Toasty warm van

[furrybestjob]

I am so impressed with how warm my van stays even though it is really cold. This morning I was grooming at the house with 12 dogs. It was sunny, and I was actually too warm in the van (and I hate it cold). I am so happy that I don't have to keep the van running to stay warm. In the van I used to work in we had to keep the engine running with the vent heat on , and even then it wasn't warm. I haven't had to use the furnace while working in the van yet. Of course, having to get out of the van...that's another story.

[ferret]

Lucky you. My van is diesel and I have to run it for the heat, and diesel motors run cool as it is, but even cooler in the winter...I hate my heat. To warm things up I have to run a small human hairdryer while drying to keep things warm enough. It gets too cold here.

[kari]

Hi it's been pretty chilly for me lately I have to turn the furnace on for about ten minutes when I start to get cold.By the end of the day I did actually did have to crack open a window to get some cool air.The weather got up to sixty one degrees today.It's been dropping down to the teens for last couple of weeks in the mornings.I'm not used to that at all.

[Meesh]

I find even on really cold days if I park in the sun I only need to switch on the furnace for a little bit at the start of the day. Once I get the hot water going and the dryer and all I stay comfy. My problem was always my feet getting cold but DH gave me AWESOMELY warm sox for Christmas. You know you're old and waaaaay to comfortably married when you LIKE getting SOX for Christmas!

Conversely, remember to try to park in the shade when the summertime comes!

[diamienono]

I did not even have to run my heater today in my trailer. I had 2 ceramics on high for the overnight in my trailer and it was 102 this morning in there. Drove to customer and did bath them with the dryer on it got too hot so I opened the roof vents.

[RevWind]

I hope that didn't cook your shampoo!

[TAILSRWAGON]

Having a heat wave!!

I crank my space heaters up during the night but I usually don't get it over 80 in the van. That can last me the entire day without turning on the furnace. Last week the outside temp never got over 25 so it cooled down pretty quickly. Today the outside temp was 45, Whew, what a heat wave.

[Crystal]

Surprisingly, my van has been staying warm for me after heating up. I often have to run the vents to get the condensation out, but staying warm has been ok.

MY feet get cold though. I find that if my feet sweat during the day and then the later part of the day we don't realize it, but our socks are damp and that dampness gets COLD.

On really cold days I have been changing my socks, because I get miserable when my feet are cold.

[RevWind]

With that in mind, those conversion companies need to think about making heated floors. What about standing on a heating pad?

[diamienono]

I hope that didn't cook your shampoo!

No and the dogs did not have to shiver with cold shampoo either. It was nice and warm.

[diamienono]

With that in mind, those conversion companies need to think about making heated floors. What about standing on a heating pad?

That would not be very economical. You are not laying on the floor to groom. It would also be outragiously expensive.

[wagnwhlz]

Actually, it would be a very economical idea. The engine coolant could be run through pipes and circulated from front to back and returned to the engine, in the subfloor to keep the floor warm. Someone's probably thinking that one through now for the next northern van conversion.
Today was brutal. Groomed only 2, and had to return home (took an hour to get home, for a 15 minute usual drive). The police closed the roads due to too many accidents and zero visibility. My Mercedes van with Pirelli snow tires powered through the drifting and kept me warm while the outside temp. with the wind chill was a balmy 9 degrees F! OUCH!

The key to staying warm in a van, and staying cool in the van in the summer, is to have enough insulation in the walls and ceiling. I had a frigid 3 years with my first van that had absolutely no insulation and I had to keep that propane furnace just a blasting! If it didn't freeze up on the inner surface of the roof, it rained from the condensation. What a mess. But hey...that van got me to where I am now. Have van, have customers, will make money. So start small, and you can graduate to the warmer vehicles later.

I'm in the north, north of the 49th, so you know how cold it can be. At night, I run an electric space heater on med-low, and have a chicken brooder heat lamp in the van too. I keep the water heater on as well. No freeze ups. My van was a home conversion so I made sure the guys did a serious insulation job. It is so worth it!

Good luck out there. It's an ice age winter!

[Puppy Love Express]

Mobile Insulation

I currently have a self converted RV. I am planning on upgrading to either a shuttle bus or most likely a trailer. I am interested in some serious insulation methods that others have used. My current unit only has a 1/2" layer of styrofoam that is disintegrating rapidly. Of course it is 30 years old! I don't think it wil be possible to insulate my current unit and I found out quickly when I first began working in it that the A/C was not going to be able to keep up with the heat that the unit was absorbing during warm weather. I don't have much money in this unit and don't want to spend much more on it. I want something nicer, but I want it to be as energy efficient as possible as I roast in the summer in a mobile unit. Any ideas?
Michael

[azoci]

Hi, I have a converted RV, one of the things I like about it is that I have a heater vent (from the engine) in the back of the rig, it blasts hot air right into the grooming area. It has 3 fan settings on high I can actually help to dry a dog along with my cool dry, as the air intake for the cool dry is right next to the out flow from the heater. My rig is a diesel so it stays toasty. My engine also heats my water during the day, I always start out with good hot water from the over night plug in, but after a few hours it would turn cold if not for the engine return.

I have about an inch and a half insulation top, sides, and the special paint for insulation on the roof. Insulation is key to keeping your rig warm or cool.