best way to warm a minivan ?

[andypie48]

I'm sleeping in it at a festival and its going to be cold. don't need CO poisoning, no hookup available.

Yeah, i've go a warm sleeping bag, but i'm getting old and cranky.

[Markintosh]

Hookers and booze!

[OWC Jamie]

[spoiler=too early for eye openers]

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We used a tent heater with the windows open in our younger days when runnning up to Cape Elizabeth to visit the 'friendly' young ladies, in Winter.
The anti-freeze probably helped, too.

[Markintosh]

billb wrote:
[spoiler=too early for eye openers]

[/spoiler]

Argh. That was like a car crash. You know you shouldn't look, but you keep having to go back an take one more peek.

[jardster]

Dutch oven.


If you have to ask, you don't want to know.

[cbelt3]

This will sound a bit weird, but hang a small tent inside it and sleep in the tent. or a bivy sack.

[freeradical]

Make sure you have a foam pad to sleep on.

[Speedy]

I strongly second this:

freeradical wrote:
Make sure you have a foam pad to sleep on.

Easy to keep warm topside with lots of sleeping bags/blankets. But most any bag/blanket will compress in the night, even on a mattress, and you will get cold. But a foam pad will insulate you quite well. I've used sleeping bags and a good pad down to -20F.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

It depends on how much trouble and risks you are willing to deal with.

I think the biggest heat losses in a minivan are windows and exposed metal frame parts. cbelt3's suggestion is pretty good. An alternative might be to get a roll of the reflective bubble wrap and line the windows.

I don't know a lot about heaters for campers and RV's, is there a small safe heater a relatively tightly sealed environment?

[davester]

Reflective bubble wrap is only good for reflecting radiant heat. It's works only at high temperatures. When its cold there isn't going to be anything to reflect so it will be close to useless.

Thick foam pad (preferably thermarest but they're pricey) and lots of blankets/good sleeping pad on top will work. Definitely don't use an airbed unless you have a foam pad on top of it. Airbeds circulate the heat away from your body very quickly.