Moving into and heating an SUV in a pinch

[user 423]

Libraries, hanging at parks, free or cheap rec centers, coffee shops, museums,galleries,malls even.

 

[LargeMarge]

I'm getting kind of tired of staying in this extended stay hotel that costs me nearly $900 a month. I've noticed that most of what I do with my free time in such a room is just waste it anyways pacing back and forth talking to myself about my next move or what I'm missing, and the only reason I'm still sticking around is because of my concern for not being ready with enough STUFF to live out of my cruiser with.

So I got to thinking: What would I do if I got evicted right now?

I would drive to my father's house, remove the back seats and store them at his place if he's okay with it, and then quickly find a power inverter for my cruiser, take the little space heater he gave me, blow up an air mattress in the back (if it will fit, otherwise use a foam pad), then take my mother's blanket, cover the mattress with it, hook up the space heater using the power converter, turn the power on in my vehicle, and let that heater run throughout the night while I sleep on the mattress. And I would also try to scramble to find vehicle curtains or blinds to put on the side windows.

The only thing about that is, my father always told me not to leave the car battery on or to leave any appliances on because it runs down the battery. He would always say it like if I left a single light on overnight, then the battery would be dead and I wouldn't be able to crank my vehicle.

Logically, that doesn't make sense to me, because a car battery seems like such a massive and powerful source of energy, that it could handle that if it's the only thing running. Plus my vehicle has a battery gauge, and getting a new battery or a recharge every now and then doesn't seem like a big deal to me, and even seems worth it. Possibly cheaper than $800 a month.

And that's basically all I would need. I could store water in jugs and use them for brushing teeth and drinking, I can use the bathroom at the gym, or my father's house, or at work, the only challenge would be ensuring privacy, not drawing attention, and trying to change clothes inside the vehicle, which shouldn't be too hard with how much more spacious this is than my last.

What am I missing? Is my father right about the battery thing? Should I just insulate my cruiser instead?

An alternative view...
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Instead of thinking about heating, how about insulation!
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Our ExpeditionVehicle is 7w x 12 l x 7h, about 700cf.
Our windows are 3612 -- three feet wide by a foot tall -- dual-pane sliders designed for a stand-still house.
I mounted our windows at our eye-level standing inside, about eight feet above pavement.
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We rarely use *one* of our three Wave 3 catalytic heater above 40°f.
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I used adhesive-back acoustic insulation against the outer wall, a gap, then one-inch pink-board, another air-gap, then two-inch foil-side poly.
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Summers up rough logger tracks to remote mountain lakes.
Winters on isolated Baja beaches.
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Nearly two decades full-time live-aboard, this works for us.

 

[Linda_Sue]

Consider an autostart with a 15 minute auto shutoff. Push the button and the engine runs for 15 minutes then stops. Repeat as necessary.

Ha! SO. COOL!! Simple, yet brilliant! Thanks for sharing this

 

[Happy Camper]

Wonder what they ended up doing.

 

[abnorm]

Wonder what they ended up doing.

The OP left the forum..............Moderators changed his username to Anon

 

[Happy Camper]

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