Hi All, sorry if i'm stumbling in to somewhere that I'm not welcome, but I need some advice and I guessed that you guys may be the people to ask.
I have a horsebox with a living area. I need to camp in it for a few days, the week after next. The problem I have is trying to find an affordable, quick and simple to install heating supply that can run off gas or maybe diesel (or something else?), as there will be no electricity supply - save from a leisure battery or two that I will have on board.
Ideally, I need something that is safe to use all night as well as most if not all day.
Hi, thanks for your reply. I did think, but I'm concerned about using it over night. I thought about getting a carbon monoxide alarm to put in with it, but I'm still feeling a bit uneasy. The living part of the lorry is quite small (approx 2x3m including the luton), so I thought to leave the door to the horse part open and put it in there. Hopefully with some windows left slightly open, the air should circulate ok that way?
You're always welcome, Annette. You don't say if you're going to a site or to someone's drive or yard, for example. You may not have the EHU socket at your vehicle, but you could get the EHU lead for a tent which has the sockets at the end, and put it through a side window. Then plug in a small oil-filled electric radiator - keeps the vehicle tepid to warm, stays on all night safely. A friend with a camper van does this. If you also get the converter, you can plug the EHU stance end into a barn's three pin socket and trail the lead out of their window to you. We did this when the site we went to had no space, but the owners let us use the yard and plug into their outbuilding; have done this at a friendly hotel too. Otherwise, back to tenting - we used a gas cylinder with a heating cowl on top - but not at night. It's not so cold yet that you need heating if you've got bedding, bed socks etc etc (loads of threads on that topic elsewhere). Sounds like you're eventing? if so, good luck.
Hi and thanks for the welcome.
We'll be parked up in a yard, which unfortunately doesn't have an electricity supply.
Tbh I wouldn't be that concerned if it was just me, as I'll be out working on the horses all day and probably too tired to care in the night! But I have 2 small children with me and I know from previous experience, they get miserable when they're cold.
I'm actually picking up some semi feral horses to bring back and break in. I'll be staying there for a few nights, just to do enough work with them to be able to lead them onto the lorry without too much stress.They already have new owners waiting for them abroad, so I need to crack on with this - hence the last min panic!
Ok, back to heating. My other thought was to buy a small (hopefully not TOO noisy) generator, and run a low wattage (400/450 w) background heater off that. But I'm pretty clueless as to how these things work and how I can actually get a rad to run off one? I've been told I can buy an electric hook up cable that'll plug into the genny on one end and terminates in a 3 pin socket on the other? Is this right?
The other thought I had was whether I could run one off a leisure battery and use the genny through the day to charge it back up?
Or am I just being a right blonde woman here? :/
Thanks so much for your help with this btw, its very much appreciated.
Its hanging around in there in the day time too. There's no insulation at all and the place get very damp with condensation - including the duvets and our clothes the last time we stayed over for a few days. And that was in august when the weather was nice! I also need heat as I have a couple of spinal injuries. I literally seize up if I get really cold, and it'll be bad enough working outside for 4 days without not having the chance of thawing out over night. Also if I get wet, will need to dry off my jackets at least. So quite a few things to consider really. Plus the lorry has several gale force draughts blowing through it from various points! Eww. Making me shiver just thinking about it.
If mains electric is out, then only gas is in! We used a radiant heater on top of a large [forget the code] Camping Gaz bottle at night when we had a trailer tent. So many draughts that we weren't afraid of CO poisoning, but always turned it off and let it cool down before going to bed. Be aware that you virtually have to sit on top of the thing to benefit!
Haha! I've just had a picture in my mind of us sitting like pixies on a toadstool!
Right, well I've just ordered myself a small generator and I'm hoping that its not going to be too noisy to either prevent us, the horses, or the neighbours sleeping!
I'm picking up a small background heater radiator tomorrow, plus some expanding foam to block the 2 inch gap we have at the top of the partition between the living area and horse area and I'm hoping for the best! I'm also going to carpet it, which should feel better than the lino that's in there atm and I'm picking up some insulating stuff (like silver bubblewrap) to put on the luton under the matress. I'm hoping this at least will help, because everytime there was the slightest of breezes last time we slept there, it blew through the base and the matress never actually got a chance to warm up. Laying all night in a cold bed isn't my idea of fun! There isn't much else I can think about doing up there, as the boards on there have to be kept loose, in order for the cab to tilt if we break down. I'd have liked to have insulated the whole living area, but won't have time for that, for this trip anyway. But its something I'll try and do before the next one.
Fingers crossed we'll be a bit more comfortable this time though.
Thank you all for your thoughts on this. Xxx
Hi Netty. please check the output of the genny is capable of running a heater. Most cheapy generators will only put out up to 700 to 800 watts & this will not run a 1000w heater
A decent 4 stroke inverter gennys 0f 1000w + cost in the region of £600 or more
I would not like you to waste money on buying the wrong equipment
The one I've ordered is a 1200 and the heater I'm looking at is 400w. Allowing for it to drain more when its heating up (I doubled it up to 800 in my guestimation, I'm hoping that'll give me enough leeway to run a lamp in the evenings too. Hope I've done my sums correctly! Any thoughts?
I think you have done exactly what I was about to suggest. If your genny is 1200 watts, the heater you will be using will hardly put any load on it, so you will have plenty to spare for running a lamp. Electric heaters don't usually take much, if any, more power when they are heating up, but my only concern would be that you would not get enough heat from a 400w heater. You could safely run two of them in my opinion, and still have enough power in reserve for lighting.
In your circumstances I would not recommend portable gas heating. Not just because of the dangers involved, but because they create a tremendous amount of condensation, which you say is already a problem. Electric heating is a dry heat, much better in your circumstances.
Phew! Thanks. Yes that's what my train of thought was. I'll give it a dry run before we go and can always pick up another rad if its not enough. Its a very small space and I think one would probably do it. But rather than having a panic, for once I'll try and be organised and can then tweak things from there.
That, and I've realised we have a leak on the luton and of course I've put the sofa's up there and they are soaked. So I'll need to dry them out as well.
Thanks again for your help.
That's true navver, but with the load Nettyjones is talking about, there should be no problem. Especially if only one 400w heater is in use. Even with two it is well within the capability of the generator. I would think that most generators would have an overload trip anyway. The ones I have used have.
'Tis ok, someone else warned me about that. This one is output in W not 1200kvr.
(Appologies if this message appears twice, the first vanished on me somehow)
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Topic: heating!
