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australia:heaters

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heaters for camping

see also:

  • I don't sell any of these nor do I receive any remuneration if you buy them, and I have not personally reviewed all of them, they are listed here to give you perspective

Introduction

  • camping is generally associated with cool to cold nights and in winter, these nights will be long and much colder
  • the traditional method of staying warm at night outside the tent is with the wood fire, but these impact the environment in many ways, risk bushfires and are banned in many camp areas such as most commercial camp grounds and National Parks
  • this page discusses various options, see also gas fittings for camping and keeping warm when camping or hiking
  • do NOT use fuel burning devices (including gas) inside your tent unless it is appropriately flued as there is a major risk of lethal carbon monoxide poisoning, let alone the tent rapidly catching of fire!

Personal wear heaters

chemical type "pocket warmers"

  • single use air activated iron and salt-based oxidising pocket warmers take 15-30minutes to start
    • Coghlans Disposable Hand Warmer last 6hrs, $AU1.50 each
    • Flexeze 10hr hand warmers $AU2 per pair
    • Hot Hands Hand Warmers (Chemist Warehouse) last 10hrs $AU2 for 2 pack
  • re-usable super-saturated solution crystallisation pocket warmers

USB rechargeable heat pad pocket warmers

  • multiple devices available with lithium batteries
  • eg. Thermacell Heat Pack
    • $AU63 200g; Lasts up to 6-hours of constant heat per charge and can recharge in approximately 4 hours

USB heat pads within clothing or scarves

  • just connect to a USB power bank
  • many options including DIY

Electrical heaters which can be used in tents with care

USB powered heat pads

  • these can be powered by a small USB power bank or via your auxiliary 12V battery
  • given the power output limitations of USB (around 5-10W), these are generally limited to smallish pads up to around 30cm square and average around 8W
  • great for pets to sleep on!

USB rechargeable glove and boot dryers and sanitisers

  • wet gloves and boots will not be great when you have another cold day ahead
  • these devices insert into the gloves or boots and dries them out overnight by heating them plus uses UV to sanitise
  • Sidas Drywarmer Pro USB
    • pair packs to 19L x 10W x 7H cm; 200g; 10W USB power input required; 4hr timer; $AU43;

12V cigarette lighter socket devices

  • most cigarette sockets in cars are limited to 12V 10A 120W but you can get a 15A rated socket and connect it to an Anderson plug if you need more power output of up to 180W
  • 12V heat pads such as car seat heaters
    • these are often rated at 48W (4A) but this maximum output often is limited to around 2 minutes and then there is no output for some 5-6 minutes meaning the averaged heat output is around 24W (2A)
    • one to two such heat pads (~2A per hour) plus a person in a full fabric 2-man tent will raise the air temp from 9degC to 15degC within 1hr and keep it at around 6deg higher than outside if there is minimal airflow from the outside
  • 12V heating pads / "electric blankets" to lie on
    • these tend to have max output of 48-65W and often have a timed automatic off as a safety measure
  • 12V fanned air heaters
    • these are usually sold as car window demisters and often are rated output of 150-160W
    • most only have one heat setting and one fan setting (without heat)
    • provide rapid heating of a small tent (temp from 13 to 19deg in 10 minutes) but does use a lot of power so may be best used with a thermostat or just intermittently as needed
    • not useful for larger tents

air conditioner units - heating and cooling

  • these are heavy, big, expensive and use a LOT of electricity!
  • EcoFlow Wave 2
    • 14.5kg; included battery only runs a fan, needs external power from AC (820W max), DC (200W max), solar (400W max) or an expensive EcoFlow battery (max 700W) for heating or cooling
    • cooling mode runs at about 540-600W although is rated at 1500W and will need a drain tube connected if humidity is > 70%
    • heating mode runs at about 540-600W although is rated at 1800W heat output and will need a drain tube connected
    • $AU1799 plus you need a massive, heavy, expensive battery eg. EcoFlow 1800W Delta 2 at $AU1999

Heat output and fuel usage

  • 1000W output = 3500 BTU = 3.7MJ/hr and requires 74g gas/hr or approx. 100mL/hr of diesel or kerosene
  • each 1MJ/hr requires 20g gas per hour

Gas heaters (not for use inside hiking tents)

small gas canister heaters

larger heaters which use larger gas cartridges

  • there are a range of portable gas heaters which allow a gas cartridge to be attached, and often can also be used attached to a traditional LPG propane gas cylinder
  • these use 450g BOC gas cartridges or optional adapter for gas cylinders
  • examples:
    • Mr Heater Portable Buddy Heater
    • Companion Portable Propane Heater
      • 7300BTU; Gas Consumption: Low: 5.24MJ/hr - 104g/Hr. High: 7.71MJ/hr - 153g/Hr
      • 33 x 40 x 20cm;
      • 4.2kg $AU135

heaters which attach directly onto Companion gas cylinders

  • Companion gas cylinders have a vertical 3/8“ LH BSP adapter and thus allow devices to attach directly above the cylinder
  • examples:
    • Companion LPG Radiator Reflect Heater
      • 5500 BTU with 206mm wide reflector; Gas Consumption: 5.8Mj/Hr or 116g/Hr; manual lighting only, no piezo;
      • 27 x 21 x 12 cm; 0.76kg;
      • $AU49

heaters which only connect via hose to a gas cylinder

  • Companion Portable LPG Gas Heater
    • 10,800 BTU; Gas Consumption: 13MJ/hr-260g/hr; supplied with a POL gas hose and regulator
    • 41(L) x 19(D) x 33(H) cm;
    • 4.21kg; $AU140
  • Industrial high output air heaters for large areas:
    • DETROIT 20KW LPG Heater HLPG20
      • 9kg; 52 x 27 x 48cm;
      • 20kW – 70,000 BTU; 1.40kg/hr Gas consumption
      • 500m3/hr Air flow and should heat a 200m2 space with 2.5m ceilings
      • requires 80W 0.5A 240V input for fan
      • $AU269 include hose and regulator

Gas heaters designed to heat up tents

  • these are potentially the safest and least hassle heating options (not used inside tent and thus no added condensation, no fire risk, no CO risk, no smelly liquids to spill) HOWEVER they do still require a decent amount of battery power which limits the utility of the Companion and Gasmate models!
  • Companion AeroHeat Lithium Tent Heater
    • 800mm air outlet hose to run into your tent providing 60degC hot air while the unit itself must be only used in well-ventilated areas.
    • built-in gas regulator with BOM connection
    • can run directly off 468g propane cartridge (9hrs of heating) or via hose a LPG gas cylinder
      • gas consumption 2.2Mj/h | 43.7g/h
    • 4hr lithium battery to run the fan with 12V 5A DC in charging with 1-2m charging cord
    • Bluetooth remote control via smartphone
    • will not operate in ambient temperatures above 15degC!
    • 442L x 164W x 360H; 7kg;
    • $AU419 on special
  • Gasmate CH100 Ducted Camping Heater
    • uses propane cartridge or LPG
    • heats 15degC intake air to max. 58degC (cutoff)
    • internal rechargeable battery lasts 5hrs (seems can't charge while its in use and recharge takes 6hrs) and uses 55g/h gas giving 2.8 MJ/h
    • 8.6kg w/o gas cartridge
    • 43.3 x D 21 x H 39.3cm
    • must be professionally serviced every 12 months
    • $AU299
  • Propex HS2211
    • uses external 12V DC power (max. 1.7A; ~20Ah/night on full)
    • uses 37mbar – CAT I3p (37) propane or 30mbar – CAT I3B/P (30) Butane/Propane
    • may not be approved for use in Australia as per note for the HS2000 model here

Diesel heaters

Kerosene heaters

  • Charmate Portable Kerosene Heater
    • 9000 BTU; 0.25L/Hour;
    • 4.6L fuel tank capacity
    • Removable top with trivet for cooking
    • 4.2kg
    • $AU119

Wood stoves with a chimney for inside a tent or outside

  • need a fireproof stove jack in the tent ceiling or wall (or can run the chimney through a open section of the tent) and must keep at least one door or window open
  • an enclosed stove is safer than a fire pit for spark generation especially if the chimney has a spark arrester, but neither will be allowed on fire ban days or in some National Parks
    • most use around 1kg/hr of dry seasoned kindling and need stoking every 45min or so
    • can also get wood pellet fed stoves which use about 1kg/hr of wood pellets which last 4-8hrs depending upon size of the feeder hopper
    • see wood stoves for camping

Wood open fires for OUTSIDE the tent

  • unless you BYO wood, you will probably need a chain saw and an axe to split the wood - assuming you can find dry wood and you are not decimating the local wildlife's homes
  • a fire pit or stove reduces risk of fire burn scars on the ground but can kill grass nearby due to the heat

portable fire pits

  • these are usually around 6-15kg
  • Slot Me In The Wedge Fire Pit & Camp Cooker - Ultimate Combo Kit
    • flat pack 4mm thick Australian BlueScope Xlerplate® steel 14.2kg; $AU589
    • packs to 660mm L x 460mm W x 25mm H packed in the canvas storage bag
  • Kamoto Open Fire Pit Large
    • 9.6kg folding powder-coated steel and stainless steel cooking grid
    • W 550 x D 470 x H 380 mm
    • $AU419
  • Kamoto Open Fire Pit
    • 6.3kg folding powder-coated steel and stainless steel cooking grid
    • 53 x 39 x 6cm folded; 46 x 39 x 33 cm unfolded;
    • $AU379
  • Darche Stainless Steel BBQ 450 Firepit
    • stainless steel flat pack foldable design, packs to 56 x 56 x 8cm
    • 11.5kg $AU299
  • Winnerwell Large Flat Firepit
    • flat packed to 657(L) x 348(W) x 30(H) mm
    • 4.1kg $AU120
  • Supa Peg Frontier Portable Folding Fire Pit
    • 2.5mm Heavy Duty Steel; flat packs to 400mm x 310mm x 40mm
    • 6.8kg $AU180

battery powered fan "smokeless" fire pits

  • adjustable air flow can allow the fire to rapidly become relatively smoke free but you will need to charge it up and use more wood, plus there is a risk the fan system will fail leaving it as a not so good fire pit
  • BioLite FirePit+
    • incorporates a 12,800mAh lithium battery which lasts 30hrs of fire on low fan (7hrs on hire fan - fan output controllable by smartphone app via Bluetooth) and can be used as a USB power bank as well as being USB rechargeable
    • enamel coating with “Xray” mesh for high visibility fire;
    • fan can be noisy, mesh tends to rust rapidly and it is fairly bulky as it packs to 70L x 30D x 28H cm 9kg;
    • uses wood up to 40cm long and Heat Beads; smallish fire pit and if you put wood in above the air pipes it will smoke; needs constant feeding with small wood
    • can cook on it via the removable grill grate; opt. grill lid $AU89 and fire poker $AU33
    • $AU329
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYySwCJBicA

wood fire tent air heater

  • using a wood log fire in the snow to heat a metal pipe which passes hot air into the tent without need for a pump - it just uses the temperature gradient to create air flow
  • see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeHGDr81XwM for some ideas just make sure the intake of the pipe does not entrain carbon monoxide!
1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqSMyXLIds0
australia/heaters.txt · Last modified: 2024/10/08 18:26 by gary1
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