keeping van warm inside

[kevinj6121]

The winter cold weather is upon us, what type of heaters do you guys use inside your van to keep it warm inside.
I do keep my van in my garage which is a plus but still need to put some type of heater in there so nothing freezes up
not a fan of leaving electric heaters plugged in unattended but know that i have no choice

 

[keep it clean]

Can you heat the garage?. If its inside and you put heater in the van one should do it. I've had no luck with oil filled radiator type. The fan forced ones work best. Get one with safeties in it. Like the tip over safety. I think some also have overheat safety. And use good sound outlet. If you must install new HD outlet. This will help you sleep better at night. Just over size your cord. Use new cords not ones with worn sockets. And dont pinch the cord in the door.

 

[Jim Davisson]

I'm not far from you and we don't plug in unless it's going to get under 27 degrees. If you have a garage simply pulling the truck inside and shutting the door immediately usually will keep it in the forties all night. We don't empty the waste tank either, let it provide some free warmth. Keep a glass cup of water on your porch on freezing nights, it quickly removes freeze anxiety in the south. Some nights it will barely skim over, that's not enough to do any damage inside a vehicle to our equipment.

 

[keep it clean]

I'm not far from you and we don't plug in and less it's going to get under 27 degrees. If you have a garage simply pulling the truck inside and shutting the door immediately usually will keep it in the forties all night. We don't empty the waste tank either, let it provide some free warmth. Keep a glass cup of water on your porch on freezing nights, it quickly removes freeze anxiety in the south. Some nights it will barely skim over, that's not enough to do any damage inside a vehicle to our equipment.

Haha i do that. Put water out on the deck and a cup of water in the van. To show me evidence of freeze and how bad.

 

[Madenman]

As an idiot that lives in Minneapolis minnesota with an uninsalated Van. I just put two fan type space heaters on two circuits. And 3 if it’s below 0. This is when I am running the cimex or a portable. When I’m home I have a heated garage but I still put a space heater in it Incase the gas heater fails. Haven’t had a freeze up yet.

 

[mrotto]

Insulate your garage, install insulated doors and put a gas heater in it.
-its tax deductible
-nice to have a warm climate to do equipment maintenance
-your wife will love you for it if she keeps her vehicle in the garage too.

 

[kevinj6121]

Can you heat the garage?. If its inside and you put heater in the van one should do it. I've had no luck with oil filled radiator type. The fan forced ones work best. Get one with safeties in it. Like the tip over safety. I think some also have overheat safety. And use good sound outlet. If you must install new HD outlet. This will help you sleep better at night. Just over size your cord. Use new cords not ones with worn sockets. And dont pinch the cord in the door.

Heating the garage is out, but i did buy one of those oil filled radiator ones from wal-mart today
in fact i'm trying it out now in my house, i have it in a 20x11 room off my kitchen, when i walk out of that room into my kitchen i can definitely tell the difference in the temp.
So my logic says if it can warm a 20x11 room it should be fine inside my van which of course is way smaller

 

[kevinj6121]

I'm not far from you and we don't plug in unless it's going to get under 27 degrees. If you have a garage simply pulling the truck inside and shutting the door immediately usually will keep it in the forties all night. We don't empty the waste tank either, let it provide some free warmth. Keep a glass cup of water on your porch on freezing nights, it quickly removes freeze anxiety in the south. Some nights it will barely skim over, that's not enough to do any damage inside a vehicle to our equipment.

I do have a garage that i keep my van in, i figure even if the overnight temps drop into the mid 20's outside it will be maybe in the low to mid 30's inside the garage in which case i should be fine without a heater inside the van
But i did buy one of those oil filled radiator type heaters today for only $37
I'd hate to have stuff freeze costing me $1000 or more to fix cause i was too cheap to spend $37 on a heater better safe then sorry

 

[kevinj6121]

Haha i do that. Put water out on the deck and a cup of water in the van. To show me evidence of freeze and how bad.

Great idea, i'm gonna do that too

 

[keep it clean]

Great idea, i'm gonna do that too

You can buy remote thermometers with memory for about 15 bucks. Monitor van temp from your couch. It should record lowest and highest temp. Showing you if van dropped below freezing. But water in a cup is a good indicator too. If it just slushed over you could use heat gun to thaw pumps off. If frozen solid then you obviously got a problem. But at least you know it before heading out and can make some calls.

 

[keep it clean]

Heating the garage is out, but i did buy one of those oil filled radiator ones from wal-mart today
in fact i'm trying it out now in my house, i have it in a 20x11 room off my kitchen, when i walk out of that room into my kitchen i can definitely tell the difference in the temp.
So my logic says if it can warm a 20x11 room it should be fine inside my van which of course is way smaller

Your biggest issue would of been wind. Being its indoors at least thats not a problem. 1 heater should do fine. And probably wont hurt your electric bill. Van outdoors is another story. Wind strips the heat right off the sheetmetal and glass. So 2 are needed to keep up. Many use 2 on seperate circuits in case one trips. At least youll still have one going. But i think youll be fine. But put in smoke detector by garage entrance anyway if you dont already have one. Just to be safe.

 

[AZHome&Carpet]

We live off the grid and can’t fire up a electric heater
I ran -50 rv antifreeze thru the pump, hose and wand since tonight we will be below freezing and already had two snows.

 

[Tcoulter]

When I was in Indiana I had an uninsulated garage. First off, your van after being used for a few hours will be giving off a lot of heat for several hours from the start. I also had a hanging garage heater, kind of like this http://electricheatsource.com/Produ...DGJeZWOKNXZytM2OT1_XygAFaDIGs4ChoCuggQAvD_BwE

For those realllly cold nights around 0. You shouldn't really need a heater if it's in the high 20s. If you put the heater on low, it won't use much power, but should keep it JUST warm enough to not freeze anything.

 

[OldCarpetVet]

Mr. Heater Big Buddy. Best space heater on Earth. Its propane and made purposely for indoor use so using it in the van is no problem, though it will be costly.

 

[AZHome&Carpet]

Mr. Heater Big Buddy. Best space heater on Earth. Its propane and made purposely for indoor use so using it in the van is no problem, though it will be costly.

You can even hook up a large tank to the big buddy

 

[Randy Herman]

I live in WI and don't have a heated garage, but i just put a Iheater in it with a digital thermometer in it so i can see the temp at night. Never had it drop below 40 in the van.

 

[OldCarpetVet]

You can even hook up a large tank to the big buddy

Yes you can. Those things are great for off the grid cabins too.

 

[AZHome&Carpet]

Yes you can. Those things are great for off the grid cabins too.

We live off grid but use blue flame. My body hates infrared heat, and the heat is gentle on blue flame. But if you need a area warm fast big buddy is nice!

 

[North County]

A couple 80w light bulbs is a cheap and reliable way to keep Jack Frost at bay.