Subzero Teardrop Camper

[fike]

I wonder how cold you could manage in a teardrop if you had a propane heater blowing warm air. I think the problem would be the mattress being too cold. You could probably keep the air warm with enough propane, but you couldn't prevent your heat being sucked out of you through the mattress and floor.

30 degrees F seems doable with a good sleeping bag. Even 20 degrees F might be okay, but by the time you get below that I think you would be hard pressed to keep it warm enough. Add some wind, and you would be really cold. Ironically, snow would probably make it warmer by providing some warm insulation like an igloo gets.

What do you think?

 

[IdaSHO]

A small space like that, if it is insulated well, you shouldn't have trouble keeping warm even without a heater.
ANY heater should bring it up to tee-shirt and temps fast.

 

[BlackRubiX]

My wife and I slept in our teardrop and 20 degree nights and were just fine with a sleeping bag and a thick fleece blanket. We had to keep the windows cracked open to keep the condensation down.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[fike]

All good hear. Actually, I am thinking temps more down into the single digits or low teens.

 

[coop74]

16 degrees in mine but mine is not a true tear drop and has propane heat

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[Titanpat57]

Your struggle will be keeping the propane warm enough...add a little altitude and you'll probably be out of luck.

 

[coop74]

it has to get to very cold for propane not to operate...

from an article, "When it gets to something like 20 below zero which is not all that uncommon in places like Green Bay and Buffalo, you're still going to have enough vapor pressure inside that tank even though it might be down to 15 pounds PSI. That's still enough generally enough to run any kind of tailgating grill. I've never heard of a situation where somebody has not been able to use a propane appliance in the extreme cold where it would not vaporize".

it is highly unlikely I will get my wife to camp in below zero weather...

 

[IdaSHO]

We have no trouble at 15-20 below (F) keeping our furnace running.

BTU output seems to be reduced a bit, but that is probably also due to the high elevations we are at during such frigid temps.

 

[DSALMON-629]

I have tent camped down into the twenties, and it wasn't too bad if you dress accordingly. Your trailer is way better insulated than a tent is, as long as you are dry (not sweating) you shouldn't have any issues with getting too cold.

 

[TacoDell]

Growing up in Minnesota
My Grandfather would put his fish house out
on Mille Lacs lake every winter.
Positioned atop the ice/snow... -20* at night, propane tank placed outside.

Slept in it many a night on the big frozen lake.
Erie to listen to the ice contract/expand throughout the night.
But I lived to tell about it.

Always stayed warm enough, propane always worked fine in the cold.
But a higher elevation may be a different story for propane use.
As I might believe that could be more problematic
during sub zero temperatures.

Even with the propane heater going inside...
ya needed sleep off/above the fish house's floor.
As the lake's ice and fish house floor was purdy damn cold.

To keep the heat in...
We would occasionally cover the fish holes with plywood
to retain the heat better inside the fish house.
An decent sleeping bag kept ya warm enough.
Better be quality if the propane were to go out tho' :yikes:

It was so cold overnite...
that the ice fishing holes would need be re-chiseled open
in just a few hours ! !
and they'd net an even thicker ice layer if ya waited 'til morning

So the solution to saying warm is having a heated floor.
Not really possible (smart) atop a lake's huge ice block.
As the fish house could freeze into placed and be near impossible to move
in one piece before the spring's thaw

So to keep warm we slept on top of couches to keep us off the floor.
Yep it was a fairly large fish house with 6ft couches at both ends.
But we could fish and sleep all night long...
Well... if ya chiseled open the fishing hole(s) throughout the night anyways

Solution to keeping a mobile trailer floor warm...
Would be constructing a double wall floor
with heat ducted thru that space/void.

An alternative if ya can't and gotta sleep on the floor
Would be laying atop an electric heating blanket.

If yer the rough/tumble outdoorsy type...
maybe a thinsilate pad under yer sleeping bag could suffice ?

I spent one cold night in my RTT atop my M100
the ambient air outdoors was only 25*
We used a space heater inside and condensation was bad.
Needless to say... I won't attempt that again.
At least not with the sleeping bags I own.

Hey those Mnt. Everest climber dorks deal with sub-zero ******** in a little tent.
So how could it be any worse sleeping in a heated tear drop trailer ? Lol

pooseys

 

[Scoutn79]

Your struggle will be keeping the propane warm enough...add a little altitude and you'll probably be out of luck.

Not really. Elk camp is at 10,500+ ft and it gets down to -25F and we've never had issues with the propane system either in the 100lb bottle for the camper or the 20 bottle for the grill. Altitude is actually your friend when it gets cold in this situation.

Darrell

 

[dwh]

Lower ambient pressure at altitude. Has the net effect of *increasing* the apparent pressure of the propane. Less oxygen of course, so it doesn't burn quite as efficiently.


Back on topic...

I use 4 inches of closed cell foam for a mattress. Heat does NOT leak away through that stuff. In fact, it reflects back at me, which often results in me having to stick a foot out to keep from overheating.

Not in a teardrop, in an antique camper van which I'm certain is not as well insulated as a modern teardrop.

 

[stomperxj]

We slept in the Sawtooth XL at below 30* several nights and had to shed covers half way through and crack more windows due to being too hot. Closed cell foam holds heat quite well and having another warm body next to you helps a lot

 

[kdj]

"I have tent camped down into the twenties, and it wasn't too bad if you dress accordingly. Your trailer is way better insulated than a tent is, as long as you are dry (not sweating) you shouldn't have any issues with getting too cold."

What he said. It's all about how your are dressed, spent at least 8 nights in a tent at or below 32. It's a challenge, but worth it to wake up knowing you can do it.

 

[thethePete]

Ventilation will be key too, both for O2 levels, and for condensation. You should have no problem keeping it warm, also -depending on the heater you're using, keeping the bottle within the heated area may be an option and then colder ambient isn't an issue at all.

Propane boils at -40. Keeping the bottle "warm enough" isn't likely to be the issue.