I have a couple of trips to Canberra for work coming up, and the diesel heater in our van is great for chilly nights.
But it struggles with -5C Canberra nights! At full blast it was keeping the temp at about 10C. Another 4-5C would be great just to take away that cold damp feeling.
In the mornings I have been putting on the AC to supplement the Diesel Heater. That gets it up to 18C or so, great whilst getting dressed etc. But the AC is a bit noisy to sleep with it on.
Our van has a lot of glass which does not help! So I was thinking of a cheap / temporary bit of insulation using bubble wrap. Cut to size and held in place with a few magnets. I don't really want to invest in those made to measure window covers as they are quite expensive (about $1,000 to do all the windows) And they won't get delivered in time.
Any thoughts most appreciated. Is bubble wrap a silly idea? It could go in the inside or outside of the windows, but would think inside would be better insulation.
-- Edited by RoboLB on Monday 23rd of June 2025 07:23:34 PM
Quite a lot of your cold will be coming up through the floor. Had a coaster for years and finally applied insulation to the under floor. Heaps warmer. Regards Hetho.
We have cut some off these to fit the floor inside our van. great for insulation and soft and warm to walk on if you have to hope out of bed in the night. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/306364992387?_skw=Childrens+Clip+together+rubber+play+mats&itmmeta=01JYE8JPRTX640YYQ78TCJ58JP&hash=item4754c6cb83:g:wCIAAOSwT-RoWR~N&itmprp=enc%253
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Curtains help a bit with windows .... blinds a lot more. Get a laser temperature gun and see where the cold spots are. Maybe cold air is coming in around the fridge for example. As suggested, maybe the floor is the culprit. A carpet offcut could help a lot in that case.
How hot is the diesel heater outlet? Mine is at floor level and too hot on low to have my ankle near it. Other than the initial warming phase I doubt I would ever want to run it on high.
Ive just been on a two week trip around southern NSW and Victoria. Got to -5 a few times. Heater worked perfectly. Are you running alpine diesel or adding kerosene to your tank. Diesel doesnt like low temps from -4 and forms waxy globs in the fuel lines inhibiting flow.
Suggest bathmats on floor (nice fluffy ones). Windshield covers on windows as per Rgrgn2. I have a blower heater one of the $20 ones this warms up my van to toasty. (Transit)
I forgot. I stuff the rear barn doors with something. I get drafts there. Wear a mask while you are here. I went out to Cosco for two hours, the first time I have been away from home in weeks and caught a very nasty cold. Don't believe the weatherman too much, its not as cold as we are told.( I don't think so anyway) Has been lovely during the day up until today. Raining this morning though and likely to stay that way for a few days. (Not as cold)
We cut down large windscreen sun shades to fit every window in the car as we sleep in it. It was not so much about the cold as such, but more about the condensation. It works really well.
We also got condensation on the trim panels, but after filling behind every panel & ceiling with acoustic foam for acoustic reasons, we noticed that the condensation stopped.
So now with the car filled with foam & all the windows covered we noticed that the car was a lot warmer with those really cold nights. It is also good in summer keeping heat out.
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50L custom fuel rack 6x20W 100/20mppt 4x26Ah gel 28L super insulated fridge TPMS 3 ARB compressors heatsink fan cooled 4L tank aftercooler Air/water OCD cleaning 4 stage car acoustic insulation.
