Heating when you can't afford a Mr. Buddy

[dualhammers]

What are cost effective ways to keep a van warm at night - I can't afford the $90 up front cost. Suggestions?

 

[highdesertranger]

actually I would recommend a good sleeping bag before a heater. try thrift stores for either. highdesertranger

 

[John61CT]

Smaller unit, and/or second hand off eBay.

Set aside 25% of the food budget a few weeks, eat lots of cheap carbs, pasta, potatoes, rice & beans.

Warm clothes, especially socks, gloves and head.

Vigorous exercise

 

[karl]

x3 on warm clothing
my first heater was a "sunflower"style propane- it screwed on a 1# canister and had to be lit with a match or lighter....think it cost 30 bucks and heated my g- series van fine....it did not have the safety features of a Buddy heater.
Think it was a Coleman ....

 

[sreesekelley]

I wouldn't leave this burning overnight but it will produce heat and I've used it myself when the power was out for 18 hours during an ice storm. Tea light candles under a clay pot. The tea lights can be had at the dollar store for cheap. I keep them in my supply closet. In my case I just put down two sticks of wood to set the clay pot on, lit the tea light and set the clay pot down on it. I've seen it used on a boat (which is where I got the idea). The boat person used an aluminum (disposable) cake pan to put the entire contraption in. To give you an idea of how effective it was, in 18 hours during an ice storm, the inside of my house dropped to 59 degrees. For the better part of the 18 hours it stayed in the mid 60's. So i spent about $4 to keep my house warm during sub freezing weather. In minnesota we kept candles in our vehicles during winter storms for the same purpose although I never used one in a vehicle. http://www.instructables.com/id/Flower-Pots-Tea-Lights-Heater/ it just one of many google links as to how to set this up.

 

[Reducto]

I had a Coleman catalytic heater for a while and cannot recommend them. The catalyst burned off over time and it gave off a nasty smell, who knows what I was breathing in. Large areas of the thing would not heat up, I'm not sure if those nozzles were clogged or if it was just releasing unburned propane. I also burned myself and my clothes often reaching over to move the thing because the outer ring was exposed and VERY hot.

Keeping the VAN warm should not be the goal. Only YOU need to be warm. When I was frequenting cold weather areas here was my setup:
Thick sweat pants and thick socks
One thin and one thick, lined hoodie - if it was cold enough I wore both at once to bed
One thin and one thick blanket
I would heat up a liter of water on my camp stove and put it in a bottle that I kept by my feet if I was sitting up and awake, or pulled under the covers with me when I went to bed.

I was fine down to 20 degrees like this.

 

[jonyjoe303]

foam insulation, I have the whole rear of my van covered in foam insulation. And I use 2 sleeping bags on the coldest of nights.

 

[Dennis]

I had one of those Coleman catalytic heaters I used in a blind years ago. Not enough heat and fuel was getting expensive. I switched to a large coffee can that I placed a roll of toilet paper in and filled with alcohol. It put out more heat at a lot less cost. I lived over it.

At 20 degrees how do you keep your water from freezing?

 

[Reducto]

When I say 20 degrees I mean outside temp. I don't think I ever got below freezing inside my van for long so water freezing wasn't really an issue for me. I had a 2" thick slab of pink foam between the back and driver area, half inch foam on the ceiling and over the rear windows.

 

[Dennis]

I was wondering about that. We used to keep water in an insulated plastic water can and inside of a tent.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Cost effective alternative to a $90 heater?

Drive to somewhere where its warm enough to sleep comfortably with the bedding that you have.

 

[Ralph Furley]

What are cost effective ways to keep a van warm at night - I can't afford the $90 up front cost. Suggestions?

Here are some ideas that are on the cheap:
*Hot water bag(s)
*Pee in a bottle and sleep with it
*use two sleeping bags - one sleeping bag over the other with zippers on the opposite sides (to control unwanted cold air creeping through the zipper of the inner sleep bag)
*wear gloves and cover your head with a hoody or beanny, wear a scarf, socks, etc
*drink plenty of water- helps your body to stay warm
*park somewhere away from the wind
*When going to bed or waking up, maybe run the engine & use the car heater to warm your living space up for a 10 minutes or so? (make sure you tailpipe is aiming down wind)
*maybe inslulate the floor and walls with cardboard, wood, excercise/rubber mat, empty egg cartons, etc
*use a sun screen on the windshield for extra privacy and to help insulate
*do something physical before going to bed, like take a long walk to help build up body heat
Let me know if this helps?

 

[jacqueg]

What are cost effective ways to keep a van warm at night - I can't afford the $90 up front cost. Suggestions?

As others have noted, it's impossible to keep an unheated van much warmer than ambient temperature. Even most insulated houses won't stay warm indefinitely w/out the addition of heat.

But you can keep yourself warm by choosing the right clothing and bedding. And fortunately, you can find the right clothing and bedding at thrift stores. You can also, from the same source, find insulated draperies that you can rig up to reduce drafts and heat loss. Maybe make a sleeping tent inside your van.

And you might try looking on eBay for used propane heaters.

 

[VanKitten]

The tea candles (even a 3 or 4 of them) does not work.

Yes, the pot gets hot. But for more than just warming your hands it does not work. Will not warm even a small space like a van by more than a couple degrees.... difference between 38 degrees and 40 degrees is not enough.

Warm sleeping bag, warm clothes, and insulation under your bedding.

 

[hugemoth]

Being cold is miserable and the best way I've found to stay toasty warm on a cold day is a radiant heater. I use a ceramic heater similar to the Buddy but smaller because I found the Buddy puts out way too many BTUs for my camper. Had to leave windows open to use it even on low, wasting propane. Bought a little Chinese made heater on eBay for about $40 and it's a prefect size for my use. Doesn't have all the safety features of the Buddy so care must be taken but it works great. Runs on butane but comes with a connector to be used on low pressure propane from a bulk tank.

 

[lenny flank]

foam insulation, I have the whole rear of my van covered in foam insulation. And I use 2 sleeping bags on the coldest of nights.

Insulation works by trapping heat. It is useless without a heat source.

 

[lenny flank]

 Tea light candles under a clay pot.

Alas, a candle does not put put enough BTUs for any useful heating. Even several candles all at once will not heat up a volume the size of a van or RV to any useful degree. It may feel warm if your hands are a few inches from it, but it will not heat up the interior of a vehicle.

 

[lenny flank]

Get a good cold-weather mummy sleeping bag, and you won't need any heater.

And drive south where it's warmer.

 

[jonsun]

www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00FBYC7UQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1509628993&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=portable+ceramic+gas+heater&dpPl=1&dpID=51Ff%2Br%2B2RHL&ref=plSrch

mod edit, YOU MUST INCLUDE A DESCRIPTION WHEN YOU POST A LINK. this link is for a butane heater that cannot be shipped to California.

 

[UptownSport]

Van stays warmer than outside, just by body heat and refrig running- Maybe 10 degrees- You can sure feel it when when taking a midnight outside break. Window van; less than 1 R value.

Sleeping bag or combination of blankets at night will keep you warm, it's getting out of that nest in the morning!!!!!!!

There's lots of stoves on Craigslist- Went to pick up one and the man literally had a stack of them- Most looked barely used-
One of the benefits of a consumer society!!! Let someone else pay the $90 in their unfollowed adventure scheme.
$20-30 will get you some type of stove.

Being an enclosed space it warms up quickly, Problem is, byproducts of combustion also build up.

I always thought a simple heat exchanger would help, but haven't quite got around to it