Tent heaters

[QuackTheMightyDuck]

Hello all!

I’m pretty new to camping and have only been a few times. I feel the cold at night, even with hot water bottles, thermals etc. I don’t go electric hook up camping so I was looking at getting a little gas heater to use briefly in my tent to just take the edge off the cold.
I know they shouldn’t be used in unventilated spaces so was planning on opening my tent door and just running it at the other end of the tent for about 20 minutes. Would this be okay? I certainly don’t want to get CO poisoning but have heard running it briefly should be okay - advice from more seasoned campers welcomed!
Thank you!

You'd be mad to do this. You'd need a through draft for ventilation and if you had that there wouldn't be any point running the heater.

What kind of sleeping bag, thermals and tent do you have? And what are you wearing in your sleeping bag?

Please don't.

We bought two fan heaters and timer switches and set them to come on about 4am to heat up when the tent got its coldest. Obviously this requires electric hook up.

Otherwise it's things like the best sort of ground insulators you can afford , thermals, hot water bottles, etc.

God no.

Roll mat, air bed, blanket, then sleeping bag with liner / second blanket (sleeping bags make me claustrophobic). Socks on, pants and tshirt / full on fleecy thermals depending on your school of thought (there's an argument about having to warm up layers of clothes vs sleeping in next to nothing and just warming your space). Hot water bottle in before and replenish and put either at lower back or feet.

In a tent 20 mins heating won’t be worth the CO / fire risk.

Insulate your tent floor with interlocking foam playmat tiles. Insulate under your mattress especially if it is a blow up bed: they simply conduct heat from the ground into a freezing bag of cold air to sleep on. Put foam mats or yoga mats underneath, and fleece blankets on top.

Put your pyjamas on under your clothes early in the evening so you don’t need to undress.

Do some star jumps before you get into your sleeping bag.

Wear a hat from early evening onwards.

What sort is your tent? Does it have a seen in ground sheet to prevent drafts? Does it have a zipped up sleeping compartment within the main tent?

Like others have said, I would check that you have really good bedding and insulation - it tends to be coldest in the early hours and a gas heater with the door open won't really help much then.
I recommend a good SIM (self inflating mat) - the thickest one you can afford (and can fit in your car!), sleeping off the floor helps too, I use a SIM on top of a folding camp bed. I also take a warm duvet, rather than a sleeping bag.

Reconsider the hook up if you are a very cold person. You can take electric blankets! We do - and there is nothing like boiling a kettle quickly, making some toast in a little two slice toaster, and getting back in your heated blanket bed for breakfast!

I’ve only ever felt cold at dawn/just before dawn when temperatures are at their lowest. So it sounds a bad idea and I don’t think a bit of heating at the beginning of the night will make any difference.
Hat is essential
And a thicker/warmer sleeping bag

Thank you all for your comments - I will definitely not do this and feel a bit silly now for thinking about it!

I’ve a tunnel tent, 4 man and use insulation below my blow up bed, sheets and blankets and fluffy teddy bedding on my duvet (I tried sleeping bags but just couldn’t get on with it). I wear thermals and a woolly hat plus thick PJs and a hot water bottle and have a sew-in ground sheet in the separate bedroom I sleep in. Perhaps I need to drink more wine for internal insulation

Thank you for your advice to this newbie camper! Gas heater is off the shopping list

Any heat from a heater will disappear almost instantly - you are outside in a tent with no insulation to keep heat in. The most important thing is to be warm when you get in bed, you won't warm up. And the single most effective thing I have found to help is, bizarrely, washing my feet just before I get in bed. Either dipping them in water or just giving them a wipe with a wet flannel then a good dry with a towel (I suspect it's the rubbing with the towel that does it). Then put bedsocks on and into bed. I find airbeds cold, campbeds even worse. A good thermarest pad or similar with foam inside is much better. You need a good three season sleeping bag, I also have a silk liner which really helps and something on your head if your sleeping bag doesn't have a hood. I've camped in snow and frost more than once and been fine. It's also important to air out your sleeping bag every day, and whatever clothes you sleep in. Put your sleeping bag inside out in the sun if at all possible then roll it up tightly - it will still be warm in the evening.

I must admit, I am very much a "no electric" camper, but this Christmas, I bought myself a heated fleece throw blanket and I was thinking how nice it would be to cave in to an electric hook up and take it camping!

@NannyR I am contemplating the EH for that very reason - they’re so warm and comfy!

@QuackTheMightyDuck

Thank you all for your comments - I will definitely not do this and feel a bit silly now for thinking about it!

I’ve a tunnel tent, 4 man and use insulation below my blow up bed, sheets and blankets and fluffy teddy bedding on my duvet (I tried sleeping bags but just couldn’t get on with it). I wear thermals and a woolly hat plus thick PJs and a hot water bottle and have a sew-in ground sheet in the separate bedroom I sleep in. Perhaps I need to drink more wine for internal insulation

Thank you for your advice to this newbie camper! Gas heater is off the shopping list

If you're drinking more wine make sure you get travel John's so you're not trekking out to the loo at 3 am

You can't put gas in a tent. Get EHU and some proper heaters, be prepared they can still melt ground sheets 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

Are you thinking of this time of year in the uk?!!

Oh and get a bucket for middle of the night wees!

Your airbed will be sucking the heat out of you. If you don't want to buy a self inflating mat, I used to put silver radiator insulation down on top of my roll mat, that would help a bit.

Honestly though, a winter sleeping bag and decent mat might not be as comfy for you until you get used to it but you'd be super toasty.

@itwasntaparty not quite, I was looking for a bit later in the year but hoping to take advantage of any sales still on. EHU is looking more appealing by the minute!

Hot water bottle and thermos flask of hot water to refill it in the middle of the night.

But I agree with electric. I succumbed last year and loved it.

@FlaviaAlbiaWantsLangClegBack

Your airbed will be sucking the heat out of you. If you don't want to buy a self inflating mat, I used to put silver radiator insulation down on top of my roll mat, that would help a bit.

Honestly though, a winter sleeping bag and decent mat might not be as comfy for you until you get used to it but you'd be super toasty.

This!

Air beds are so so so so cold compared to a self inflating mattress.

We use these, which have sadly been discontinued - but they are essentially a SIM with a inch thick piece of memory foam all zipped up in a fleecy case. You could probably replicate the same effect with a SIM and a memory foam mattress topper. I find them far more comfy than an airbed anyway, and much warmer.

@rbe78 That looks AMAZING! I’m going to check eBay incase there are any kicking around there

Not sure a bout gas heaters but remember a news story about campers dying after using a bbq to warm their tent and the gases given off by it.

I find air beds are so cold to sleep on, you would be better off getting a camp bed to keep you off the ground with a self inflating mat on top.

Decent sleeping bag will have you peeling your layers off op!!. Me and dh make ours into 2 singles. Much to his disgust!
Much warmer ime.

We find being off the floor makes a big difference, we have camp beds with a memory foam topper and a quilt on and they keep us pretty warm. We do have an electric hookup for late Autumn camping and run an oil heater and a little electric one before bed, or just use hot water bottles.

Sounds like you have lots of layers on top / but do you have as much underneath? My grandad would say you should have the same top as bottom to stay warm. For me, that means picnic blanket, airbed, blanket, blanket, sheet. In contrast to many saying it here, I don’t find camp beds particularly warm.

@Forshorttheycallmecomp camp beds are absolutely freezing, that's why we bought a memory foam topper for the beds, has been amazing :)