DIY: 12v heated clothes, seats, cushions, beds, blankets, sleeping bags, & more.

[SoulRaven]

One of my followers on a different forum, sent me a link to the instructable site listed at the end of this post, to get my opinion on this.

I have not tried this, but being the visionary that I am, I can forsee many possibilities for 12v heated clothes, seats, cushions, beds, blankets, sleeping bags, & more.

This carbon fiber tape looks both durable and forgiving.

I have store bought 12v heated blankets & seat cushions that I dearly love, and they draw very little power.  If this carbon fiber type tape works like they say, I can see a lot of possibilities here.  

Here's the link:

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-carbon-tape-heated-vest/?ALLSTEPS

 

[highdesertranger]

so do I want to be plugged in to keep warm? not me. if it's that cold out I would move. or have the regular clothing to handle the temp. highdesertranger

 

[SternWake]

Interesting

http://www.carbonheater.us/

Makes sense to heat just the body instead of the air around it.

But these things are still pretty big consumers of electricity, from a battery point of view.

Not sure how much one can throttle them back, but they say their draw can range from 65 watts for a jacket liner to 12 watts for gloves.

If this is a continuous amp draw, then one will need fairly significant battery power and significant recharging ability to replace it.

If continuous,
Running some numbers,
65 watts at 12.2 volts = 5.3 amps
5.3 amps would deplete a healthy fully charged 100Ah capacity battery( group 27, 52 to 62 LBS)) to 50%, in less than 10 hours.

There is definitely possibilities with this.

Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

When my old school timerless 50watt heating pad fails, I'd consider making something to heat my 5 gallon shower bag via 12v directly. The new safety timers on heating pads means they are no good for this process. Then there is the inverter inefficiency to deal with.

 

[SoulRaven]

While I can't say for this particular product, my 12v heated blankets, and 12v heated seat cushions, seem to cycle on and off, running I would guess about 1 minute, every 10 minutes or so. With the thermostat set lower than high, the on times seem to be even lower.

I'm not sure what my seat cushions have in them, but I believe my blankets have some sort of wire in them, because you can feel them sometimes. Not really when it use, but like when you're folding them up.

I'm not much of a DIY type person, but since some of us spend winters in cold places, this looked like it could have possibilities.

 

[SternWake]

I agree.

I had a 12v mattress heating pad which would cycle on and off depending on setting and ambient temperature of the controller.

But it could all too easily consume 40Ah over an 8 hour period. When half of it failed. I tried to figure out where and why, but wound up just folding it up and storing it. I;ve gone 3 more winters without getting another one, but I am in coastal San diego and and cold snaps are not that cold, and do not last long.

Anyway, thanks for the heads up on this product.

 

[Goshawk]

Wish there was a cooling blanket equivalent.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[highdesertranger]

I think they do make a cooling blanket, I know the make cooling clothes for race car drivers. they pump cool water though there fire suits. but again you need a way to pump the water and to cool it. highdesertranger

 

[ggwoman]

so do I want to be plugged in to keep warm?  not me.  if it's that cold out I would move.  or have the regular clothing to handle the temp.  highdesertranger

A couple of warm dogs and cats does the trick too.

I have problems with electrical things, I stop watches on a regular basis and no doubt if I relied on electric gadgets to stay warm I would blow a fuse somewhere.

 

[johnny b]

Racing cool suits are very simple and are basically what we have seen on here in previous posts about  DIY 'air coolers'.......only much more $$$.



Just the cooler with pump and hoses - $565
Add the shirt - $150
Add the air cooling for the helmet - $475 (not counting the helmet)

And according to the manufacturer dry ice can't be used.

Personally, I just sweat like Ted Striker (Airplane) when I'm suited up on a hot August race day.