Ideas for heating race trailer? | Page 3 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Ideas for heating race trailer?

I sleep outside all the time in pretty cold temps... Never the issue. Have some pretty good kit.

I possibly now have use of a small inverter genny if I can get it running (sitting in my moms garage, unkept and nobody needs it). So provided I get it running, I'll just hook up a small electric space heater and call it done. Get the trailer as warm as possible before quiet time and the on again in the morning.
Ill see how quiet it is, and if I need to I'll figure out a way to kill some of the sound.

We use kerosene stoves and lamps to heat our 10 man tents at work. Someone is always up on stove watch while everyone else sleeps. I'm not overly concerned with running a clean burning propane heater with the door slightly open and roof vent open as long as we are awake and going in/out of the trailer.

Im gonna keep my eyes open for a used furnace or roof top unit as people start working on their trailers this spring, so it's not an issue in the fall.
 
I used a tent heater in my 5x7 and left the door open an inch or two to take the chill out. Then I fell asleep one night and didn't feel so hot the next day. My trailer has no vent, and I thought I was safe with the door.

I take two hot water bottles with me now, and a good sleeping bag. Most times the bottles are still warm in the am.
 
Not sure of the co2 and monoxide fears, but sailboats and cheapasses have been using terracotta pots and tealight-candles to make a cheapo 'space-heater' for years...

But still, Clarke Jungle hammock will have you sleeping like a king and in warmth without all the fuss.
 
meme said:
I take two hot water bottles with me now, and a good sleeping bag. Most times the bottles are still warm in the am.
Click to expand...

"It's not a hot flash . . . it's a hot water bottle"


To the OP;

I borrow an RV with a furnace. If it gets chilly at night, I turn on the heat.
It might be an idea to look for the smallest RV furnace you can find (probably 9000 BTU). It'll draw combustion air from outside and vent back outside.
 
meme said:
I used a tent heater in my 5x7 and left the door open an inch or two to take the chill out. Then I fell asleep one night and didn't feel so hot the next day. My trailer has no vent, and I thought I was safe with the door.

I take two hot water bottles with me now, and a good sleeping bag. Most times the bottles are still warm in the am.
Click to expand...

best part you can pour out a water bottle, pee in it so you don't have to get up in the night , and shazamm! more warm water........
 
MSRP said:
Not sure of the co2 and monoxide fears, but sailboats and cheapasses have been using terracotta pots and tealight-candles to make a cheapo 'space-heater' for years...

But still, Clarke Jungle hammock will have you sleeping like a king and in warmth without all the fuss.
Click to expand...

Sailboats and cheapass goes hand in hand, the terracotta pot heater is very underrated, and CO2 monoxide are no problem, but you still get a flame in an area with race gas ect in a trailer. Personally I'd put my race fuel jug outside at night anyway, chain it up if I had to but I don't like sleeping with a bomb.
 
If you're running a genny, check out an infra-red heat lamp. More efficient than an electric space heater, mounts high on the wall, and safe to use anytime. Princess auto sells some decent ones.


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Since using candles is out what about building something out of styrofoam blocks as an insulator with a nested area to put your winter rated sleeping bag in and maybe a flat slab of styrofoam to pull over on top with opening at one end for fresh air? Might make that pretty warm. Not sure how bulky it would be though.
 
Winter rated sleeping bag, on a mattress if you'd prefer ... done!

If you have shelves in the trailer or some other way to support a platform off the floor, do that so that you are not sleeping on the floor; that adds another thermal barrier between you and the outside.

Ignition source (be it open flame or red-hot heating element or ANYTHING operated by electricity that is not explosion-proof) + stored race fuel = bad news. Actually, race fuel vapors are bad news regardless. Put it outside before you go to sleep.
 
Brian P said:
Winter rated sleeping bag, on a mattress if you'd prefer ... done!

If you have shelves in the trailer or some other way to support a platform off the floor, do that so that you are not sleeping on the floor; that adds another thermal barrier between you and the outside.

Ignition source (be it open flame or red-hot heating element or ANYTHING operated by electricity that is not explosion-proof) + stored race fuel = bad news. Actually, race fuel vapors are bad news regardless. Put it outside before you go to sleep.
Click to expand...
Big Agnes has a superawesome sleeping pad that is $80 with 4" of lift from the ground. Amazing for camping.
 
Not sure why you guys are so worried about fuel vapors. The only reason you can tell I have race gas in the trailer is because of the way it smells which is very distinct. It sure isn't enough vapor in the air to ignite. All of my canisters are sealed up tight (I seriously don't want a few hundred $ of gas to evaporate or get contaminated).
I used to work with propane and learned a lot... The vapor mixture has to be just right for it to ignite, there isn't enough fuel in the air in my trailer. With all the people I know with fuel cans in their trailers/toy haulers/campers and all the ignition sources none has ever gone up.

Sleeping in the cold is no issue... I've spent enough nights outside above the arctic circle. This is just to brin the temp in the trailer up in the early morning while getting ready and to heat the trailer before bed then turn the heater off.

My generator deal fell through, so I'll keep my eyes open for a used roof unit and a small generator.
 
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