staying warm winter / fall camping. Heater alternative

[The Next Adventures]

My wife recently returned to the states for a week to visit family. I had her bring back a couple of things for us that I ordered on Amazon. One of which was a 12volt heated mattress pad. After camping for a week in the Cordillera blanca between 12,000 and 15,000 feet I thought I would share a review here. The mattress pad is amazing. Kept us plenty warm in below freezing temperatures every night. We have a camco Olympian wave 3 as well and never had to use it. The mattress pad is a much more comfortable heat source as well. This is the one I got:
Twin, Heated Mattress Pad by Electrowarmth, Non-Fitted, Size 36 x 60, Model# T36 12V Used in Trucks, RVs, Campers

 

[The Next Adventures]

How many amps does it draw sir? Did it draw your batteries down very fast?
Sent from my SM-G900P using Wander The West mobile app

Kilroy,no big drain on the battery at all. There is 7 heat settings so it will use more amps the higher you crank it. I would set it on 4 or 5 about 20 minutes before going to bed, then turn it down to 2 cause we were so warm. Ran it up to 10 hours one night and the battery voltage was at 12.55 in the morning which is very acceptable. I should also mention the the mattress pad cycles on and off as it reaches the desired temperature set.

 

[RC Pilot Jim]

Next, does the pad radiate heat into the cabin or just the bed area?

 

[Lighthawk]

After camping for a week in the Cordillera blanca

Just to be clear, we're talking Peru?

 

[pvstoy]

Yes Andy that would be Peru. We did a trek in Peru in the Cordillera Huayhuash that is near Blanca. You head out of the town of Huaraz. Great trip! Think North of Lima.

 

[The Next Adventures]

Just to be clear, we're talking Peru?

yes, Headed to Bolivia in the next week. We will be giving the mattress pad some heavy use with some extreme freezing temps at elevation there

 

[The Next Adventures]

Next, does the pad radiate heat into the cabin or just the bed area?

I would say just the bed area. I would say some of the big advantages are:
1)No propane heat use at night. The propane creates a lot of water vapor which I can't stand and well the propane heat is just dangerous in an enclosed area.
2) besides staying toasty warm all night, you wake up warm so jumping out of bed into the cold morning air was actually quite nice.

 

[srileo]

Next adventures, what an excellent idea. We too are hesitant to use the propane heater at night, the heat goes too high and then drops off too low.
Wondering if the mattress pad works with memory foam? is there a surface between the pad and your mattress so heat doesnt go down? we have memory foam and dont want it to melt under us ;-)

BTW, what an awesome journey. Peru is the best. I was up there in the huaraz area on my motorcycle. Definitely the most memorable landscapes ever.

 

[DonC]

Interesting, but I don't know anything about these. Do you just lay your sleeping bag on top of it?

Another justification for the 200W of solar I'm looking to add.

(Jim - I'll send you some data from the weekend tomorrow)

 

[The Next Adventures]

Next adventures, what an excellent idea. We too are hesitant to use the propane heater at night, the heat goes too high and then drops off too low.
Wondering if the mattress pad works with memory foam? is there a surface between the pad and your mattress so heat doesnt go down? we have memory foam and dont want it to melt under us ;-)

BTW, what an awesome journey. Peru is the best. I was up there in the huaraz area on my motorcycle. Definitely the most memorable landscapes ever.

Srileo, we sleep on Paco pads (jacks plastic welding). They are foam wrapped in PVC. We have a regular bed sheet over the pads. We lay the heated mattress pad over this and then lay a "Mexican blanket" over the heated mattress pad. We sleep on top the Mexican blanket. Don't know much about the resilience of memory foam but do not think it would be a problem. maybe check out the manufactures website. I had a presale question that they answered quickly.
Driving through the Andes mountains on your bike must have been amazing! We did a loop driving over the Andes into the amazonian side then back over again. Was the toughest roads I have drove yet with the four wheel camper. It survived in perfect condition.

 

[The Next Adventures]

Interesting, but I don't know anything about these. Do you just lay your sleeping bag on top of it?

Another justification for the 200W of solar I'm looking to add

(Jim - I'll send you some data from the weekend tomorrow)

Don, yes you could just lay a sleeping bag over it but using a blanket would be better because the heat would radiate up and get trapped between the blanket and pad. We use a blanket that is goose down much like a sleeping bag but styled like a blanket. Check out my solar setup I have on a mods thread I did here. I use a morning star controller and I am very happy with it.

 

[Willie]

FYI,

This is not exactly a heater "alternative", but I opted not to get the FWC heater so I could have additional storage space in the cabinets. Except for cold weather camping, this works great. So, as a FWC installed heater alternative, some time ago I started using the "indoor safe" portable heater from Mr. Heater. For most situations it has worked very well for me. It also sits out of the way nicely up on top of the back/rear cabinet.

I just got back from a cold weather trip over the Thanksgiving weekend, and the one problem I have had with the Mr Heater occurred again. That is if you need to constantly run the heater, it goes through a 1 lb. propane bottle in 5-6 hours. So after falling asleep with it on while it was nice and comfortable (and not being completely inside my sleeping bag), I awoke to being very cold. This is quickly resolved by getting out of your bag, climbing down out of the top bed and changing out the spent bottle and putting in a fresh one. However, it is inconvenient.

A friend of mine showed me a good solution. My Heater's portable heaters can be connected to a larger propane tank. All you need is the propane filter for the Mr Heater, and a propane extension to run from the propane tank. My FWC Hawk model comes with two 10lb. tanks. So its very easy to bring one inside for the Mr Heater, and leave the other one connected for the indoor stove top.

For safety, you have the fact that the Mr Heater is "indoor safe", and comes with a low oxygen sensor that will kick off the heater. You also have the propane sensor/alarm in the camper. I then also slightly crack open a couple of windows for added safety (actually it might be needed, I've had the Mr Heater click off a couple of times and found that having ventilation prevents it from kicking off, I presume this is the low oxygen sensor).

I've got pictures if anyone is interested. This is my first post so I don't know how to add pics yet.

Later,
Willie

 

[idahoron]

I have the Buddy heater too. There is also a hose that is for this heater called the Model# F273704
Is the only one that does not need the filter. I got this one so I didn't have to use the filter and it works well. I also route mine from the tank cabinet and I run the hose outside the camper between the bed and the camper and run it in the back left turnbuckle door. That way I don't have to keep the tank inside the camper with me.

 

[PaulT]

For safety, you have the fact that the Mr Heater is "indoor safe", and comes with a low oxygen sensor that will kick off the heater. You also have the propane sensor/alarm in the camper. I then also slightly crack open a couple of windows for added safety (actually it might be needed, I've had the Mr Heater click off a couple of times and found that having ventilation prevents it from kicking off, I presume this is the low oxygen sensor).

Read the manual. It specifies the size of the open window area for safe indoor use for your particular model. Replacement O2 is needed plus you will want to vent as much moisture from combustion as you can.

Paul

 

[Willie]

idahoRon,

That's an interesting solution, thanks.

Paul,

Yep, good advice! Mine needs 3"x3" which is easy to comply with.

Regards,
Willie

 

[Freebird]

Just so you know...
Some of the memory foam mattress companies recommend using NEITHER a mattress pad heater nor an electric blanket on their mattresses.

Why? A couple POSSIBLE reasons. I'm just guessing here.
Could be that direct heat shortens the life of the foam. Early Tempurpedic mattresses had a 20 year warranty, and now they are significantly less. High temperature breakdown over long time of complex hydrocarbon material is common. Might be causing warranty replacements which is costly to the companies.
But my bet is that since most modern foams are HIGHLY FLAMMABLE, it is a liability issue, to sidestep any liability in the REMOTE possibility that a fire occurrs caused by electrical malfunction. Modern medicine serious injury costs are huge, as are settlements and lawyers.