[Lolaeliz]

I use the vornado VMH10 heater in my van whenever I feel I can spare the power stored in my batteries. I find I can turn it on the the morning or evening to take the edge off the cold. It's a great little ultra quiet heater that does well. I can store it in the shelf above the driver cab too as it's pretty small. I have a Webasto I use when I can't spare the power, but in actual practice, probably about 60% of my heating BTUs come from my little Vornado heater, although I tend to avoid particularly cold climes. I have 200ah lithium storage and 400w solar.

The low setting is just 375w! How long can you run it without draining too much of the Battery?

 

[baitbegger44##]

are the furnace the reason for the mold? If mainly finding mold on backside of items and inside skin is that normal for vans? hot interior makes moisture on inside of walls....why van has weep holes.

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[83Grumman]

I have one like this and it regulates well.

Amazon.com

 

[Lolaeliz]

After hours of googling, I ended up getting this. It’s got a thermostat, and it’s from Home Depot, so if it’s too big, or for whatever reason doesn’t do the job, returning will be easy. I like how it fits with my floor plan. And I like that it’s convection heat. I’ll experiment and try it with battery power, just because I’m curious.

 

[baitbegger44##]

some electric fans TURN themselves OFF if not upright or kicked over. I have one but needs to be on floor as heat rises. If in my case my bed is floor level....electric heater about 3 feet up....it does not do any good and creates heavy foggy windows. Sleeping bag good to 20° and can't use it 50° and above.

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[Kathyks]

After hours of googling, I ended up getting this. It’s got a thermostat, and it’s from Home Depot, so if it’s too big, or for whatever reason doesn’t do the job, returning will be easy. I like how it fits with my floor plan. And I like that it’s convection heat. I’ll experiment and try it with battery power, just because I’m curious. View attachment 79933

Anxious to hear if you like this one.

 

[cerilly]

After hours of googling, I ended up getting this. It’s got a thermostat, and it’s from Home Depot, so if it’s too big, or for whatever reason doesn’t do the job, returning will be easy. I like how it fits with my floor plan. And I like that it’s convection heat. I’ll experiment and try it with battery power, just because I’m curious. View attachment 79933

I would love to see how this looks in the van also! Thanks for researching- I love this forum!

We don’t have our van yet so I am living vicariously through all of you.


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[Lolaeliz]

I would love to see how this looks in the van also! Thanks for researching- I love this forum!

We don’t have our van yet so I am living vicariously through all of you.

Anxious to hear if you like this one.

I'm returning it. It got hot to the touch, and it feels like it can tip over too easily. Also, with no fan forcing the air out it was slow to warm the space. In one hour it only went from 50° to 61° and the floor stayed cold.

I decided the best for me, to cut the chill in the morning, is the tiny fan heater. It's small and easy to store. Mine is 750w. I already had it, if I bought one I'd go for 500w. I put it on the floor near me. The heat rose and in minutes I was comfortable. It drained my battery 20% in 15 minutes. That gives me enough time to drink a cup of coffee, get dressed, and hit the road.

I will use my oil-filled radiator heater with a thermostat plug on sub-zero nights to protect the battery because it feels like the safest to leave on unattended in the van.

I have a Mr Buddy Propane heater. On a cold day when I want to work in the van I'll hook up the propane tank and give it a go. If it makes the space so hot that I can keep the back doors open I will love it, although the propane element while traveling in a closed up van terrifies me. I'd want to use up the tank and trash it before heading off from a destination.

 

[cerilly]

I will use my oil-filled radiator heater with a thermostat plug on sub-zero nights to protect the battery because it feels like the safest to leave on unattended in the van.

How is the oil filled radiator with your batteries? I have one of these and was wondering the same. Easy to use and remove seasonally. Not sure yet how much cold travel we will be doing, probably more often than not.

Also, we are up north (Ithaca, NY) and wondering if a heated floor is something to consider or some kind of heated mat. Not sure if that is a thing. But I have been reading about cold floors despite insulation.

Thanks for the feedback and posting here.


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[Lolaeliz]

How is the oil filled radiator with your batteries? I have one of these and was wondering the same. Easy to use and remove seasonally. Not sure yet how much cold travel we will be doing, probably more often than not.

Also, we are up north (Ithaca, NY) and wondering if a heated floor is something to consider or some kind of heated mat. Not sure if that is a thing. But I have been reading about cold floors despite insulation.

Thanks for the feedback and posting here.


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Bad, because it took 2 hours to go from the 40's to 65°. Any heat element using batteries needs to only be on for a short time. At least for my system of 400w solar, 2x 100ah lithium batteries. I ran an extension cord from the house through the van window to the heater for my experiment.

 

[Lolaeliz]

How is the oil filled radiator with your batteries? I have one of these and was wondering the same. Easy to use and remove seasonally. Not sure yet how much cold travel we will be doing, probably more often than not.

Also, we are up north (Ithaca, NY) and wondering if a heated floor is something to consider or some kind of heated mat. Not sure if that is a thing. But I have been reading about cold floors despite insulation.

Thanks for the feedback and posting here.


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I saw a van video someone posted with a heated floor. Maybe google it. Heat rises, so it would probably be great. I think you'd need either a huge battery bank of shore power for it to run. A throw rug also helps. Mine is Flokoti. It's white and I guess that's a little insane for a van, but I love it and you can shake the dirt out.

 

[larry barello]

I'll state the obvious: warm air rises, cold air sinks.

That is all you need to know to realize heavy insulation on the floor is a bust. Exposed metal and windows pretty much trash efforts to super insulate the walls and floors.

A heated floor would be awesome... Webasto makes a hydronic (water) heater that runs off of diesel and you could use that to heat the floor and your shower. They only cost $5000... Plus lots of PEX...

Fluffy rugs and socks work great.

Every heater I have seen new in the last year has a tip over cut off switch.

 

[83Grumman]

That is all you need to know to realize heavy insulation on the floor is a bust.

Just because the air near the floor is cooler does not mean there isn't heat loss through a poorly insulated floor. You will lose heat that requires energy to create. It's important to retain as much heat energy in the van as is reasonably possible and insulating the floor is an easy project.
If you are circulating the air the loss is even worse through an uninsulated floor.

 

[rickp2]

Hello buddy


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[Ken Allan]

I have two of these rather inexpensive Walmart heaters. They have a fan only setting plus three heat settings. Also a dial type thermostat. My measurements...

Fan only__.09A__10 watt
4.85A__ __573 watt = 1955 BTU
6.96A__ __820 watt = 2797 BTU
11.33A___1300 watt = 4435 BTU

If we have shore power, with a 15A power cord I often use one up front and one in rear on medium setting. Helps to circulate the heat around. Our PM is not well insulated. From a 30 deg morning it would take a long time to take the chill off. That's when we turn on the 16,000 BTU propane furnace from in bed. Ha! We do like our heaters though as they are quiet and don't take up much space.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pelonis-1500W-3-Speed-Electric-Fan-Forced-Space-Heater-PSH08F1ABB-Black/717790337

 

[larry barello]

Just because the air near the floor is cooler does not mean there isn't heat loss through a poorly insulated floor. You will lose heat that requires energy to create. It's important to retain as much heat energy in the van as is reasonably possible and insulating the floor is an easy project.
If you are circulating the air the loss is even worse through an uninsulated floor.

I guess "poorly insulated" is a matter of degree. If you are directly heating the floor by blowing hot air against it, then better insulation would make sense. My floor is insulated, but just with 3/8" neoprene. Works fine for me with some throw rugs.

 

[83Grumman]

That is all you need to know to realize heavy insulation on the floor is a bust.

I was commenting on this. A well insulated floor saves energy, it's not a bust.

 

[MsNomer]

The thermostatically controlled outlet is working well. The 30-year-old heater is chugging right along maintaining my set 50°.

The only downside is that if I want to warm the van further, I have to change the thermostat setting because it would be inconvenient to move the heater to another plug. Ideally, the outlet would have a pass-through button, but I never saw that option.

 

[larry barello]

The only downside is that if I want to warm the van further, I have to change the thermostat setting because it would be inconvenient to move the heater to another plug. Ideally, the outlet would have a pass-through button, but I never saw that option.

Doesn't the remote have a hard "on" and "off" function? IIRC just pressing the "up" once should force the plug on (this is a WAG as I a not at the van where the instructions are).

 

[MsNomer]

That's what I wish it had.

EDIT: larry barello just took the time to look up my manual and educate me. I do indeed have that feature.

Thank you, larry.