Campr – Everything Camping

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For the last few years I have been trying to come up with a heating system that can be used in a tent that is A: Safe B: Efficient and C: Non Electric (In that you do not need to be on an EHU). Now we all know the dangers associated with using gas or fossil fuel burning heaters within a tent as far as Carbon monoxide is concerned, and apart from a fan or convector heater and an EHU there seemed to be no safe alternative. So, with this in mind I set out to overcome this problem and hope that this feature may inspire a few of you into a winter project.

Propex, Webasto and Eberspacher are companies that make warm air heating systems for boats, caravans, lorries and motor homes. These units are compact, robust and produce clean CO free hot air by way of a blown air heat exchanger system that is fuelled by gas or diesel and only requires a 12V power supply. These units come in various sizes and a little research before heading out to find a unit is well worth while, www.propexheatsource.co.uk  for example.

1. Sourcing a unit

So unless you have deep pockets and can afford to pay £800 plus for a basic new unit, you need to find an old caravan, boat or motor home in a local breakers yard or on ebay.  Now what you are looking for ideally is a 12V unit and not a 24V one that most lorries are fitted with and also some of the larger motor homes. Once you have located a 12V unit, normally housed under a seat or bed unit, you will also need to locate the wall mounted thermostat and any other associated pipe work that is attached to the burner.

I managed to pick up 2 units, one gas the other diesel from a breakers yard for £60 but you may also be lucky and pick up a tested unit for just over the £100 mark on ebay and save yourself the hassle.

2. Housing the heater

Once you have your burner and all the other bits and bobs, you now need to think about housing it in a weather proof box of some sort. I found that a metal tool box from your local army surplus store is ideal, or, if like me you have a trailer for camping, you could always build a compartment under your trailer to house the burner.

I built a steel compartment under the back of my trailer, to house a diesel burner, and mounted a steel jerry can on the side of the trailer fitted with a motorcycle fuel tap to control the supply when not in use. The power supply I took directly from my 110AH leisure battery mounted in the battery box on the A frame, or if you are going the steel box route then a 12V power supply will need to be run too the box from your car or ideally a separate 12V leisure battery.

3. Connecting the hose

Once you have mounted your burner in its weather proof box and supplied it with power and fuel, you need to look at getting that hot air into your tent and for that you will need some re in forced weather proof hose and a means of connecting it too your tent. I used a Gripflex Hypalon to get the hot air too the tent and a silicone cover to connect it to the tent without sacrificing the tents structure:

4. Setting the thermostat

Last but not least you need to extend the wires between the burner unit and the thermostat so that the thermostat can be located within the tent. I fitted a sprung C clip too the back of my unit so that I can simply clip it onto a table leg or inner pole. You need to find a home for the thermostat in the tent that is not directly in the path of the incoming hot air and also about mid height so as to get a true temperature reading of the entire tent when the unit is running.

All wired and plumbed in and its time to fire up the unit, simply turn the thermostat to the desired temperature and the burner will light and within an instant hot clean and 100% safe air will flow into your tent. The burners are also very quiet and use very small amounts of power which means you can comfortably leave it running all night if needs be.

Good luck if you decide to take on the challenge and please let us know how you get on, but remember if you’re unsure of anything seek the advice of a professional!

Happy warm camping!

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