Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I had a first hand view of the China made desil heater at walk the winds in pinedale this summer. I tow with a dodge cummins but the heater sips desil from its own gallon tank no need to plumb it into my dodge.very good heaters...theres only a gallon jug of desil needed and they will run all summer on one fill up at home in the heater tank with out the need to pack extra bottles of desil..i am going to get one when I get the chance...slow.

Alright, diesel guys. I promise I'll look into it.
Just don't expect me to convert.

KTM_Guy wrote:If you can go 4-5 days at a toasty 60-65 degrees on one battery charge why look for another option? Add another battery or a solar panel for more days out.

Todd

The Teardrop build is a supplement to that tent trailer.
The tent trailer is inefficient and a pain to set up when it's just me - or even my wife or son, and I. ...But it still has its place.
(It's also too wide for some places I go, too low for some roads I travel, and too heavy when loaded for extended stays. But, again, that's why the teardrop is being built.)

The teardrop that this discussion is about will be a new, secondary camp trailer for "lighter" trips with only one or two people.
I can't really just borrow the tent trailer's furnace when I take the teardrop out.

I only brought that up to point out that I'm not worried about battery life with a decent furnace.

Old tiny marine stoves may have used coal or charcoal.

A teardrop stove must have these important features. Outside exhaust and prefer all openings outside for positive killing suffocation control. Isolation from the wood and foam, anything that burns.

A homemade idea I have is a sheet metal panel to replace a window in winter. The stove would be 3 or 4" iron pipe with L's on both ends. The sheet metal would have holes for the L's to go through. Pipe inside, openings outside. Sheet isolates the hot pipe from wood. The outside openings would have a cap on the bottom and a flap at the top. Charcoal brickettes would be fed in the top to keep the pipe warm.

Anyway that is as far as I got. I have thought about oil, liquid fuel but it is too dangerous for homemade. Unless it is used to heat water and the water thermosiphons to the bed.

Well right now I don't have cash for a China desil heater so I got a smallish tear well insulated with 2 inch foam insulation.what I do for heat is I have one deep clye battery and I run a 300 watt road pro 12 volt trucker heater from a truck stop for a heater.. its,a battery hog,..but will warm me up and the heat last most of the night if I don't go outside to pee till moring.then I got me a,12 volt electric blanket on a timer..that cycles all night...i got a battery montor by my pillow and most summer nights I use no heat just the old cow camp trick, go to bed fully clothed,
. put on a beany stocking hat and a hoody sweater and use 3 quilts on the bed...slow..

I checked out some diesel heaters online and even stopped in at a local truck stop to look at what they had in stock; and then cruised down the road a bit to talk to my aunt (a locally-based trucker).
No diesel for me.
I don't want to deal with the fuel. I don't want the stink. They have long startups with 'high' amp draws. And they all seem to draw too many amps when running, for my liking.

I bit the bullet and ordered a Suburban NT-16SEQ propane furnace.
Should be a 2.7 amp draw after a 3.5-4 amp startup spike.
22 lbs.
In theory, propane consumption should be near my last two furnaces.
Data is mixed about whether or not that model can be ducted, or is direct-discharge-only. I guess I'll find out for sure when it shows up.
If it can be ducted, I can tuck it away in a cabinet on the rear bulkhead (with an allowance for return air), and duct to where I want the heat.
If it's direct-discharge, I'll look into Suburban's "special" intake and exhaust pipes, and see where that takes me. I may require some creative thinking and asymmetrical cabin design.
We'll see after it arrives and I have some time to take it apart before I ever use it...

Was very curious what would come up on this thread. We do use heat in our conventional trailer and as I go into the build am researching alternates ways of doing so. Our usage is only just before bed (changing into jammies) and in the morning (changing out of).

Most of our camping is below 4K ft, yet have (and will) return to the spots over 8K. Have woken to snow in several times (and frozen water in the truck bed).

I see the OP is going propane and being we now have one (and like it) will probably do the same. Since I will have a cooktop & frig running on propane, adding the heater seems reasonable.
Now, here's where I get weird.. My existing frig expels heat out through the sidewalls vents. I've wondered just how much and if I could redirect that heat back into the trailer.

cheap chinese diesel. 110 bucks on ebay.

saw lots of vids. 9 amps on startup from the glow plug then down to .5 amp while running on low. I plan on this setup and keep the tank outside in the front box.

I love my 5k btu Chinese diesel heater. I burn kerosene ... no smell ... sips fuel and very low average amp draw.

Squigie wrote:They have long startups with 'high' amp draws. And they all seem to draw too many amps when running, for my liking.

I know you've already picked a heater but just a clarification for the next guy; my Espar diesel heater draws 20 amps for 30 seconds while starting or 0.16 amp-hrs. After that, the current draw is probably less than the Suburban as mine throttles back to low at night. And I guarantee its a lot quieter than the Suburban.



It does have a diesel stink, but I have a diesel truck so it doesn't bother me. I don't ever smell it inside, there's something wrong if you do.

Bruce

I'm more than pleased with my little Propex...





Tony

I appreciate the late replies.
Hopefully, someone can gain some knowledge and take some inspiration from this thread in the future.

But I'm still sticking with the NT-16SEQ.
I paid for it. It's here. It has been tested. The 'squear-drop', in more than one way, has been designed around it.
It's quiet. It works. It draws very little power. And it's easy to work with. (Well... In theory...)
And I hate diesel and the accompanying stench. Propane is easy and doesn't stink to hell and back.

I'm sticking with what I've got.


And, remember... This is the "make mistakes now, so you can improve upon them next time" - trailer.
This one is for me - and my selfish desire for simple, heated accommodations while hunting - but the next one will be for the whole family. ...Or maybe just me and the wife while cruising in the Nova. But, if that's the case, the one after that (I guess) will be for the whole family.


(For those of you keeping tabs - yes, that means I have almost completely finalized the plans. There are very few loose ends to tie up. Hopefully, I figure out which ones are left hanging before it's too late. Build Journal coming as soon as steel is cut!)

Back to basics......

.

I’m using a diesel heater:

Pros: Lots of heat, fuel readily available, relatively low power use (.8A-4A while running low-high), relatively cheap (<$150), variable output, thermostat control

Cons: The dosing pump click!!!!!, Does use power, large startup shutdown power draw (~1Ahr), stinky outside, a bit of a pain to install, poor instructions (but plenty available online), does not shut off when temperature is reached so if “low” is not cool enough you have to open a window or turn the unit completely off

Overall I have been happy with it the half dozen times I’ve used it.
After my research I mostly decided based on price. If I knew the pump click was going to be as loud as it is I may have thought more about the spendy propane heaters but I likely would have bought diesel anyway. A side effect of it being on all night is that the water jug I store near the heater ends up being 100+ degrees and makes for good dishwashing.

However....

My favorite heater I’ve seen on the forums is KenethW’s Homemade Radiant propane Heater

KennethW wrote:This is what I am going to try on my tear drop. It is a small version of the warehouse heaters. It uses a propane torch clamped to a conduit union with of piece of conduit going across the top inside of the teardrop with a florescent light reflector over it that will be painted silver.

I will use stainless steel dog dishes with a hole thru the bottom as wall thimble mounted to the wall

If i was building a different style camper I almost definitely would have built something similar but I just couldn’t come up with a pop up friendly version that fit my floorplan

I bought my Espar 10 years ago when there was a lot of them on eBay; I think a lot of truckers were converting to APUs so there was a bunch up for sale. They were relatively cheap back then, so much so that I have an entire spare unit stashed in my basement (don't tell anyone). I'm not sure I'd get a Chinese diesel or take a DIY approach, I don't like rolling the dice where there's no second chance if things go wrong in the night. I'd probably take a long hard look at the Propex if I was buying a heater today. Or get a big dog.
Bruce