I am not normally prone to suggest using diesel fuel since it leave carbon deposits & can be smelly or annoying to deal with. But in terms of cost per unit of heat with low upfront capital investment, these low cost heating units are actually very popular in vehicles in very cold northern locals where winter temperatures can go far below the freezing point for water to sub-freezing almost arctic like conditions that can cause people in RV's, Shops, Cars, Trucks, SUV, Campers & other Recreational Camping vehicles to become very cold or freeze in a painful uncomfortable state. Many of these motorhomes or similar have propane heating systems that cost more to operate but are far cleaner burning. Using electric heat in resistive heaters in mobile energy systems ends up being very expensive since they have low efficiency. The most efficient heat system for stationary applications like a Tiny Home or Shop is a mini-split air source heat pump with a higher COP coefficient of performance rating. Very efficient mini-split systems can cost $2,000 or more for the same kind of heating capacity as a tiny wood stover or tiny diesel heater system like the one linked above.
Liquid hydrocarbon diesel contains about 30% more chemical energy than gasoline, and about 45% more energy than ethanol. In Scandinavian car heaters they use liquid ethanol as the fuel because like propane, ethanol supper clean burning, but ethanol easy to pour as a liquid to refill these littler vehicle cabin heater units. Many heated clothing items are available for cold winter conditions, like heated gloves, heated hats, heated jackets, heated pants, even heated shoes. I am talking about for -10 degrees super cold northern Canada or Norther Europe or Northern China in Mongolia, or Northern Russia in Siberia or the Artic, but even US norther states like Wisconsin can have dramatic extreme cold winter weather. Anyone camping in a vehicle without a heater during such deep cold weather risks hypothermal while sleeping, which can be fatal, or extremely dangerous, painful or very uncomfortable.
I just purchased a large queen size 90x90 inch black fleece sherpa blanket & similar camping pillow for sleeping in the trunk of my 2022 Toyota Corolla Hybrid with the rear seat folded down so my legs can dangle out into the cabin. I have an all weather trunk liner & have already taken a nap on it. I leave for work at 5:40am & get home around 7 pm, sometimes a little sooner or later, but I also have a gap in my schedule from 9am till 2 pm, so I often eat brunch or lunch & take a nap. Returning home to do the same doubles the amount of miles driven & fuel used, and gas prices are near $5/gallon or about $1.32 per liter locally, but my relatively lightly used 22 Corolla Hybrid gets between 50 & 75 MPG so its operating cost in fuel very low, though I am already driving more than 60 miles per day in the giant large 40 ft school bus, so adding even more miles to my commute sounds terrible. Thus while it sounds odd to sleep in the back of a compact car like this, it really fits my general lifestyle. I have long history of car camping in the 2005 Toyota Prius II that I sold to Meg's dad Allan recently.
I toyed with the idea of using an electric 12 blanked & a battery generator in the trunk, but that solution costs many hundreds of dollars, where I spent less than $80 for the giant blanket & camping pillow in black fleece, warm, soft & fuzzy, but also breathable. I take my shoes off in the wheel well before camping in the trunk & have all weather floor mats made of rubber in the cabin footwells too. Those hose off clean with water, soap & cleaning brush much more easily than carpeted floor mats, especially in the kind of raw soil farm where I park at night & our possible next home located in farm land with outdoor soil gravel all weather uncovered parking etc. I also like to go hiking & sometimes our hiking shoes or boots get dirty or muddy. Given that the Corolla Hybrid has 10-30x more practical range than our Nissan LEAF SV, that means we no longer have to use Meg's 10 Prius III for road trips & car camping. Locally we have temperate weather where under 20F very rare & the lowest winter temps tend to stat above 15 F even on the coldest January Month winter days.
Liquid hydrocarbon diesel contains about 30% more chemical energy than gasoline, and about 45% more energy than ethanol. In Scandinavian car heaters they use liquid ethanol as the fuel because like propane, ethanol supper clean burning, but ethanol easy to pour as a liquid to refill these littler vehicle cabin heater units. Many heated clothing items are available for cold winter conditions, like heated gloves, heated hats, heated jackets, heated pants, even heated shoes. I am talking about for -10 degrees super cold northern Canada or Norther Europe or Northern China in Mongolia, or Northern Russia in Siberia or the Artic, but even US norther states like Wisconsin can have dramatic extreme cold winter weather. Anyone camping in a vehicle without a heater during such deep cold weather risks hypothermal while sleeping, which can be fatal, or extremely dangerous, painful or very uncomfortable.
I just purchased a large queen size 90x90 inch black fleece sherpa blanket & similar camping pillow for sleeping in the trunk of my 2022 Toyota Corolla Hybrid with the rear seat folded down so my legs can dangle out into the cabin. I have an all weather trunk liner & have already taken a nap on it. I leave for work at 5:40am & get home around 7 pm, sometimes a little sooner or later, but I also have a gap in my schedule from 9am till 2 pm, so I often eat brunch or lunch & take a nap. Returning home to do the same doubles the amount of miles driven & fuel used, and gas prices are near $5/gallon or about $1.32 per liter locally, but my relatively lightly used 22 Corolla Hybrid gets between 50 & 75 MPG so its operating cost in fuel very low, though I am already driving more than 60 miles per day in the giant large 40 ft school bus, so adding even more miles to my commute sounds terrible. Thus while it sounds odd to sleep in the back of a compact car like this, it really fits my general lifestyle. I have long history of car camping in the 2005 Toyota Prius II that I sold to Meg's dad Allan recently.
I toyed with the idea of using an electric 12 blanked & a battery generator in the trunk, but that solution costs many hundreds of dollars, where I spent less than $80 for the giant blanket & camping pillow in black fleece, warm, soft & fuzzy, but also breathable. I take my shoes off in the wheel well before camping in the trunk & have all weather floor mats made of rubber in the cabin footwells too. Those hose off clean with water, soap & cleaning brush much more easily than carpeted floor mats, especially in the kind of raw soil farm where I park at night & our possible next home located in farm land with outdoor soil gravel all weather uncovered parking etc. I also like to go hiking & sometimes our hiking shoes or boots get dirty or muddy. Given that the Corolla Hybrid has 10-30x more practical range than our Nissan LEAF SV, that means we no longer have to use Meg's 10 Prius III for road trips & car camping. Locally we have temperate weather where under 20F very rare & the lowest winter temps tend to stat above 15 F even on the coldest January Month winter days.
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