight so it’s not terribly big. I camped last weekend when it was 24º and was in shorts n t shirt. Actually was too hot and had to keep the front triangle windows open.
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I’ve got mine mounted in the bed but its one of the Vevor All-In-Ones.
Awesome, do you run pipe through the bottoms into the tent section it just heat below? And for ventilation do you just crack a side panel?
This is great, thank you!
So I actually ran my exhaust through the cubby in the tacoma, should be pics somewhere in that thread. didnt want to put a hole in my bed and a cubby is replaceable.
as for heat, I just heat the bottom and let it rise naturally while we chill, play games, apres ski, etc. if there is 2 of us though and the floor is in place no heat can rise so i typically turn it off but will kick it back on first thing in the AM.
i am believer that the heater aids in comfort but you shouldnt be 100% reliant on it…a good sleeping bag is important.
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There is no substitute for a good sleeping bag or quilt. If you want to winter camp, this is really non-negotiable. A forced air heater or heated blanket will eventually fail you, so they should be treated as luxury items, not necessities.
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Warm bag + diesel heater = perfect combo so you don’t have condensation built up.
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I am still in camp-heated-blanket. I use this dc blanket: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09T9DDP9M
Someone on the forum shared this new heating pad:
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How do you go multiple days with this? What I’ve been doing is using my heater overnight and trickle charging my (deep cycle 65aH marine) battery the following day to use the heater again the next night.
The issue with this is that it’s going to get colder so I might want to use my heater longer… So is really my only option to buy a 2nd battery that I can use while the other one is charging? Not saying I want to use the heater all night AND all day, but what if for some reason I had to, is that even possible?
I run a dual battery setup. Secondary battery under the hood and then a EcoFlow Delta 2 (~85ah). Running the heater all night long (12 hours) will drain it from 100% to ~70%. So in theory, I could 100% do 2-3 nights with the heater and the EcoFlow and if I was driving somewhere else to camp, I would just plug the ecoflow into the truck for some charge juice. Once the heater is going, the draw is very little at 15w. It’s the initial start up at 150w that draws the most.
I really wouldn’t recommend anyone going with less than 1000wh battery bank nowadays. I just think you eventually need more power - it’s nice to have more than you need vs not enough for trips.
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To add on to @GainzGFC point, if you are not driving anywhere to charge your power bank, then solar would be helpful to charge while not in use. I believe. I don’t have solar so my knowledge is limited.
I have a 1000W battery, 200W of solar, and I echo this sentiment.
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Ah ok interesting. One day I need to test out how long the heater runs without a battery charge, might be a couple of days, who knows. The manufacturer of my heater specifically said to not use a power bank as it is bad for the heater over time and doesn’t have the amps required at startup to properly run it, they said a deep cycle marine is the battery to use, so that’s what I’m using.
I have a very large Jackery that powers everything else and can for 4-5 days, it’s just the marine battery I’m not sure about as it doesn’t have a % monitor to let me know how low of a charge it has.
Just camped last night and my EcoFlow dropped to 70% after 11.5hrs of running the diesel heater.
Which heater are you specifically using?
I’ve got a Planar 2kw heater running off a 12v 65aH deep cycle. I’ve never run the battery from full to empty so I’m not sure how long it would hold up. I wish I could run it off my Jackery so I had a % value haha
(I clearly don’t know much about electronics, sorry)
