Thread: Heaters...Thoughts.....Advice?

It's bloody hard trying to find a means of heating a tent that doesn't pose the risk of setting the place on fire or producing emissions

Probably the best bet is a catalytic heater like the Coleman ones.

http://www.colemanaustralia.com.au/t...tCategory=1171

Last time I heated a tent i used a long piece of large diameter metal pipe that passed through the coals of the campfire. it sloped uphill from the other side of the fire so that fresh air was drawn in and carried up the pipe by convection into the tent.

It worked very well, but I don't suppose that is quite what you had in mind.

You did ask for "any suggestions".

The two problems are as above, fire risk and suffocation risk.
Whatever you go for, never allow yourself to have even a nap while it is lit, nomatter what!
we have one of those cheapish table-top patio heaters and it's fantastic in a 15 foot square marquee in cold weather, and it has vents on the roof, and the walls don't quite go all the way round (about a 14 inch gap as a door)

Fraser

best "safe" way i have found is a few 5" or 6" dia rocks that you heat in the fire, extract and then wrap in a hessian bag and towel to warm a tent. they do a surprisingly good job of keeping the chill away but dont get the rocks red hot or hessian becomes fireball :P

One way to soften the blow of the cold without the expense is a good old hot water bottle. They do wonders for warming up the bed

I have looked at the coleman catalytic ones, but I just can't see it working out on a trip. You get into bed at night, and then leap up and you're out in the morning. What's the point heating it?

the heater pipe works best if you can set it up so that the pipe run up hill all the way from the fire, make sure the pipe is a few feet clear of the fire.

a better way is with a donkey water storage heater.

esentially

you have a copper coil outside in a fire (or on a stove or a portable hot water heater) this is plumbed up to the middle and the bottom of the tank which is set up so that the bottom is higher than the heater coil. the laws of convection then heats this water. on the other side of the tank you have a line plumbed from the top to about the middle of the tank this line goes into the tent and attaches to a radiator with a small fan on it or a series of copper pipes on the floor.
tent heater.jpg

the tank sort of looks like that. 5 important things are

1. the connection of the 2 cold lines is important
2. it needs a small hole at the top of the u bend to allow the tent line to purge
3. the bottom connection needs to setup like a venturi so that as the convection action of the water heater occours within the tank it helps draw the water through the tent loop.
4. the cold water out run to the heater should be as direct as practicable and down hill all the way to the bottom of the heater coil
5. The hot water return from the heater should be uphill direct as practicable and uphill all the way from the top of the heater.

The taller the tank the better it works.

Originally Posted by stevo68

G'day All,

Ok for starters...lets get em out of the way as I have already heard them...wuss...pansy...nancy boy....from the Missus...whatareya...a man or what .


Regards

Stevo

Mmmmmm,






Mmmmmm,





Nothing to add here

I've been thinking about camping in winter and just don't go camping for the 2-3 months of the year that it is too cold or head north. Bundaberg has an average minimum for May of 15 degrees, much nicer and not too far to drive.