Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I have been thinking about making a heater for the TD. During the winter I like camping where there is no electricity. Because it is usually just me or me and my dad. I was trying to make it a multiple heat source type unit.

Here is my idea. Was going to take an intercooler from a vehicle and duct in an out of it to heat the air with a small fan. You would be able to use a fire to heat up water and set the cooler into. Or let it hover above and to the side of the fire.

Just a thought was going to see what everyone here had to say......

I am looking for a picture of a simple little drum in a drum heater I saw on a tiny house posting be right back........



I can't tell ya much about it but my guesses.

It appears he builds the fire in the little drum ( must load from unseen end) which heats the air drawn into the bigger drum and it is drawn into the trailer thru the insulated tube in the background. I don't know if the outer drum end has been removed to show the inside but it seems likely. I don't like this design much as there is a chance of drawing in combustion gasses that were supposed to exit thru the chimney unless it has a good leakproof joint. Seems to me it might be better to fire the big drum and draw the heated air that was drawn from the outside thru the small drum making certain that the inlet and outlet ports are leakproof. Then there is no chance the stack gasses can be drawn into the trailer.

Typical steel drums are thin wall and will not stand up long to the temperatures and corrosives found in wood fires, so I would be more concerned about the longevity of this semi-permanent tiny house setup. I would much rather see the hot air side made out of thicker steel and the chimney should be higher, as per Bob's recirc concerns.

The intercooler near the fire with hoses and fan feeding trailer idea sounds like a setup and storage hassle to me, not to mention a campground trip hazard. There are a lot of other solutions out there that seem more practical to me.

For a small space, I like the idea of the candle labyrinth box with feed air and chimney from/to outside. I think this was a big Mike idea where votive candles are placed in sealed junction boxes and fittings/conduit route air in at the bottom and out at the top. Don't recall if it has been done by anyone, but the idea seemed to have merit to me.

This has been speculated on a number of times here. It would be relatively easy to do to set up a boiler system that would not have to be too big or bulky, keeping a sustained burn might be a bit more of a challenge imagine this

scaled up a bit with an automotive heater core inside the trailer plumbed to the water jacket. Source http://gearjunkie.com/backcountry-boiler-camp-stove

One way to think about this is that if it fails over the fire the water puts the fire out. It can not be pressurized or you run the risk of a boiler explosion.

Thanks folks for the replies. After what KCStudly said about the clutter and storing I may try and build the candle heater. I remember it now in another thread. I will look it up and try and duplicate it.
Shadow Catcher that was another thought on the way home today. Love the idea. You think a small inline pump to keep the water moving and a computer case fun blowing across the coil would work. Put all that on a thermostat. If needed make it to where you could burn wood or set it on a stove. Also could use a small gas water heater leave it unpressurized. It would have the controls already on it.

High temperature water pumps used for small solar heat applications are available and with the right set up you might be able to get it to siphon with out a pump. One problem with automotive radiators/heat exchangers is that aluminum fins which are great for transferring heat would be vulnerable to high temps and tight spacing would mean it would clog with ash. I used a B&M transmission oil cooler on our TV and the rather robust nature would lend itself to a simple 'boiler', my thinking is that the wall thickness is fairly robust on the tubes and there is enough spacing that it is not likely to clog with ash. Using a computer case fan through a heater core should work fine.

This is the B&M oil cooler


Using high temp hose with quick disconnects and a fold-able support for the oil cooler I do not see where this would be bulky or particularly heavy. There are a lot of ways you can go with this and I do not see water hoses as more of a tripping hazard that electrical cords...

Shadow Catcher wrote:High temperature water pumps used for small solar heat applications are available and with the right set up you might be able to get it to siphon with out a pump. One problem with automotive radiators/heat exchangers is that aluminum fins which are great for transferring heat would be vulnerable to high temps and tight spacing would mean it would clog with ash. I used a B&M transmission oil cooler on our TV and the rather robust nature would lend itself to a simple 'boiler', my thinking is that the wall thickness is fairly robust on the tubes and there is enough spacing that it is not likely to clog with ash. Using a computer case fan through a heater core should work fine.

This is the B&M oil cooler


Using high temp hose with quick disconnects and a fold-able support for the oil cooler I do not see where this would be bulky or particularly heavy. There are a lot of ways you can go with this and I do not see water hoses as more of a tripping hazard that electrical cords...

The 12v heating blankets would also be a good idea. May look into them also.

Shadow Catcher I believe the water idea is a good idea. I have a transmission cooler at the house and the hose. Think I will build a mock up and see what the results are.

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I have used these http://www.nuwaystove.com/model2000.php in an uninsulated ice shanty for years. No electricity needed. Set it and forget it. I love the idea of a fire heating water to go through some sort of heat exchanger but you are at the mercy of keeping a fire going. Not good when you are trying to sleep. I would suspect that this little stove might be to hot for an insulated tear drop.
Best of luck and stay safe no matter which direction you take.

All about Heaters.

http://www.damouth.org/RVStuff/PortHeat.shtml

For no electricity I'd go with the Everest

Here's an example of one installed in a van...

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/man ... verest.pdf

I also have one installed in my winter warrior...



The furnace will be vented through the sidewall, under the hatch, as seen here:


Here's the furnace cabinet installed in the Winter Warrior (without the furnace) the furnace will side in, next to the TV.



Mike...

Lot of good ideas. Thank you every one. I like the furnace's but do not have 4 to 6 hundred to spend on it. I have the material to make the hot water system and the candle boxes. It maybe summer time before I get to it but I will post info on each when I can.

Sorry to be going off topic

mikeschn wrote:
Mike...

Mike how big is that TV??

ok back on topic
I like the idea of a built in heater I was thinking of getting one of those in the wall heaters if i could find it in 110 volt and possibly wire it up to my breaker box sure I'd need to have 110 for it but getting cold wouldn't be a problem

droid_ca wrote:
Mike how big is that TV??

I think it's 16" diag. Too cold to run out and measure it though...

Mike...

In the Ogre Rv I used a procom blueflame heater mounted on the wall. that thing was beautiful throwing dancing flame light out in the cab. but also it threw out water vapor with the burning propane.

I nabbed a duo therm furnace from an old popup as well that is vented, I have not been able to get it to fire up or show any signs of life other than a 12v test on the fan showing that it works.

my first choice though. would be a Newport Dickenson Solid Fuel Heater.