50 watt Halogen Terrarium Lamp For Van, Car or Small RV.

[Aesthetic Voyager]

I’ll be living in my van soon. For heat I got a Zilla Halogen Mini Dome Lamp with a 50 watt bulb at PetSmart and power it with my GoalZero Yeti 150. It works great. Doesn’t take much time to warm up the inside fast. I clip it to a bungee cord hanging between the hand thingys above the sliding doors. Intense heat up to about 12 inches from the lamp. The metal is hot to the touch when on but cools off fast after you turn it off. As with all hot things, be sure to keep it clear of anything flammable. Hope this helps anyone looking for a safe way to heat the inside of a small space without flame. (Tried to include pics but they won’t load)

 

[Aesthetic Voyager]

Ok so on further testing this wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. Doesn’t warm that well unless you’re close to it and it drains the battery fast. Back to the drawing board.

 

[wmyers4u]

My pet friends say these are also pretty fragile if bumped while they are on.

What about a 12v throw blanket or electric blanket through inverter (manual thermostat unless you are pure sine)?

 

[Wabbit]

50w at 110v is roughly 500w on 12v. Just FYI for future thinking.

 

[John61CT]

No watts is watts no matter the voltage.

It's Amps that vary.

Electricity creating heat will always be a large current draw, too much for small setups.

Propane heating a thermal mass is my reco, pot of water, cast iron pan. Even water bottles.

 

[tx2sturgis]

We need a 'sticky' on electricity and trying to heat with it on battery power.

:dodgy:

 

[lenny flank]

Ok so on further testing this wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. Doesn’t warm that well unless you’re close to it and it drains the battery fast. Back to the drawing board.

Any snake owner knows that.   

(These are often used as basking lights for pet reptiles.)

 

[Wabbit]

^^Yeah.

It's watts ÷ volts = amps

50w ÷ 120v = .42 amps
50w ÷ 12v = 4.17 amps

So it takes about 10x the amps to run a 120v item on 12v. This doesn't take in energy loss from inverter conversion.

Sorry for any confusion, it's tough being an idiot and trying to help out lol. Best of luck.

EDIT: In response to John's post. Trying to not "over quote" here. Forum rules.

 

[highdesertranger]

yeah when you first posted that I was going to call BS but didn't want you to think I was busting your balls. heating anything with electricity is very inefficient. people don't notice it in a house because electricity is cheap but when you have to be your own power plant it's a different story. unless you are JiminDenver and have your own portable nuclear power plant. highdesertranger

 

[tx2sturgis]

Wait...the ad copy says 150 watts of heat from a 50 watt bulb....amazing.

 

[Canine]

A sticky might be good. I have a lot of solar and tons of insulation and there is no way I could heat my trailer with off grid electricity only.

 

[eonygren]

Even my Little Buddy is too much for my old VW camper van.  I'm wondering how clean the small propane mantle lanterns burn.  Coleman makes a "mini-compact" propane lantern, $30 or so.  I'm thinkin' put a clay flowerpot around, pipe some air to it from a floor vent, leave windows cracked & hey, it might just keep the chill off without volcanic super sauna overkill.
Biolife thermoelectric generator, if I ever get rich again, wouldn't this device give constant dc power, otherwise wasted, from the glowing of catalytic or mantle?
Why wouldn't Thermoelectric be perfectly suited for catalytic and mantles?
Years ago I spent big bucks, got a 12volt electric heater but they're cheap now.  It could only be used while driving but wouldn't thermoelectric collect the 12v power to charge a battery for later electric heat? or to power a cooling fan?

 

[Canine]

Years ago I spent big bucks, got a 12volt electric heater but they're cheap now.  It could only be used while driving but wouldn't thermoelectric collect the 12v power to charge a battery for later electric heat? or to power a cooling fan?

The technical answer is yes of course. Any electricity you make can be used for electrical heat; however, the amount of electricity you would collect is like using a AA battery to heat a van.