Newbie from RI, building for three weeks.

[Pmullen503]

Might want to get a CO2 meter....... I don't like the idea of open flames in a small enclosed space just from a safety standpoint.

You'll need adequate ventilation for combustion air and to get rid of CO2 and combustion moisture. Just one person breathing also puts a lot of moisture into air. Your body throws off a considerable amount of heat as well and it's significant in a small well insulated space. That's why most teardrops have roof fans; to get rid of excess heat and moisture.

I winter camp in my unheated foamy (160 ft3). I'd say the comfort level is equivalent to roughly 20F higher than in a tent at the same temp. That's not an internal air temp rise, that's the comfort level. You know how an infra red heater can make you feel warmer without warming the air between you and the heater? The same principle is at work inside a camper.

An electric heater, especially in your well insulated camper will not use as much power as you think. You can test it by simply putting a watt meter on it an see what it uses overnight in your driveway.

Spend a few nights in your camper, in your driveway, to see how much heat and how much ventilation you really need. Then decide on auxiliary heat.

[Ted+Teresa]

ChesterCamp 01 092520 640x480.jpg

Well, Gentlemen: It has been nearly a year since I have posted on my TNTTT page, but life has gotten in the way of life. My wife's health deteriorated by December, and I spent 24/7 taking care of her, and the project was put on hold. In late April, she went into a Skilled Nursing Facility. On June 18th, she had an above the knee amputation, and on July 10th, she went into a different Long-Term Facility, so she will not be coming home. I spent July and August gathering documents to apply for Medicaid, and with the aid of professional help, we only had to Private Pay for 7 weeks of Nursing Home Care, and I survived with most of my Net Worth intact. Get professional help so you won't have to spend yourself broke, to qualify for Medicaid. We submitted documentation on August 20th, and are expecting a favorable reply from the state of Rhode Island. Also, get a MOLST Form and Power of Attorney completed well ahead of time, like I did not. I am applying for Guardianship, as my last resort.

Sorry about your wife's health. That's tough.

[ChesterCamp5x9.5x6]

Thank you Ted+Teresa for the very kind words. I married my wife in 2014, but before that, I realized that she had some
form of dementia. I married her anyway. We had 5 1/2 good years together, with her stroke, and a right leg amputation,
(Oct, 2018), along the way. She went into a Skilled Nursing Facility in April, had a second leg amputation, (same right leg--
this time above the knee. No-- She does not have Diabetes!), Now she has been in a Nursing Home since July 10th, I was
allowed to visit once, so far, on Aug. 3rd, for 15 minutes, from my car seat, and she was 10 feet away. and did not
recognize the car. She does not know who I am, or even if she is now married. Six months before that, her biggest mental
problem, was her inability to make a phone call, or the TV remote control. I wanted to start this ChesterCamp project in
the spring of 2019, and my first purchase was the 3 insulated windows. I tried hard to convince her that it did not mean
that I did not love her. It simply meant that, I wanted to travel full time, when she was gone, because she always told me
that she would go before me. I would say that she should want the best life for me, under any circumstances, since she
loved me. After very long hours of internet research, I could not find a vehicle I would be happy with. If this was going
to happen, I would have to build it. She stopped me from time to time, but I promised her that I would never put a trailer
hitch on whatever vehicle we might own, as long as she was alive, so that I could not drive off, and abandon her, once it
was finished. That is absolutely true. This trailer may sit in our basement forever, until I am too old to travel. So be it.
I am 69, and she is 74.

I have waited a week to gather the concensus views on this issue of flammability, open flame, and asphyxiation. I have already
explained in my post why I thought a 200 watt electric heater is impractical for me at this time with a small 85 ampHr
AGM battery-- namely that it would use 50% of my battery capacity, and that I plan to be a full-time boondocker, and
not planning to be able to use shore power at a campsite, or by moochdocking at a friend or relative's house. I am going
to be trying to stay out of snowy weather, but it might still get down to between 20 F and 40 F, winter or summer.

Flammability, open Flame and Asphyxiation Issues:
I think I have chosen the safest fuel possible-- namely, Firefly Odorless and Smokeless CLEAN Lamp Oil ($29/gal.). It says
prominently on the front of the label - "Indoor and Outdoor Use". The manufacturer states that "All Firefly Proprietary
Fuels are: SAFE, NONTOXIC, READILY BIODEGRADABLE and VIRTUALLY ODORLESS: Our Fuels Do Not Contain
Any Hazardous Chemicals Listed Under The US Clean-water Act Nor California Prop. 65. Our fuels are propriety and do not
use petroleum. "Also, CLEAN Lamp Oil, (that's what I will use), "is combustible, not flammable, which means that it requires a
wick to burn, and cannot burn on its own," in a spill. Also, incidentally, it will not freeze. This fuel is Smokeless if the small
wick is kept very short-- about 1/16 inch. I plan on buying a Carbon Monoxide detector, also. I don't expect it to go off-- but
then, no one does. Also, I have adjustability-- I can light 1, or 2, or 3, or all 4 flames.

As for the experiment, last week I said that I would try cooking an egg-- it worked. I made a one egg cheese omlet in 8 min.,
with my fry pan covered. The real cooking test is its ability to boil water, in a covered pot. I got it to a rolling boil in 30
minutes, with 8 oz. of water. Compared to a jet boil, or an alcohol Trangia, these are miserable times for the water boil test,
but this is a heater, not a cook stove, the cut-off end from my heater stove pipe was free, and I'm already carrying the fuel.
Who knows? I might not use the cooker very often.

I haven't talked much about my intended tow vehicle, but it's been in my signature from the start. It would be- ideally a
3rd Generation 2014 Prius. Third Generation Prius has the most horsepower, (134 hp, 10% better than the current
generation), of all Prii, and the 2014 has the lowest repair troubles reported, of the 3rd Generation. In the heat of summer,
and the cold of winter, it would always be my retreat. I just want a cold weather option for the trailer, so that I am not a
5 month long car camper primarily in the winter, and wondering: "why I am dragging this thing behind me-- what?, so I can
stand up to put my pants on, or stretch?" The worst downside of a Prius tow vehicle is 1) No four wheel drive, and 2) Low
ground clearance: The 2012-2014 Prius ground clearance is 135 mm (5.31 inches). The only years that are better are 2005-2009
(142 mm), 2009-2011 (140 mm). I could increase clearance it 1.5 inches with a $299 lift kit plus installation, (getting me to 6.81). If I eventually went whole hog, I could replace all four tires, (195/65R15), with 215/70R15 tires, getting
another 0.95 inches, (total=7.76 inches), a 2.45 inch difference, a 46% increase.

Power will come from the Prius 12 v starter battery, (45 ampHr), which is automatically recharged by the 202 v Traction battery.
I plan to wire a fused Bestek 300 watt Pure sine wave Inverter to the 12 v battery, then run an outdoor extension cord out the
hatch, and over the tongue, (not while I'm driving-- only when I am camping), to a 110v exterior receptacle at the front of the trailer, and then charge the 85 ampHr VMaxTanks AGM battery, (and later a 100 ampHr LiFePo4 battery inside the trailer), with my VMaxTanks AGM Charger, set to charge at 2 amps, for now, providing a theoretical max of 48 ampHrs per day, although I would likely bump it up to at least 4 amps for a LiFePo4 battery, doubling output to 96 ampHrs/day. This same charger will work for a future LiFePo4 battery, because the AGM setting charges at 14.4 to 14.6 volts, which is just what a LiFePo4 battery needs. I do not think the 126 watt charger, drawing 1.05amps plus the inverter loss of about 15%, (1.21 amps total), will be an excessive draw on the little 45 ampHr Prius starter battery. The AGM battery, by the way, will ride in the car to save trailer weight, along with the refrigerator, and then I would move both to the trailer. Load capacity is load capacity, but it might be better with both of them in the Prius.

Overall, I think this is better than solar, because the sun does not always shine, and the Prius system is too good to ignore, for
this purpose. The infrequent startups do not run long, (a minute or two, every hour or so). Some say it is barely noticeable while
sleeping, and others are annoyed, so I will have to find out.

The refrigerator will be the Alpicool C40 (12 v, 60 watts, $299), because it's a nice size, the lid is hinged on the long side, and
it has a drain plug, so I am picturing freezing a couple of inches of water in the bottom, just below a DIY rack, then setting the
thermostat to about 30 degrees to use it as a refrigerator. (Or you could think of it as a cooler, that makes it's own ice)!

There!! More meat for TNTTT followers to chew on! More than you wanted to know, and certainly more than you asked for.

[pchast]

I love marketers..........

The fuel is safe DON'T burn it.

The smoke they speak of is the soot and carbon you may see in incomplete burn, like with limited air flow.

Exhaust has defined components. There is water vapor, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide etc. the percentage of each is dependent on the amount of ventilation and the quality of burn.

That said. You need to design enough air flow to provide the air to breathe for both you and the fire and still provide the heat you wish to generate. It can be done.