Heating your camper?

I was never a fall/winter camper because I used to be a tent camper. Now I have a pop-up with an A/C unit and on the unit it has a knob for cool/hot air. I don't know if this is heat because it kicks on automatically and I've not had it out in the cold. Do you think it is a heating unit, too?
I would love to join the camping trip this weekend but can't. I may pop it up in the backyard to see if it does warm up the pop-up.
My daughter is 6 yrs old and she loves camping. My husband has to work weekends so we only took a few trips out this summer where I felt safe enough alone. We went to Melton Hill mostly (she loves to swim and fish) and to Douglas a couple of times. I want to venture out to the mountain in the spring.

leetha18 wrote:I was never a fall/winter camper because I used to be a tent camper. Now I have a pop-up with an A/C unit and on the unit it has a knob for cool/hot air. I don't know if this is heat because it kicks on automatically and I've not had it out in the cold. Do you think it is a heating unit, too?
I would love to join the camping trip this weekend but can't. I may pop it up in the backyard to see if it does warm up the pop-up.
My daughter is 6 yrs old and she loves camping. My husband has to work weekends so we only took a few trips out this summer where I felt safe enough alone. We went to Melton Hill mostly (she loves to swim and fish) and to Douglas a couple of times. I want to venture out to the mountain in the spring.

Hey Leetha, The "heat strip" is an option for the unit that you may or may not have. If you don't, a quick trip to the dealer can fix it. Mine has it and I love it. It really blows the warm ari out to the ends of the bunks. Putting Refletix under the mattresses and in the windows is also a good idea. I camp in my pup year round with my kids. Jon is 4, Caroline is 9 and Lilia is 7, so you won't be alone if you camp with this group. When I had lift system problems, I was going to head home, but these guys gathered around and manually lifted my camper so I could hold it up with my safety boards. I joke about my PUP, but I actually like it.

I'll have to check into that. We are going to pop it up this weekend to see if it works. I wish I had found this site sooner - I would have camped every weekend if I knew other people camping! Most of my friends aren't very outdoorsy!

Leetha, My wife refuses to camp. Just not her thing. It works out, though. She doesn't try to make me go to antique malls. She says the pioneers quit sleeping in the wagon once they built the cabin.

The three kids love going camping. We are suffering withdrawal while I fix this goofy lift system. This is my last Coachmen/Viking PUP, but it'll be in better shape for the next owner. It still won't be pretty, but it will function correctly, and they'll get my upgrades.

I too am impressed at how far a tank of propane will go. I have an interesting feature on my duel tank system. If one tank runs dry, it will automatically switch over to the other. I have never had to use that but I hope it would work smoothly. It would save having to run outside on a cold night. Does anyone else know what i am talking about? A space heater would be a great backup system, you just never know.

I know what you mean about going outside on a cold night. That's why I got the bucket/plastic bag potty, and am willing to buy Chuck's gently used flush potty.

I don't know the first thing about dual tanks, but it sounds nifty. I've not run out on one tank.

If you are lying there, wondering if your roof will soon be squishing you and your family like a bug, you probably sweat plenty with no heat!

I'm thinking Tim didn't invite us to stay with him out of kindness, it was out of concern for the kids. I think Lily stole his heart when she asked if he could sleep over with us that time. He figured it was t he least he could do to protect her from "danger".

Richard wrote: If you are lying there, wondering if your roof will soon be squishing you and your family like a bug, you probably sweat plenty with no heat!

I'm thinking Tim didn't invite us to stay with him out of kindness, it was out of concern for the kids. I think Lily stole his heart when she asked if he could sleep over with us that time. He figured it was t he least he could do to protect her from "danger".

Richard, I never thought about it that way, but it could be a reason. I really enjoy watching your kids having a great time while camping and figure that this might be the last nice weekend of this year.

Coolbreeze1

Tim, you are indeed a friend. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop picking at you on message boards though!

Richard wrote:Tim, you are indeed a friend. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop picking at you on message boards though!

I wouldn't expect anything else, but remember that it's a two-way street

Coolbreeze1

Agreed. It's business as usual.

Dave and Darlene, do the bunk ends on the hybrid get as cool as they do on the PUP? I would think the hard sides of the main cabin would provide a lot less heat loss, thus giving more for the ends.

Richard,

When the bunks fold out on the hybrid, the platform that folds out is made of the same stuff as the rest of the body, so is therefore insulated. So in my opinion (and you know what they say about that), when we slept in it up at Cove Lake, that it was much warmer that it would have been in the PUP, but don't forget that we also had a MUCH better heat source as well (as in f u r n a c e) so Dar and I were comfortable.

We also woke up to some major condensation on the inside tent tops, which we have done some research on to combat and found a few fixes to try for next time.

Aaron, said he had to find a happy medium on his side because if he was closer to the cabin of the camper, he was too warm, and if he was close to the outside, then he was too cold (this coming from someone who always sleeps with a fan on, no matter what time of year). So he had to find just the right spot to be comfy!

Dave