Keeping warm

Using an air mattress tends to be a little cool. Try a solar blanket under it or as suggested above a piece of Reflectix. I know when I go to Florida an stay with my sister I sleep on an air mattress. Im always a little cold even with a blanket under me..So I can imagine how cold you are i the cooler weather.. When we had our Hybrid we used a 2 inch memory foam ontop of the original foam mattress. In cooler weather we used a small ceramic heater set on the counter and it kept us pretty warm..

Agree or disagree matters not a bit when dealing with science. :)

1500 watts supplies a bit over 5000 BTU assuming perfect conversion which is not something to count on. Typical RV LP furnace supplies 19,000 BTU or about 4x the amount of heat. If 5000 BTU keeps you warm great!

5000 BTU may retain the heat already there but our furnace still comes on from time to time even with a pair of 1500 watt hair dryers or electric heaters running.

-- Chuck

Juniorc wrote:
I have to disagree with Chuck. We ran a 1500 watt heater on a 25 degree night and my furnace never cut on one time set at 60. The furnace will heat you up sure. But the problem is it won't stay off 5 minutes before having to cut back on. The constant heat from a 1500 watt heater works great in my htt. I was shocked how well it did. Turn your furnace on when you arrive at camp. Get the camper warm. Then run the electric heater to maintain your warmth. Save your propane. When you wake in the morning turn the furnace up to 70 to knock off the chill. My best advice for you is buy a small electric heater. Constant heat is the key for htt. Warning though, even though the camper stayed around 60 the beds were around 50. Expect a 10 degree drop.

Been doing it forever. The pugz and reflectix in the screens keep the heat the same as interior temps. If you have bed heaters its t-shirts and shorts in the middle of January camping. I tent camp to the neg digits, a entirely different ordeal. Toasty in bag, and frozen solid when you need to climb out the bag to pee. Overall enjoyment of backpack hunting trips in brutal conditions doesn't faze us after year 30 doing it.

We have camped to ten above. Heater runs constantly as does the dehumidifier. Stayed nice & toasty

I have to disagree with Chuck. We ran a 1500 watt heater on a 25 degree night and my furnace never cut on one time set at 60. The furnace will heat you up sure. But the problem is it won't stay off 5 minutes before having to cut back on. The constant heat from a 1500 watt heater works great in my htt. I was shocked how well it did. Turn your furnace on when you arrive at camp. Get the camper warm. Then run the electric heater to maintain your warmth. Save your propane. When you wake in the morning turn the furnace up to 70 to knock off the chill. My best advice for you is buy a small electric heater. Constant heat is the key for htt. Warning though, even though the camper stayed around 60 the beds were around 50. Expect a 10 degree drop.

Ever heat your camper with a hair dryer? An electric heater draws about 1500 watts or about half the power available in most hybrids with 30amp service. And, guess what? The typical hair dryer is the same 1500 watts. As is the "heat strip" on some AC units like we had on our popup. None of these do a good job of heating a camper.

We run the propane furnace which puts out much more heat and supplement this with the space heater which maintains cabin temperatures well once it's warm.

Beware. Propane furnace burns a pound of fuel every hour of flame time. 20 pound tank? 20 hours of flame. Two tanks may not last a weekend.

Air makes a good insulator but an air mattress is constantly moving that air and is very cold to sleep on. Heated mattress is great. Insulated air mattress works well too there are foam filled version available.

Just like showering with a friend conserves energy sleeping with one keeps both warm. 30 pounds of Dachshunds, though, puts our more heat than a 120 pound human.

-- Chuck

I used to hunt elk in temperatures well below zero. We used wall tents with a wood stove and did fine. All this talk about freezing weather is kind of lame. A hybrid with PUGs is quite comfortable without running a heater or furnace all the time.

Hybrid owner here!

Camped in plenty of 30 degree weather last winter and we stayed quite warm.

1. I cut out Reflectix panels for all of the tent end windows/screens. The tent itself is vinyl BUT it is only canvas over the screens and cold air comes right through.

2. I made Reflectix blankets for each tent end. I took a 2 x 25 foot roll and cut it in half so I had two sections of 2 x 12.5. I then taped those together with Duct Tape to make a 4 x 12.5 blanket. I lay a reflectix Blanket over the tent end and cover it with a Brown/Silver reversible tarp. (Brown up to absorb sun and silver up to reflect sun).

I know it sounds complicated, but it is not.

This kept us warm AND no condensation on the inside of the tent.

We used one of the oil filled heaters (looks like a little radiator) as I feel it is safest with pets (two cats and one dog).

This kept us very cozy!!!!

One night in our travels it got real chilly and I was too lazy to get out the Reflectix panels for the tent windows. WE FROZE! We could not get it warm in the camper.

Packing now and Tuesday we leave to do it all again - Yippee!

From our time of tent camping:
With air mattress you need insulation between you and the mattress.
Put a blanket between you and the mattress and then another blanket over you or you sleep in a sleeping bag over the mattress.
Those are the most effective ways we found.
We have tent camped in below freezing temperatures and this keep you really warm.

We put an electric water collecting dehumidifier in the shower. Helps keep dampness completely out of the trailer and the heater works more effeciently with less moisture. We winter camp and are fine